In Dispute: Lively v Baldoni (2025)

[bunniefuu]

[Aaron] When I moved to Hoboken

about a dozen years ago, it just

struck me just how friendly

and how small town it felt.

So what you see behind me

here is the actual location for

Lily Bloom's flower shop

in the film "It Ends with Us."

A scout reached out to

me and said that they were

interested in seeing

if it would work for

an upcoming film.

So I was going through the

contract, and I was showing

it to my wife, and

when she read the title,

"It Ends with Us," she froze.

She actually picked up

the book off the bookshelf.

More than three years on

a New York Times

best-sellers list,

that's a long time.

[paparazzi] Can

you turn this way?

[paparazzi #2]

Justin, right here.

The movie came out

in the summer of 2024.

Social media noticed that

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni

were not doing

any press together

for a movie where

they are the co-leads.

[woman 2] "It Ends with Us."

[voices overlapping] "It Ends

with Us." "It Ends with Us."

"It Ends with Us."

"It Ends with Us."

"It Ends with Us" is

about domestic violence,

but the message of the film

has been clouded because

of the scandal around its stars.

She claims that there was

sexual harassment on set.

Maybe this guy isn't the

guy that you think he is.

And then a big jaw-drop moment.

[suspenseful music playing]

He claims civil extortion,

defamation, and that all of

this really is about her

wanting to have control

of the movie.

[ID] Is Blake Lively a victim?

That is the question.

This is, like, the most

high-school fight that

people with millions of dollars

can have with each other.

The longer this goes on,

the more reputational

damage they will suffer.

[ID] This isn't just a

fluffy celebrity feud.

The actual story is, I think,

a lot darker and a lot more

complex than that.

I work on crisis communication

plans, lifestyle PR,

and strategic public relations.

But also, I am a huge

Colleen Hoover fan.

I've read all of her books.

Every single one,

probably once or twice.

So, I'm familiar with the

book and was really excited

for the movie.

[Sheinelle] It follows Lily Bloom,

who moves to Boston to fulfill

her dream of

opening a flower shop.

After a chance encounter

with a neurosurgeon,

a relationship quickly heats

up between the two of them.

[Matthew] On TikTok, certain

books go viral, and Colleen Hoover's

novels, in particular,

"It Ends with Us,"

became incredibly

popular on there.

A woman got verbally

and physically abused

and made it out

on the other end.

The domestic violence aspect

of it is something that really

caught people's because it

covered the serious topic while

still doing it in a way that

felt engaging and accessible.

And that really gave studio

executives in Hollywood

a feeling that young people

were interested in the novel,

and that if they optioned

it, as Justin Baldoni did,

that it could turn

into something that

people would show

up at the theaters for.

[Tia] I'm an actress.

I worked with Justin Baldoni

on the set of "Jane the

Virgin" many years ago.

["Jane the Virgin" narrator] This

seems like a good time to catch up on

what Rafael has been up to.

I was actually playing

one of his girlfriends.

["Jane the Virgin" narrator]

He has, in fact, been having sex.

Lots and lots of sex, with

a lot of different women.

He was very down-to-earth,

very considerate.

He just wanted to make

sure that everything in

our scene worked.

[keyboard tapping]

I started following him on

social media and just kind of

kept up with everything else

that he was doing

outside of acting.

[audience clapping]

[Emily] Justin

has this platform.

He did a TED Talk about

debunking toxic masculinity.

I don't just want

to be a good man,

I want to be a good human.

And he started a

podcast, "Man Enough."

What would the world

look like if our boys

got to grow up and feel

that men were safe spaces

and safe places?

In 2019, when Justin acquired

the rights from Colleen Hoover,

it was really aligned

with his brand.

[up-tempo violin music playing]

The "Ends with Us" story first

hit my radar when Blake Lively

was cast -- I covered

her casting news.

She's a household name.

I understand why you'd want

to go for someone with a pretty

solid commercial track record.

The cast for "It Ends

with Us" has officially

been announced, and I am unwell.

Lily Bloom is gonna be

played by none other than

Blake Lively. What?

[man] Hey, Blake!

[Emily] This

breakthrough role was

"Sisterhood of the

Traveling Pants."

Rule number 11 -- "In the event

of an emergency, the pants will

automatically go to

the sister in need."

And she got really

famous with "Gossip Girl."

