Blake Lively pleads for protections against Justin Baldoni’s ‘violent, profane, and threatening’ messages
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have requested a stronger protective order after reportedly receiving a number of "violent" communications.
It seems like the legal skirmish between It Ends With Us co-stars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively is just getting started, as Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds have requested a stronger protective order after reportedly receiving a number of “violent” communications.
A new development in the ongoing Baldoni vs. Lively battle suggests that tensions are amping up behind the scenes as even more evidence continues to be brought to light. There’s been a lot of “he said, she said” between the two parties in recent months, and even more internet speculation about who’s in the right here. But with the official trial date well over a year away, I fear this is just the beginning.
For context, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, producer Jamey Heath, and members of Baldoni’s PR team back in December, in which she accused the It Ends With Us director of sexual harassment, citing incidents in which Baldoni would share explicit details about his sex life unprompted, as well as make comments about Lively’s weight. Baldoni then hit back in a countersuit, claiming that Lively and Reynolds intended to smear his image, and wrestled for control of the film even though Baldoni’s production studio, Wayfarer, held the exclusive rights to the Colleen Hoover source material.
Now, this latest development seems to imply that the It Ends With Us drama is getting even more vile behind closed doors.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have “good cause” for a stronger protective order, says new legal documents
On Thursday, February 20, Lively asked for “additional protections” against Baldoni on the heels of her Amended Complaint, having submitted a letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman requesting a stronger PO than the court’s “model” one, per People. Their request comes after Lively & Co. allegedly received a number of “threatening” text messages from “anonymous parties” seemingly within the pro-Baldoni camp.
The letter reads: “As detailed in Ms. Lively’s Amended Complaint, Ms. Lively, her family, other members of the cast, various fact witnesses, and individuals that have spoken out publicly in support of Ms. Lively have received violent, profane, sexist, and threatening communications.”
In response, Baldoni’s legal team wrote in a statement: ““We do not condone dangerous rhetoric targeted toward anyone no matter the situation. Anyone receiving violent messages by anonymous parties is abhorrent. When private parties were wrongfully accused by Lively and her paid team of wrongdoing, they received continuous death threats and visits to private homes where young children reside. No one should have to face that, especially private parties who do not have means for security detail.”
Given the sheer amount of text messages and other receipts that have been made public so far, it’s not exactly surprising that Reynolds and Lively would want increased protections in the throes of this highly-publicized legal dogfight. It’s also worth noting that the couple filed an “Attorney’s Eyes Only” document which applies to “Confidential Discovery Material” in the letter, signaling that all of this will (hopefully) end where it should’ve from the start: in court. Either way, we still have a ways to go until Lively and Baldoni’s trial kicks off, and only time will tell if each party can reach a settlement agreement before this gets even more ugly.
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