Newly unsealed court documents reveal that Ryan Reynolds intensely lobbied Sony Pictures and industry associates to defend his wife, Blake Lively, as public scrutiny mounted during the release of the 2024 film “It Ends With Us,” according to reports from Page Six and the Daily Mail.
The text messages, which date to August 2024, emerged from the now-settled legal dispute between Lively and co-star and director Justin Baldoni. At the time, Lively faced intense public blowback over the movie’s promotional campaign, including criticism of lighthearted remarks made while marketing a film centered on domestic violence, as well as the concurrent rollout of her personal haircare brand.
Demands for Studio Backing
In text exchanges with talent agent Warren Zavala on Aug. 17, 2024, Reynolds urged the studio to release an official statement attributing the negative coverage to an organized smear campaign, Page Six reported. Reynolds characterized the studio’s reluctance to forcefully intervene as “unforgivable” and drafted language he wanted Sony executives to release to the public, according to the records obtained by the outlet.
Reynolds maintained that Sony needed to acknowledge that the criticism was part of a coordinated effort engineered by a crisis public relations firm. He also noted in messages to Zavala that his wife had endured exhaustion and missed time with family while completing the production, arguing she should not bear responsibility for the negative publicity, according to Page Six.
A source close to Reynolds told Page Six that the actor had acted to shield his wife from a targeted campaign. According to the Daily Mail, a source familiar with the legal dispute countered that the crisis PR team cited by Reynolds had only been hired six days prior to his messages, disputing that the firm could have instigated backlash that predated its involvement.
Texts Targeted Justin Baldoni
Additional unsealed communications show Reynolds took direct aim at Baldoni. In an Aug. 10, 2024, text exchange with “It Ends With Us” author Colleen Hoover, Reynolds used sharply critical language about Baldoni, calling him “a predator and sociopath” and satirizing the filmmaker’s public relations strategy, the New York Post reported.
The tension eventually spilled into open court. Lively filed a formal complaint against Baldoni in December 2024, claiming sexual harassment on set and accusing him of orchestrating a retaliatory smear effort, the Post reported. Baldoni denied all allegations and responded with a $400 million defamation and extortion countersuit against Lively, Reynolds and members of their team.
Baldoni’s countersuit was thrown out in June 2025, and a judge summarily dismissed the majority of Lively’s claims against Baldoni personally in April 2026, according to the Daily Mail. The remaining claims against Baldoni’s production entities were settled in May 2026, with neither party receiving monetary damages under the agreement.
Behind-the-Scenes Tension at Sony
While Sony later released a public statement in December 2024 condemning reputational attacks and reiterating support for Lively, internal communications submitted in court painted a different scene behind closed doors, the Daily Mail and Yahoo reported.
Unsealed internal emails revealed that studio executives privately criticized Lively’s choices during the film’s rollout. Senior Sony executive Andrea Giannetti referred to Lively using harsh profanity during an on-set dispute in September 2024, while other internal messages described the actress’s decision to launch a haircare product line during the movie tour as extraordinarily poor judgment, according to the Daily Mail.
Following the conclusion of the litigation, Lively sought nearly $7.5 million in legal fees and over $539,000 in expenses from Baldoni, but a court awarded her $400,000 in August, Page Six reported. Public relations representative Leslie Sloane was subsequently replaced by Kelly Bush Novak on Lively’s team, while separate lawsuits against Baldoni’s public relations consultants remain pending.