She's also known as being

Taylor Swift's best friend,

and, yeah, of course she's

married to Ryan Reynolds.

[Green Lantern] Evening, ma'am.

Blake and Ryan met on

"Green Lantern" and hit it off.

Now they are the

Hollywood power couple.

She has a persona

in the public eye

of being fun and

fashionable and trendy

and all of the things

that I think most women

really aspire to be.

The fact that Justin

Baldoni's name was mentioned

along with someone

who is a big A-list celebrity,

also married to an A-lister.

It makes sense why this

became such big headline news.

[Aaron] Hoboken being such

a small town, word travels fast.

When the first day

of sh**ting arrived,

people were lining the streets

to catch a glimpse of, you know,

Hollywood in our small town.

The crew from L.A.

put layers upon layers of

wallpaper to age this space,

and then they would redo

the entire interior once again,

and this time transforming

it into the flower shop.

[knocking]

OK, here we go.

[laughing]

-Wow.

-[Allysa] Yeah.

This doesn't even

look like the same shop.

At the conclusion,

Justin invited me over.

He raised his hands up, and

I raised mine to mirror him,

and it was just a very

special moment to share.

[car horns honking]

The film premiered in New

York City on August 6, 2024.

[paparazzi] Justin, right

here! Justin, right here!

[crowd] Solo! Solo!

-[overlapping voices shouting]

-[paparazzi] Justin, right here!

Things felt like they

were off at the premiere.

Social media noticed

that Blake Lively

and Justin Baldoni were

not doing any press together.

What is going on with

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni?

Have you heard anything

about the rift happening

behind the scenes?

For a movie where

they are the co-leads,

that is highly unusual.

[Matthew] There seemed to

be this sort of tension around it,

but nobody could

quite put their finger on

what to make of it yet.

We do have "It Starts with Us,"

so I'm hoping to see you

back in the double-duty role.

When Justin was

asked about the sequel,

it was kind of surprising.

I think there are better

people for that one.

I think Blake Lively's ready

to direct, that's what I think.

He definitely alluded to

him not taking on the role

of director, but maybe alluding

to Blake should do it next time,

which was a little strange.

I mean, at that point, that's

where the rumor mill starts.

[paparazzi] Ladies,

together this way.

Ladies, together,

this way over here.

I saw rumblings on social media

hypothesizing that there had

been some kind of falling out

on set, because people noticed

that essentially all of

the cast had unfollowed

Justin Baldoni.

[indistinct chatter]

One headline said

that Justin Baldoni was

banished to the basement.

He wasn't even allowed

to be seen on the red carpet

with Blake and with

the rest of his co-stars.

And he and his family

actually had to watch it

in a separate location.

He said, "I wasn't

allowed to be seen.

"She didn't want me anywhere

near her or the rest of the cast.

"So they ushered me off

the carpet and sent us down

to the basement."

There are countless feuds

in Hollywood between actors,

between directors and stars.

It's very rare at a premiere

for them not to, you know,

at least look like

they're buddy-buddy.

"It Ends with Us" was a

financially successful movie.

It made way more than it cost

to film and market the movie,

and there was also a lot of

hope that the very important

topic of domestic

violence would be

resonating with the masses.

That was it.

The story began in

the summer of 2024,

and it was nonstop after that.

During the entire promotion

of this film, Blake Lively

hasn't been seen with Justin,

the main actor and director.

But of course, fans are

theorizing, as fans do.

[Emily] And boom,

you have a feud.

There was serious beef

between Baldoni and Lively.

The treating of this

as just kind of a fluffy

celebrity feud --

the actual story is, I think,

a lot darker and a lot more

complex than that.

I had been covering

celebrities across three decades,

and I had not seen

a story this big...

period.

[overlapping voices] Blake,

right here. Blake, right here.

[Perez] At the time of the release

of "It Ends with Us," Blake Lively

was getting a lot of negative

feedback on social media.

Director, we didn't have

one of those for this movie.

[Perez] It seemed like

everything she was saying

was rubbing social

media the wrong way.

Look at me in

flowers, Lily Bloom.

It's neoprene.

There were so many strange

memes right after and videos

about, like, kind of

being difficult to work with.

[woman 2] Congrats

on the premiere.

And congrats on

being a fat b*tch.

This, I think, really launched

this "mean girl" energy.

People were making a

big deal of her promoting

all of her businesses.

