The ongoing legal battle betweenBlake Livelyand herIt Ends With Usdirector and co-star,Justin Baldoni, takes another turn as a crew member on the film has now publicly defended the latter. During an appearance on60 Minutes Australia, storyboard artist Talia Spencer spoke out defending Baldoni. Singing Baldoni’s praises, Spencer said he was “one of the few directors I’ve worked for that was kind and respectful.”
Spencer suggested that Lively “tried to take advantage and take power” from Baldoni, misinterpreting his kindness as a weakness. Spencer also indicated a significant compromise of Baldoni’s original vision for the film, a movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel, which Baldoni both directed and led as Ryle Kincaid.
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Spencer’s public support of Baldoni comes during alegal dispute between Baldoni and Livelythat began in December 2024. That month, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni that alleged sexual harassment and a smear campaign. Her claims were highlighted by a damning expose in the New York Times, which cited on-set inappropriate behavior from Baldoni against Lively that included remarks, improvised romantic scenes, and comments about her appearance. She also accused Baldoni and his team of planting negative stories about her.
Baldoni denied all of Lively’s accusations and responded with legal action. He filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times and a $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane (and Sloane’s PR firm, Vision PR, Inc.), alleging defamation and civil extortion. Among Baldoni’s complaints against Lively were that she demanded editing access and threatened not to promote the project unless the studio selected her version. His legal team has presented evidence to support his defense, including text messages and behind-the-scenes footage. Baldoni even later amended his suit to include allegations of bullying by Reynolds, claiming theNicepool character inDeadpool & Wolverineshared similaritieswith him.
Crew Member Alleges Blake Lively Wrestled for Control of ‘It Ends With Us’
Spencer’s statements on60 Minutes Australiaaddressed the dynamic between Baldoni and Lively and the final version ofIt Ends With Us. When asked if she felt Lively “wrestled control of the film” from Baldoni, Spencer said that she believed Lively had tried to do so and likely succeeded:
“I think there was a massive compromise in terms of Justin’s original vision for the film.”
Notably, Lively reportedly played a significant role in her character’s wardrobe and even rewrote lines for the film. The Baldoni and Lively trial is scheduled for June 26, 2025. This crew member’s account adds another interesting point to the ongoing narrative. Social media users seem to be predominantly team Baldoni, and this won’t do much to dissuade those voices. Lively has been critiqued since the film’s promotion for downplaying the movie’s serious themes, which include domestic violence. Despite the highly publicized legal battle between the two andLively’s seemingly sinking public favor, the actress was just named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. Speaking of LIvely, civil-rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill shared:
“I don’t know the Blake Lively of the red carpet. Or the Met Gala. I never watched ‘Gossip Girl.‘The Blake Lively I know is a philanthropist and a student of our country’s most intractable problems.”
Source:60 Minutes Australia,TIME
It Ends With Us
Based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, It Ends With Us is a drama-romance film directed by Justin Baldoni. The film follows a recent college graduate named Lily, who meets a man named Ryle and falls in love with him. However, a traumatic incident compounded with her former high-school sweetheart re-entering her life complicates her plans.
