Unsealed court records from a bitter Hollywood dispute have revealed explosive internal messages among Sony Pictures executives about Blake Lively and the hit film It Ends With Us. The movie, released in August 2024, grossed about 351 million dollars worldwide on an estimated 25 million dollar production budget, making it a major commercial success even as behind‑the‑scenes tensions escalated.
Filings indicate that Lively, who both starred in and produced the film, clashed with director and co‑star Justin Baldoni during production, and their conflict has since evolved into a high‑profile legal battle in New York federal court over harassment and retaliation claims. Publicly, the film looked like a win for Sony, but privately, executives worried about production turmoil, mounting costs from reshoots and delays, and whether the project could be completed if the star walked away.
Unsealed Emails and On‑Set Flashpoints
The film, adapted from Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel and released under Sony’s Columbia Pictures label, entered production with Lively increasingly asserting her authority as a producer by late 2023. In November 2023, she sent a reported 17‑point list of conditions to return to set, raising concerns about Baldoni’s preparedness and creative decisions. By that stage, Sony had already invested tens of millions of dollars, and executives feared the film might become unreleasable if the conflict could not be resolved.
One production executive later described the shoot in sworn testimony as chaotic, underscoring how strained relations between Lively and Baldoni had become. In a deposition unsealed on January 20, 2026, Sony executive vice president Andrea (Ange) Giannetti acknowledged using an expletive‑laden phrase that referred to Lively as a “terrorist” in a conversation about the star’s demands and the risk that the heavily funded film could fall apart.
Other internal messages show Sony leaders expressing frustration over what they viewed as Lively’s handling of promotion and her efforts to exclude Baldoni from key events, including the premiere. Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group president Sanford Panitch wrote in August 2024 that Lively “did it to herself,” criticizing her for banning Baldoni from the premiere, encouraging cast members to distance themselves from him, and not “protecting the show.”
CEO Tom Rothman similarly suggested in email that she “brought it on herself” by refusing to heed advice and by promoting her own products around the release. Even as executives vented privately, they continued to publicly celebrate Lively’s role in delivering a hit, with Giannetti sending an enthusiastic message after the strong opening weekend praising Lively’s work and the 50 million dollar domestic debut. The unsealed materials also include text messages from co‑star Jenny Slate to Lively describing aspects of the shoot as “gross and disturbing” and referring to Baldoni in sharply critical terms.
Lawsuits, Dismissals, and a Pending Ruling
The conflict has produced multiple legal fronts. Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in December 2024, alleging harassment and retaliation that included boundary‑crossing behavior during filming. She later brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where unsealed exhibits now include emails, texts, and testimony that both sides claim support their narrative.
Baldoni’s lawyer argues that the full record does not substantiate Lively’s harassment and retaliation allegations and maintains that a fair reading of the messages favors Baldoni. Baldoni previously filed a countersuit reportedly seeking up to $400 million over claims including extortion and defamation, but a federal judge dismissed that case in 2025 and later made the dismissal final after he did not amend his complaint.
On January 22, 2026, the New York court held a hearing on Baldoni’s motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of Lively’s federal claims, but the judge delayed ruling, with a decision expected soon and a trial currently scheduled for May if the case moves forward.
Hollywood Culture and Franchise Stakes
The dispute has put Sony’s leadership under renewed scrutiny, drawing comparisons to the fallout from the 2014 Sony hack that exposed frank internal communications across the industry. The newly public emails and texts highlight tensions over how star‑producers like Lively challenge traditional, often male‑dominated creative hierarchies, and how studios respond when top talent asserts control over content and promotion.
Slate’s description of the shoot and Lively’s filings feed into ongoing debates in Hollywood about what behavior crosses the line into harassment or retaliation, particularly for high‑profile performers who occupy both creative and business roles. International coverage has amplified the saga, with overseas media fixating on the involvement of figures such as Taylor Swift, Colleen Hoover, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, and Ryan Reynolds in texts and conversations around the film and its competing cuts.
As the New York court considers Baldoni’s bid to end the case before trial, Sony must also weigh the future of It Ends With Us as a potential franchise—where sequel rights are closely linked to Baldoni’s position—against reputational damage revealed in litigation about its handling of the original film’s star.