More text messages between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively have been revealed as the pair's legal battle rages on.
The It Ends With Us co-stars have been at loggerheads since filming the movie together, in which they starred as Ryle Kincaid and Lily Bloom respectively.
The Colleen Hoover adaptation was released in August 2024, but by December of the same year, Lively had filed a lawsuit against Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, accusing them of sexual harassment and intimidation.
Baldoni had strongly denied the allegations, and himself launched a lawsuit against the New York Times for libel for siding with Lively's account of events, later going on to sue Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for $400 million for civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.
Lively had accused Baldoni - who starred in and directed the movie - of making her feel uncomfortable on set, including in a slowdance scene where she claimed he'd "dragged" his lips down her neck before telling her she "smelled good".
In response Baldoni's team had leaked the raw footage of the scene, in which he is scene asking her if he's getting his beard on her, to which Lively responds that she is probably getting fake tan on him, to which he told her it "smells good".
Several text messages between the pair were also released in the interim, and the latest series of exchanges between them appear to show the pair had a friendly relationship at the start of filming in May 2023.
Baldoni's legal team has shared messages appearing to show that he and Lively were in constant communication and would "share stories and pictures from their lives, commiserate over family illnesses and exchange jokes and memes,” as cited by Page Six.
In one message, Lively, 37, allegedly wrote: "It’s such a good feeling to get work done that we’re proud of. And to do it together.
"It just clicks when we find it. And that’s just as rewarding as filming it. Or editing it. Or marketing it. Or releasing it. This is all story telling. This is why we do it."
She then thanked Baldoni for his "collaboration", adding that she was "really proud of what we're doing."
Screenshots shared in the filings appeared to show that Baldoni reacted to the messages with "love", responding: "I like sentimental Blake," to which she joked back: Never met her."
Baldoni then quipped: "I also like a**hole Blake… don’t worry," to which Lively replied: "I’ve met her. So have my suppositories."
Ahead of their first day of filming, Lively had emailed Baldoni to say that she was "grateful for all we have built so far," adding: "I’m excited to start tomorrow. But it’s only one piece of the journey. We started months ago.
"Thank you for caring so much and for putting every bit of you into showing it."
Baldoni also praised Lively after a successful first few days on set, writing on May 23, 2023: "I’m not going to tell you that you were amazing because you tease me for being so sentimental – but you were amazing today."
Lively responded: "Thank you I do appreciate it. I’m just a ball buster but it means a lot to me. I care a great deal. And always want to deliver."
She then added: "You were terrific. I’m proud of everything we did today, but really every day."
The text message exchanges have become a focus of the pair's respective lawsuits, with Baldoni's lawyers claiming Lively had "cherry-picked" messages out of context in her original filing.
Lively had initially filed a California civil rights complaint before filing a lawsuit against Baldoni, alleging that he had added more intimate scenes than had originally been agreed on, showed her graphic videos, shamed her for her weight, and made her uncomfortable on several occasions with sexually suggestive remarks.
She also claimed he and his team had conspired to ruin her reputation in the wake of their falling out.
Baldoni had responded with a lawsuit of his own against Lively, Reynolds, and their PR team, claiming they'd orchestrated a smear campaign against him with the New York Times, which first shared the actress's complaints.
More evidence is expected to come to light from both parties as the legal battle commences, with the trial scheduled for March 2026.