-I'll start here.

-OK.

And it's dry shampoo,

but really, you know,

it smells amazing.

[Perez] While shying away from

the very important topic

of domestic violence.

[reporter] What has been the best

part in making this particular movie?

I've noticed so many

beautiful crystals on teeth.

Is that a big fashion thing?

[TikToker] Using a movie about

domestic violence to sell stuff?

It's not a good look.

She was full of

giggles and laughter,

and, oh, wanted to

promote her liquor brand.

Like nothing says

domestic violence

like a bottle of tequila. What?

[Natasha] On social

media especially,

there was criticism of the

way that she would kind of be

perhaps a little bit

lighthearted during

certain interviews.

There was an interview

with a journalist that portrayed

Blake to be a mean girl.

She was quoted as saying it

was the worst interview she's ever

given in her career.

[Kjersti] I'm an

entertainment reporter.

I'm originally from Norway,

but I've been living in the US

for 20 years.

I watched the movie,

and it reminded me of that

interview I'd had with her.

First of all, congrats

on your little bump.

At the time of her interview,

Blake Lively had confirmed

her pregnancy, so

it wasn't speculation.

It was just, "Congratulations."

Congrats on your little bump.

I still don't understand what

triggered Blake Lively.

That journalist was just

trying to break the ice.

What about my bump?

Kjersti ends up saying it was

the worst interview of all time.

There's footage and

clips of this interview

that are so tense.

Did you guys love wearing

those kind of clothes that you --

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-And, you know, working in digital

-- -Everyone wants to talk about

the clothes, but I wonder

if they would ask the men

about the clothes.

I would.

[Kjersti] I thought, OK,

this is not going well.

And from there on,

they just basically ignored me.

I love Jesse's suits and hat.

-That's what I'm saying. His wardrobe was beautiful.

-Oh, I know.

This Kjersti Flaa interview

had never been

shared publicly before.

That's why it went super viral.

[gasps] Mic drop.

Mic drop -- does not even

look at the interviewer.

It is so pointed.

It got a ton of attention,

and it definitely did not help

Blake Lively.

On December 20th, Blake

Lively files a complaint.

It broke headlines.

[reporter] Blake Lively

shocking Hollywood

with a new expl*sive

legal complaint...

about what she says was

happening behind the scenes

of her film "It Ends with Us."

Actress Blake Lively

accusing "It Ends with Us"

co-star and director

Justin Baldoni

of sexual harassment.

According to Blake

Lively, back in May of 2023,

things happened with

Justin Baldoni that made

her feel uncomfortable, and

she says that she reported it.

[Natasha] There was a meeting

where they agreed upon a document of

protocol that should

be enforced on set,

that Blake says is directly

in reference to concerns that

she had raised.

It is very specific.

Blake Lively says

she included items

that she and Wayfarer

Studios and Justin Baldoni

all agreed in a

production meeting.

They're really specific

items that allude to verbal

or physical sexual

conduct that occurred.

She says that Justin

would repeatedly walk into

her trailer unannounced while

she was by the breastfeeding,

pumping, or in a

state of undress.

She alleged the intimate

scenes would be improvised

and done over and over again,

more than was typically

required on such a set.

These items seem to fit

under sexual harassment.

And when they go back to

recording, Blake Lively says,

"I don't want these

things to happen again."

Basically, "This was

making me uncomfortable."

[Natasha] It repeatedly

says the phrase, "No more."

"No more" doing

this kind of behavior.

There was actually a

signed agreement between

the parties not to

have it continued.

How could you not agree?

I mean, it's so obvious

that you cannot do that

in a workplace.

Something that was

upsetting to me is that this is

one of the few

very popular movies

that deals with

domestic violence.

What are you doing? Stop.

Stop. What are you doing?

-Sh, sh, sh.

-What are you doing? Stop -- stop.

[Natasha] It's the

core plot point.

To have these allegations

saying one of the major

creative forces behind

this was actually engaging in

misogynistic content

himself, it's pretty upsetting.

[Matthew] What made part of

these allegations so shocking was

that Justin Baldoni has a

podcast where he talks about

how men can be allies to women

and how men can be better in

their relationships to women.

If you know the film and you've

been following along and read

the book, how could he do this?

I mean, how could he do this?

