Blake Lively Accused Justin Baldoni of Running a ‘Cult’ in Candid Messages

During the post-production of It Ends With Us, Blake Lively reached out to many big names about the film and her relationship with Justin Baldoni. In emails from 2024, Lively requested input on the edits she made to the film. At the time, she had a negative working relationship with the Baldoni. In her messages to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, she made this clear.

Blake Lively wrote Ben Affleck and Matt Damon emails about Justin Baldoni

In December 2024, Lively filed a lawsuit against her This Ends With Us co-star, Baldoni, for sexual harassment and attempting to tarnish her reputation. Baldoni responded with a lawsuit of his own that has since been dismissed. A series of unsealed text messages and emails gave some insight into their working relationship.

In a message to Affleck, Lively asked for his input on her cut of the film. She described her time on set as “the most upsetting experience I’ve ever had on a movie” (via The Hollywood Reporter). 

“Anyway, I ended up rewriting and restructuring the entire script, I also ended up having to direct the movie via the chaotic clown ‘director’/actor/producer/financier/studio head at the center,” she wrote. “Yes that’s all the same person. oh and did I mention he and everyone he had on the movie is in a cult.”

While it’s not clear if Affleck responded to the email, Lively did go back and forth with his longtime friend, Matt Damon. Ryan Reynolds, Lively’s husband, asked Damon and his wife to watch Lively’s cut of the film. Lively also reached out to Damon.

“The director/costar/producer/financier/head of the studio (yes all one person) had zero experience, but the good news is he also has no taste, and an enormous ego, but only because he’s in a cult and believes he’s our century’s prophet,” she wrote. “I wish even one of these things was hyperbole.”

Damon told Lively he would help in any way he could. He also encouraged Lively to make her next film with his studio, Artists Equity.

She asked Ben Affleck to show the movie to Jennifer Lopez

In her email, Lively asked Affleck if he would be willing to watch her edit of the film and give any “ideas or notes.” She also said she would appreciate any input from his children or Jennifer Lopez. Affleck and Lopez had not yet divorced at this time.

“If your wife or kids are around, I’d love their opinion also (fyi it does cover domestic violence so no one is caught off guard),” she wrote. “I’m such a fan of Jennifer’s, I’ve told her as much every time I’ve met her, and it would be an honor to have her take.”

She noted that there was “zero pressure” for any of them to watch the movie. Still, she said she would find his input helpful.

Blake Lively’s legal team slammed Justin Baldoni

In response to the unsealed documents, Lively’s team said they look forward to hearing Baldoni’s response. Some of the records include testimony from It Ends With Us stars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer.

“In his TedTalk to promote his brand as an advocate for women, Justin Baldoni said we must ‘listen to the women’…even if what they are saying is against you,’” they told ABC News in a statement. “See how he actually reacts in the bombshell new evidence released for the first time, which includes sworn testimony and contemporaneous messages from numerous women who actually worked with him.”

The trial is now set to begin on May 18.