Justin Baldoni Claims Blake Lively Tried to “Trap” Him by Refusing Body Doubles on Set

Justin Baldoni has claimed that Blake Lively tried to “trap” him on the set of the 2024 film It Ends With Us by refusing to use a body double for intimate scenes, according to newly unsealed text messages.

The texts, shared in legal documents filed by Lively’s management company, WME, on January 5 and obtained by Us Weekly, reveal Baldoni, 41, expressing concern to his former WME agent, Danny Greenberg, about interactions with Lively, 38, on December 30, 2023.

“Hey man, had a really really bad week,” Baldoni wrote, explaining that Lively had emailed him to invite him to a meeting at her house alone. “She’s refused a body double which now Sony [the film’s distributor] and Todd [Black, a producer on the film] have to jump in to make sure that happens because that’s just setting me up for a trap. Although she’s making me have one.”

Baldoni also criticized Lively’s handling of the film’s intimate scenes. “She’s rejected all my Story Boards for the s** scenes … she’s trying to keep all of … our clothes on for the big love scene, which is just ridiculous if you know the book,” he wrote.

“The whole thing is just a gigantic cluster f***** and yet I’m doing my best to stay positive, although it’s been very draining on me and time-consuming over this break to be dealing with an actress who is rewriting the writer and Director.”

Thomas Canestraro, Baldoni’s body double, told the Daily Mail in June 2025 that he felt discomfort from others while working on the film.

Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, in December 2024. She accused him of s***** harassment, retaliation, and a smear campaign intended to damage her career.

Baldoni has denied the claims and countersued the following month, seeking $400 million in damages and accusing Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist of civil extortion, defamation, and other actions. A judge dismissed Baldoni’s countersuit in June 2025. Lively’s lawsuit is set for trial in New York City in March.

In his messages, Baldoni said he had tried to accommodate Lively. “I’ve gone through the whole script, I’m giving her 95 percent of what she wants for peace but this is just a brutal experience,” he wrote. After discussing possible mediation with Greenberg, he added, “I’m doing my best to just stay positive and give her as many wins as possible to just finish this thing but it’s gonna be tough at some point … she is destroying her reputation.”

Baldoni also warned that the film’s editing process could be contentious. “Where we will need the most help is during the edit because I’m not going to get everything she wants and I foresee that being a big issue,” he wrote.

Five days later, Lively, who also produced the film, called a meeting on January 4, 2024. Attendees included Baldoni, producer Todd Black, Reynolds, Sony executive Ange Gianetti, fellow producer Alex Saks, and Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath. Baldoni and Lively have given conflicting accounts of what happened at the meeting through their legal filings over the past year.

This ongoing legal battle highlights the tensions behind the scenes of It Ends With Us and raises questions about on-set protocols for intimate scenes, actor safety, and creative control.