Several of the key players

involved in the making of

"It Ends with Us,"

Colleen Hoover

to one of the lead actors

in it, Brandon Sklenar,

have all come out

publicly supporting

Blake Lively.

Brandon Sklenar shared

a post directing people

to read her complaint,

including a little heart emoji

and tagging Blake Lively.

I saw social media

sentiment shift more in favor

of Blake than it

had been, certainly.

You know, if you read the

complaint, I think she had

very valid reasons why

she wouldn't want to show up

to work in an

environment like that.

She's not doing

this because it's fun

or it's gonna get her anything.

She's doing this

probably because she has

daughters at home and

feels the need to stand up

for what she went through.

[Emily] Literally, a day after,

you see this complaint come out.

The New York Times

rolls out the big headline.

My initial response to the

expl*sive New York Times

article was shock.

[Matthew] This New York Times

article comes out that alleges this

whole campaign was orchestrated

against her by Justin and his

PR team to make her

seem like a bad person.

The New York Times reported

Blake Lively, in her complaint,

says that Justin Baldoni hired

not only his PR

person Jennifer Abel,

but a crisis management

person, Melissa Nathan,

to orchestrate a smear

campaign against her.

[Matthew] There

were comments saying,

"We're gonna bury Blake Lively."

[keyboard tapping]

[Natasha] The second part of

her suit alleges that at least part of

the negativity that we saw

that summer towards her

was orchestrated by people

working with Justin Baldoni

to be able to cover their

tracks should she come public

about experiencing

alleged sexual misconduct.

[Emily] If this happened,

really, they did a genius job

on the front end of building

up this database of unsavory

narrative towards Blake.

[Matthew] The PR dark

arts were getting exposed.

Something that's always

been behind the curtains,

something that you don't

really see, but you understand

is happening.

[Perez] Just the sheer volume of

allegations that she was making

against him, I thought,

"Wow, wow, I -- I feel

so bad for her."

You can be one of the

most wealthy and successful

people in your industry

and still face alleged

retaliation for speaking

up, for making allegations

of sexual misconduct, I

think it's extremely alarming.

[Emily] So, like, maybe she

can be a mean girl sometimes,

but when it comes to this film,

what is going on

with this Justin guy?

So, all of a sudden, she

had some public favor.

Everybody was sympathetic

towards Blake Lively,

and then things shifted.

That New York Times story was

so damning that it made it seem

like there was no

way that Justin Baldoni

could come back from this.

[Kjersti] Then, all of a

sudden, Justin Baldoni then files

a libel lawsuit against

The New York Times

for $250 million.

[Perez] The thing that really

shook me was his lawsuit included

texts and emails

between Justin Baldoni

and Melissa Nathan

to show they were not

planting stories in the media

about Blake Lively.

According to Baldoni,

the New York Times edited

conversations and

didn't give us full context,

and they didn't give

him and his lawyers

enough time to respond.

But it's not the

New York Times' job

to give all sides of the story.

You might not like that,

but that doesn't open

them up to liability.

Under US defamation law,

Justin Baldoni has the burden

to prove that the New York Times

lied or knowingly lied,

and that what they

were saying was false.

A quick defense is,

"Let's go after the journalist

or the outlet

that did me dirty."

That's a quick way to

get it out in the public.

[Natasha] I think if you choose

to go with Blake Lively's claims,

which I will say in general,

I think are credible, this is

a story of a man who

abused his power on set

and alleges that there

was a smear campaign

orchestrated by people

working with Justin Baldoni.

[Perez] I believe victims

should be believed.

However, is Blake

Lively a victim?

That is the question.

[Emily] And then, all of a sudden,

after suing the New York Times,

Justin countersues

Blake for $400 million.

I mean, this is a big

jaw-drop moment.

$250 million, $400 million,

these are shock numbers.

These are there

to gain attention.

He's saying that she made a

false sexual harassment claim.

Unlike any case

that I've handled

in my entire career,

it's the one case we're gonna

put every single text message,

every single document,

everything on a website.

Hundreds of pages

of legal allegations,

text messages, photos.

You have the timeline of events.

So much information.

Let me tell you,

the internet sleuths,

everybody was going after what

was in that 168-page document.

Justin Baldoni's legal team

have just launched a website.

Justin promised

us all the receipts,

and he came through.

He countered her,

point by point, saying,

"She claimed

this, but in reality,

here's what truly happened."

