Hollywood’s legal battles often unfold behind closed doors, but a judge just peeled back the curtain on a tense lawsuit involving Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. We’re now getting a peek at text messages and emails that offer a glimpse into the drama.
According to court papers obtained by a prominent news channel, Us Weekly, on Monday, August 25, Judge Lewis J. Liman ordered on August 14 that previously hidden evidence be made public. This evidence came from Lively’s push to get more information revealed in the case.
One set of documents shows a text exchange between Baldoni, who is 41, and his publicist. Baldoni shared a screenshot of an Instagram profile. He called it "an example of someone harassing Blake" on her social media page. He added that the account "did not look like a real account." His publicist suggested it could be a "real troll" and was "one hundred percent" sure it wasn’t anyone from their team.
Another message in the documents showed Baldoni talking to his public relations team. He asked for an update on how things were going. Someone on his team replied that Baldoni and his wife, Emily, were photographed in public. Baldoni seemed surprised. He mentioned he didn’t see any cameras when he left Los Angeles. He then asked his team if this was something he should expect in the future.
Beyond the texts, the court papers included emails about Wayfarer Studios. Baldoni co-founded this studio. The emails showed that Wayfarer Studios hired a company called Street Relations. They were brought on for "communication and consulting services." The contract lasted three months and cost $30,000.
The documents also contained a text message from Jamey Heath, Baldoni’s partner at Wayfarer. Heath reportedly told someone that he had hired a "crisis management team." He claimed this team cost "$9 million dollars." His message added, "You just have to handle every landmine so it doesn’t explode." He ended with, "And there’s a lot at stake." Us Weekly reached out to Baldoni for his comments on the situation.
This legal fight between Lively, 38, and Baldoni began in December 2024. The actress sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director. Lively claimed Baldoni was involved in sexual harassment. She also accused him of creating a difficult work environment and running a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni has strongly denied these claims. He filed his own lawsuit against Lively. In June, a judge dismissed Baldoni’s counter-suit against Lively. So, Lively won that part of the legal battle. However, her original lawsuit against Baldoni is still ongoing. Both sides are expected to go to trial in March 2026.
More recently, Lively was questioned by Baldoni’s lawyers in New York City. A large section of the transcript from her testimony was kept private, but Us Weekly obtained part of it. In that section, Lively stated her belief that the alleged smear campaign against her "does not appear to have ended."
A spokesperson for Lively had previously told Us Weekly, "We are very satisfied with the outcome of her deposition." They also added, "We look forward to deposing Justin Baldoni and each of the co-defendants very soon." The spokesperson explained why such testimony is kept private: "Deposition testimony is confidential for an important reason: it is evidence in a legal proceeding and is subject to objections and rules of evidence." They concluded by noting, "Juries are not simply given transcripts to read at home, but rather hear testimony presented at trial under the supervision of a judge."