JUSTIN BALDONI - NEVER-ENDING DRAMA

WE'VE ONLY JUST SCRAPED THE SURFACE OF THE LEGAL STOUSH BETWEEN THE STARS OF IT ENDS WITH US

- Jennie Noonan

Before Justin Baldoni took on the role of Ryle, a dashing neurosurgeon with a dark side, in the film adaptation of It Ends with Us, the actor had been working behind the camera as a director and with his production company, Wayfarer Studios. When he approached author Colleen Hoover about optioning the film rights to the book, she suggested he play the lead.

"You need someone in the role of Ryle where it's going to hurt when you see them not turning out how you wish they could be," she told Variety in July 2024. "With Justin, who just is a truly kind person, playing that role, it was honestly perfect." Perhaps that depends on who you ask.

Whispers of tension on the set between Baldoni, 41, and co-star Blake Lively, 37, have since erupted into a cacophony of he said/she said allegations of toxic behaviour from both sides in duelling legal complaints.

On December 20, Lively filed an 80-page complaint to the California Civil Rights Department, claiming that after she reported sexual harassment, Baldoni retaliated by orchestrating a smear campaign intended to "destroy" her reputation. Lively's allegations -including claims of unwanted kissing, a "shocking lack of boundaries", improvised physical intimacy and inappropriate sexual conversations - were publicised by The New York Times the next day.

On December 31, Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, his business partners and PR team hit back by filing an 87-page complaint against The New York Times, suing the newspaper for $400 million.