Justin Baldoni ‘Thrilled’ Blake Lively and Taylor Swift Are Being ‘Exposed’ Amid Leaked Texts

Blake Lively’s ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni took a shocking turn on Jan. 20 when private messages between the It Ends With Us star, 38, and BFF Taylor Swift were publicly released, along with messages from her costar Jenny Slate, husband Ryan Reynolds, actress Jameela Jamil and others, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Fans wasted no time digging through the trove of texts, which offered unprecedented insight into Taylor, 36, and Blake’s relationship — and their contempt for Justin, who Blake has accused of sexual harassment. (Justin, 42, responded with his own lawsuit, which was dismissed in June.) In the messages, Blake refers to Justin, her costar and director of IEWU, as a “doofus,” while Taylor calls him a “bitch.” Jenny, 43, who’s sided with Blake in the feud, dismisses him as “unprofessional,” per People. Meanwhile, Jameela, 39, was forced to defend herself after it was revealed she’d called Blake a “villain” in a message to Justin’s publicist, writing in her Substack that she had a right to be “gratuitously gossipy and shallow and petty and mean.”

It’s not a good look for anyone, Taylor especially. The singer had tried to keep her communications private and a source tells Star she’s “furious” they’re now public. “It’s just so embarrassing and demanding to have everyone poring over personal messages.”

Receipts Unsealed

The communications reveal the lengths Blake went to get her way. On April 12, 2023, for example, Taylor was en route to Blake’s New York City apartment when the Gossip Girl alum texted, asking the “So High School” singer for a favor: convince her “doofus director” Justin that her rewrite of a scene in the Colleen Hoover movie adaptation was better. “Can you tell him you’re excited for the movie? That you read the book but what you’re freaking out over is the pages I sent you,” Blake wrote. “What a magnetic scene that is. Or whatever descriptives you’re comfortable [with].” She went on to call Justin a “clown” who “thinks he’s a writer now” and said that “having the greatest living storyteller unknowingly echo to him how much you love what we’re doing” would “go such a long way.” Taylor replied, “I’ll do anything for you!!”

And she did. “You were so epically heroic today,” Blake later texted Taylor. “I recapped every moment to Ryan. I kept remembering stuff — You making s**t up about me and lenses. And referring to yourself as my doll. This clown falling for all of it. But also resisting. You are the world’s absolutely greatest friend. I won the lottery.”

Another series of texts from April 26 show the pair discussing the use of Taylor’s song “My Tears Ricochet” in the film’s trailer. “By the way, if Justin was strategic, he would be like ‘No Taylor Swift in the trailer.’ Because that gives you more power over the film, that’s your ally, not his,” the pop star noted, to which Blake quipped, “Get yourself a best friend who thinks like the actual Roman Empire.” Taylor went on, writing, “His misogyny runs so deep he thinks women are incapable of winning chess matches or making long game power plays.”

Taylor may regret her messages being made public, but Ryan, who referred to Justin as a “dumb-dumb” and a “predatory fraudster” in his texts, doubled down. After all, this is the guy he alleges “fat-shamed” his wife, among other offenses. His rep told Puck, “If anything, Ryan feels he wasn’t angry enough. He passionately believes in and will stand up for the basic right to a safe workplace free of harassment and retaliation for his wife and others.” Justin’s rep dismissed all claims to the Daily Mail, saying, “A simple read of the newly released message exchanges makes the truth abundantly clear. We remain confident of the legal process and clearing the names of all the Justin Baldoni parties.” The case is due in court in May.

Getting Ugly

The source says Justin is “absolutely loving” the firestorm. “He’s thrilled that they’re being exposed as catty, mean-girl types and says people are finally getting a glimpse of what he had to deal with.” The actor-director is now “even more determined to keep on fighting,” adds the source,“though the case has been exhausting and costly.”

Still, the allegations against him are serious and, as the messages overwhelmingly show, he was widely derided by his colleagues. As Jenny wrote, the movie was “a really gross and disturbing shoot, and I’m one of many who feel [this] way.”