“A flood of documents tied to the It Ends With Us legal battle were unsealed this week, exposing behind-the-scenes emails and text messages from those involved with the film. Blake Lively’s unsealed messages with A-listers including Taylor Swift and Ben Affleck have been making headlines, while a transcript of Jenny Slate’s deposition tied to the”, — write: www.hollywoodreporter.com
Blake Lively’s unsealed messages with A-listers including Taylor Swift and Ben Affleck have been making headlines, while a transcript of Jenny Slate’s deposition tied to the case involving Lively and Justin Baldoni also caught attention. But additional texts and emails involving executives from Sony Pictures have also been revealed, divulging how those in charge of the studio that released the film felt about the Lively-Baldoni drama.
Lively filed a complaint against the It Ends With Us director in December 2024 for sexual harassment. She also alleged that Baldoni and company participated in a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” her reputation. Baldoni responded with his own lawsuit that was subsequently dismissed in June
Sony Pictures’ executive vice president of production and senior creative Andrea Giannetti confirmed that she referred to Lively as a “fucking terrorist” when conversing with producer Jamey Heath after learning that the star threatened to depart the film if a 17-point list of changes were not executed.
“There was a tremendous amount of money that had been invested and spent, and we had to finish the movie or it was unreleasable,” she said.
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to Sony for comment, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
In later messages, Giannetti messaged Lively following It Ends With Us‘ successful box office debut in early August 2024. “Blake, $50 million!! Your blood, sweat, tears, brilliant smarts, heart and soul in every single frame. My God, it’s incredible. Thank you 50 million times. And it’s only Saturday night,” Giannetti texted her on Aug. 11.
As the internet began speculating about a potential rift between Lively and Baldoni, author Colleen Hoover sent a screenshot of a post from Deux Moi, a celebrity gossip account, which pointed out that Baldoni was “missing from” the film’s press and that Lively “doesn’t follow him on IG.” She sent the message to the film’s star on July 12 of the same year.
Lively later told Sony that she “didn’t want to be on the red carpet,” “in photographs,” or “seated near” Baldoni during the film’s premiere.
After additional cast members unfollowed the director, Danni Maggin, a Sony marketing executive, wrote, “The unfollowing has really picked up today.” Alex Saks, a producer on the film, replied “Why did everyone have to fucking do that? … It’s Blake, I’m sure.”
Sony executives also communicated about the negative press circulating at the time about Lively.
On Aug. 11, Tahra Grant, Sony’s executive vp and chief communications officer, wrote, “She orchestrated all this drama in a totally unsavvy and amateur way (and basically threatened…Sony) and now is mad it backfired on her.”
Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman and CEO Tom Rothman wrote on Aug. 15 that Lively did not “deserve” the backlash, though he argued that “she did bring it all on herself by refusing to listen to advice … and by selling her products,” a reference seemingly to Lively’s decision to debut her haircare brand around the time of the film’s release.
Before that, on Aug. 9, Rothman referred to the backlash as a “fucking disaster,” writing, “None of the who or right or wrong matters at all. The mess is the story now and it will define the film. No one can watch the film the same way. Tragic.”
He also wrote in a separate email that Lively “has so much — looks, money, fame, hunk husband, kids — that the instinct of the crowd is to tear her down. Like what happened to Anne Hathaway, and neither of them deserve it, even though she did bring it on herself by refusing to listen to advice … and by selling her products.”
Sony Motion Pictures Group president Sanford Panitch agreed with the sentiments on Aug. 21, criticizing Lively’s beauty brand and opposition to having Baldoni involved in much of the film’s promotion: “She did it to herself. If she just let him come to the premiere or didn’t [sic] make all the cast unfollow him or kick him off the movie and did what everyone has ever done in show business for time and memorial which is protect ‘the show’ then none of the sleuthing would have happened. The hair sale at the same time was epic level stupid. She wouldn’t listen. She knows better.”
In an email, Panitch shared his additional thoughts on the controversy. “It’s quite ironic because she has a huge hit movie headed to $300M-plus,” Panitch wrote. “And probably will never work again, or not for a while. Although even Hathaway recovered. Tom thinks she’s probably and bizarrely unhirable right now.”
One executive disagreed, writing, “This will pass. She is going to be FINE.”
“No. Disagree,” Panitch responded. “She is done for. At least for a while. It’s cooked.”
A trial for the Lively-Baldoni case is set for May 18.