And one of the examples

he gives is that Blake Lively

herself invited

him into the trailer

while she was breastfeeding.

And then later on,

she uses that as a basis for

something he's done wrong.

Blake Lively alleges that a

senior member of the studio

showed her a nude video

of his wife giving birth.

They allege, rather, that,

"No, she asked

to see the footage."

Blake Lively is

accusing Justin Baldoni

of asking her

trainer for her weight.

So she said that

that was fat shaming.

He says he has a back problem,

and there was a scene where

he needed to lift her.

[Dina] His argument isn't really

that those items didn't happen.

He just is saying that

there's a different perspective,

that they were really

more consensual.

Both sides absolutely

want to get their

perspective out.

[Perez] Amongst many

allegations that Blake Lively made,

she said that Justin Baldoni

did not stick to what they had

agreed upon when

filming intimate moments,

specifically in that

infamous dance sequence.

So what did Justin Baldoni do?

His lawyer released

10-plus minutes

of unedited footage

that let the public see

and decide for themselves

what they were looking at.

[crew] Ryan, go to the

bar. Ryan, go to the bar.

Justin Baldoni released

the footage to try

and make the case that

he did nothing wrong.

You know, for a lot of people

it did seemingly vindicate him.

One of the "slam dunks" that

Baldoni's team suggests is,

"Well, we had an

intimacy coordinator,

and you didn't want

to meet with her."

And text messages

show, at least,

that Blake did not meet

with the intimacy coordinator

before sh**ting started.

But in her original document,

she asks for an

intimacy coordinator

to be on set at all times

whenever she's

filming with Baldoni.

[Mia] I'm an intimacy coordinator

for TV, film, and theater.

The role of intimacy

coordinator, um, is still

relatively new in TV and film,

and there are certain standards

and protocols that we adhere

to sh**ting, uh, simulated sex

and nude scenes, doing our

best to help the director achieve

their vision while staying

within the actor's comfort.

In my experience,

when an actor says,

"I don't need to meet the intimacy

coordinator until we're sh**ting,"

it does typically indicate that

they trust their scene partner,

which is a beautiful thing.

And those texts made me think

that at one point, she did feel

a lot of trust with him.

Blake's team then

comes in and says,

"Oh no, this is exactly

what we're talking about.

She's uncomfortable."

[crew person] Ryan, go to

the bar. Ryan, go to the bar.

In the script for that

scene, the description is,

"They slow dance,

lost in their own world."

No mention of a kiss,

no mention of any kind of

sexual touch or intimate touch

beyond an embrace, maybe?

Blake Lively alleged

that he would do

unapproved movements

and -- and contact and kissing

and smelling her neck.

[Mia] Blake says that there wasn't

an intimacy coordinator present

for certain intimate scenes.

From what I've heard, it seems

like there were scenes that

did not have intimacy written,

but then intimacy was added.

That video of the slow dance

is a perfect example of that.

[Dina] The dance scene, both

sides think it's great for them.

So when this goes to trial,

that video will for sure be

shown in front of a jury,

and you'll hear two completely

different perspectives

on what that video is.

But Justin Baldoni said,

"Had Lively chosen to merely

"write out the self-inflicted

press catastrophe she faced in

"August of 2024, the

public would likely have

"moved on and never

known the truth about her.

"They would have never

known that she deliberately

"and systematically robbed

plaintiffs Justin Baldoni

and Wayfarer

Studios of their movie."

Justin Baldoni says in

his counterclaim that,

"Almost immediately,

Lively began inserting herself

"into the production process

in intrusive ways well beyond

the scope of her

contractual entitlement."

Basically, he's saying,

her saying that she needed

creative control over the

project and threatening to

walk out if she didn't

get that creative control

amounted to extortion.

There's this one now very, um,

viral video of her appearance

at a Forbes summit,

where she was talking

about demanding and wanting

and needing control of

every aspect of movie making.

[Blake] I wanted to be a part

of the storytelling, that I wanted

to be a part of the narrative,

whether that be in the writing,

in the costume design,

in creating the character.

I actually need to have

authorship in order to

feel fulfilled.

There is a core scene

in the movie, it's when

Ryle and Lily meet

for the first time.

I once read that

maraschino cherries

stay in your stomach

for like seven years.

[Natasha] It takes place on a

rooftop, it's a very pivotal scene,

and Blake has said

that Ryan Reynolds

wrote at least

some of this scene.

