Blake Lively is reportedly involved in a peculiar exchange involving a Game of Thrones-themed text to Justin Baldoni amidst a $400 million lawsuit against her company.
Justin Baldoni has initiated legal proceedings against Lively, her spouse Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, a PR firm, and friend Taylor Swift for $400 million. This legal battle ensued after Lively lodged her own federal lawsuit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and attempting to tarnish her reputation.
The conflict emerged during the production of “It Ends With Us,” a romantic drama based on Colleen Hoover’s popular 2016 novel, in which Baldoni both starred and directed alongside Lively.
Baldoni’s legal team has dismissed Lively’s accusations as “categorically false,” launching a counter lawsuit with allegations including civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, prospective economic advantage, negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, and intentional interference with contractual relations and prospective economic advantage.
Rumors surfaced about alleged tensions between Baldoni and Lively on the set of the 2024 film, with Lively facing online criticism during the movie’s promotional tour.
In a recent development, Baldoni alleges that Lively personified a Game of Thrones character in text messages exchanged during the filming of their romantic drama.
Baldoni’s detailed 179-page lawsuit, filed on January 16, accuses him of facing Lively’s “dragons,” referring to two of the world’s most influential and wealthy celebrities, implying they were making his situation challenging, as reported by PEOPLE.
As part of his allegations, Baldoni claims that Swift and Reynolds urged him to agree to Lively’s modifications to certain scenes and that he was “summoned” to a meeting with Reynolds, who was accompanied by Swift, where they praised Lively’s version of the script.
In his lawsuit, Baldoni states he later informed Lively via text that he found her script changes “fun and interesting,” though he added he would have felt this way without Ryan and Taylor’s involvement, and included an emoji.
Lively reportedly replied with a comparison to Khaleesi, suggesting her husband and friend were her “dragons.”
The alleged text from Lively stated: “I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. [Smiley-face emoji] you will too, I can promise you.”
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, previously told UNILAD: “This lawsuit is a legal action based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media.”
He added: “Let’s not forget, Ms. Lively and her team attempted to bulldoze reputations and livelihoods for heinously selfish reasons through their own dangerous manipulation of the media before even taking any actual legal action. We know the truth, and now the public does too. Justin and his team have nothing to hide, documents do not lie.”