The iconic rooftop scene in

this movie, my husband actually

wrote it, nobody

knows that, but you now.

He's all over this film.

In Justin's lawsuit, he

alleges that there was

a meeting in Blake

Lively and Ryan Reynolds'

New York City penthouse,

where he felt pressured by both

Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift

to acquiesce to some of

the changes that Blake Lively

had wanted to

make to the script.

[Matthew] He felt that Blake

Lively and Ryan Reynolds were

coming in to try to create

their own version of the film.

-[paparazzi chatting]

-[camera shutters snapping]

[Kjersti] Most of us reacted

very strongly to the text message

that Blake had sent to

Justin Baldoni, explaining that

she's Khaleesi from

"Game of Thrones,"

and she has dragons.

It wasn't in the message

who her dragons were.

To me, it was like, obvious

that it was Ryan Reynolds

and Taylor Swift

she was referring to.

So, by saying that, it was like

a nicely put little

"threat," I would say.

I find it interesting that

Blake is both framed

as this incredibly powerful

person who, you know,

can use Taylor Swift and

everyone in her arsenal

to do whatever she wants,

but also she needs to rely on

manipulating sexual harassment

in order to get her way.

Hey, Blake, it is, uh,

two in the morning, um,

hopefully this does

not wake you up.

So Justin Baldoni releases this

voicemail that he leaves 2 a.m.

to Blake Lively, apologizing.

I'm really sorry, um, I

-- I for sure fell short.

It's, you know, he's showing

some level of understanding,

but it's also, you know,

he's admitting

some level of fault.

So it's kind of, you know,

one of those things that

you can spin it either way.

And damn right,

you got great friends.

We should all have friends

like that, aside from the fact that

they're two of the most

creative people on the planet.

What I mainly got from the

message was that he was

really desperately

trying to please Blake.

He was like, "Whatever

you say, I'll do."

I'm sorry. [laughing]

You probably have kids all over

you and a baby on your boob,

and you're listening to me

ramble at two in the morning.

It's 2 a.m. in the morning.

There were definitely

people who thought

it was a little creepy.

There's others who say,

"Hey, she texted

him right before.

This was a

justified voice call."

But, as a lawyer, I think,

why release something that

does -- it is a little

questionable of whether or not

that's appropriate

in a workplace.

Baldoni is claiming that

Blake Lively threatening that if

she doesn't get the edit,

she's not going to maybe

appear at the premiere.

He was basically giving over

his creative

control of the film.

I believe that Sony,

the film's distributor

and major financer,

they were scared,

in my opinion, of Blake Lively.

[paparazzi chatting]

The bigger star tends

to get backed because

at the end of the day,

the studio wants this

to make a lot of money,

and the bigger star is gonna

draw a bigger audience.

If she took complete

editorial control of the film,

that's not a crime.

Who's to say that Baldoni's

version was inherently better?

I wonder why we're not framing

this as a woman potentially

experiencing misconduct

on set, as she's alleged,

taking part in a movie that

we know she cares about,

and then...

making editorial decisions

that are ultimately

for the best of it.

[Matthew] In the end, Blake

Lively kind of emerged victorious,

because what ended up getting

shown was the rooftop scene

that Ryan Reynolds wrote,

and a lot of, you know,

her cut we ended

up seeing in theaters.

[paparazzi yelling] Ryan!

As "It Ends with

Us" is coming out,

"Deadpool & Wolverine"

also comes out.

We see a lot of cross-promotion

and a lot of Blake and Ryan

in the news together.

Within "Deadpool & Wolverine,"

there's a character

called "Nicepool."

And where in God's name

is the intimacy coordinator?

Bryan Freedman,

Baldoni's lawyer,

issues a letter to Disney

saying that this character

is clearly making fun of Justin.

Who are you?

Oh, I'm Deadpool, but in here,

everybody calls me Nicepool.

Nicepool has a man

bun, like Justin Baldoni,

and he makes

references to Lady Deadpool,

who was voiced by Blake.

[Lady Deadpool] Oh,

we're just getting started.

He even talks about

Ladypool's body

after just giving birth.

Oh my goodness, wait

till you see Ladypool.

She is gorgeous.

She just had a baby too,

and... [blows air through lips]

-Can't even tell.

-I don't think you're supposed to say that.

That's OK.

-I identify as a feminist.

-Right.

Here I am, doing my

part, trying to be a feminist.

There's so many parallels to

what happened in the real world

on the set of "It Ends with Us."

As part of the lawyer's

assessment of this,

he points to the fact,

"Well, Lively clearly couldn't

"have undergone something as

serious as sexual harassment if

they're making

fun of it in a movie."

I don't think that's the case.

I think people cope with

many things with humor.

All of a sudden...

we're yo-yoed back to,

"Wow, maybe this is like

the most high-school fight that

"we're ever privy to that

people with millions of dollars

can do with each other."

Maybe they're both wrong.

A trial date has been set for

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni

to battle it out in court.

We now have a date, but

it is not until March of 2026.

As of now, Blake Lively

has promised to bring forward

two more women

from "It Ends with Us"

who say that Justin

Baldoni mistreated her

and mistreated them on set.

And if that comes to fruition,

that would be a big deal

for the case.

[Dina] My professional opinion,

Blake Lively has a stronger

case because all of

Justin Baldoni's arguments

about fame and

control don't really refute

her claim of sexual harassment.

Those allegations,

the improvising of

the kissing, the showing,

describing his genitalia,

talking about p*rn*graphy,

regardless of where

your workplace is, those seem

to be pretty strong basis for

a claim of sexual harassment.

[Perez] Even though it seems like

a lot of social media is supporting

Justin Baldoni, the

longer this goes on,

the more reputational

damage they will both suffer.

You've gotta consider

that Justin Baldoni

might be the problem.

[Matthew] The social media

algorithms portion of this is really

interesting, because you get

fed something very personal.

What she is accusing him of is

so harsh and so disrespectful.

If you are getting fed a lot

of things about Justin Baldoni

being a good guy, you're

gonna keep getting fed that.

The same goes for people

that are on Blake Lively's side.

Who wants to trust a man

who's made his entire brand

all about being a champion

for the voices of women?

[Matthew] These algorithms split

people apart, and you're never really

gonna get the other

side of the narrative.

At this point, it's

kind of like a mutually

assured destruction.

[audience clapping]

[SNL announcer] Ladies and

gentlemen, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Even at the "Saturday Night

Live" 50th anniversary special,

Ryan Reynolds made a

little passing remark to it,

a little joke about it.

[Tina] Ryan Reynolds,

how's it going?

Great -- why? What

have you heard?

[laughing]

[Matthew] People

immediately understood,

they're still in

the thick of this.

This is still something

that is going on.

From a PR standpoint,

both of them are gonna have

a hard time getting the

mud off of their reputation.

They're both going

to have to do some

work with great professionals,

hopefully, that are gonna

lead them down the path,

outside of the courtroom,

building back the

trust of their fans.

I believe for Blake, she

needs to be vulnerable.

She needs to have a moment

where she's a mom of four.

We want to be connected

to her and empathize.

Like, what woman hasn't been

uncomfortable in a workplace?

That's a common situation,

and we want to support her.

For Justin, you know,

he has this platform of

debunking toxic masculinity.

He needs to also, "Hey, tail

between my legs here, guys.

I -- I could have done better."

That's a relatable moment.

[Matthew] The irony of this

whole thing is that the movie that

the movie was such

a huge success.

And to have all this scandal

around it is kind of sad,

because it really was

a big win for Hollywood.

I mean, if you're Colleen

Hoover, you have to be

kind of fed up with it.

[Perez] Author Colleen

Hoover, who wrote the novel

"It Ends with Us," wiped all

of her photos with Blake Lively

and Justin Baldoni,

but she still follows

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds

and is not following

Justin Baldoni.

So, interpret that as you will.

[Aaron] The saddest thing about

this is the message of this movie

is taking second place

to this conversation about

what happened on set.

The biggest loss here is this

incredible film that so many

people were really excited

about and a topic that really

needs to be

addressed in Hollywood.

At this point, this is

basically like the unraveling

of a family feud.

In terms of winners and losers,

there really are no winners.

It's all losers.

[Dina] The bigger loser here

is victims of domestic violence.

This movie was about

domestic violence.

And nobody's talking

about domestic violence.

The other sad thing is

that there is an allegation of

sexual harassment on

a domestic violence set,

and the whole public

seems to have decided

whether or not that's true

long before the evidence has

even been introduced at trial.