Unraveling the Justin Baldoni Text Messages Allegedly Plotting Against Blake Lively

In case you missed it, Blake Lively has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star, Justin Baldoni. The lawsuit includes thousands of pages of emails and text messages between Justin and his team, obtained by Blake through a subpoena — and now, they’re making the rounds. Unsurprisingly, they’re not painting a pretty picture.

The messages suggest Justin may have been strategizing to tarnish Blake’s reputation while preparing for potential allegations, which materialized in her December 2024 lawsuit. Days before the It Ends With Us film hit theaters, a publicist working with both Wayfarer and Justin allegedly messaged a crisis management expert Justin later hired, Melissa Nathan, saying Justin "wants to feel like she can be buried." Melissa replied, "You know we can bury anyone."

Here’s a breakdown of the texts.

The text messages allegedly reveal that Justin's team devised a plan to tarnish Blake’s reputation, including planting op-ed articles through the PR team and posting messages on Reddit to spread negativity online — and it seems to have worked. A Daily Mail headline for an Aug. 16 piece read, "Is Blake Lively set to be CANCELLED?" and also mentioned speculation that she was "tone deaf."

A text exchange between Jennifer Abel, a PR representative for Wayfarer, and Melissa, the crisis management expert, suggested a strategy was in motion: "I think we need to put the social combat plan into motion," Jennifer wrote, to which Melissa replied, "So do I."

In an August 2024 discussion, just days before the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel premiered, Justin shared dissatisfaction with "the document they sent," in a conversation between Jennifer and Jamey Heath, the lead producer.

The document allegedly included talking points meant to portray Blake as using her power to take creative control of the film. However, Blake clarified in her lawsuit that she wasn’t attempting to change the script entirely — only aspects involving intimate scenes not included in her contract.

Jennifer later told the crisis management team, "I think you guys need to be tough and show the strength of what you guys can do in these scenarios. He wants to feel like she can be buried." Melissa responded, "Of course — but you know when we send over documents, we can’t send over the work we will or could do because that could get us in a lot of trouble," adding, "We can’t write we will destroy her."

Then, in an Aug. 4, 2024, message reported by The New York Times, Jennifer wrote, "I’m having reckless thoughts of wanting to plant pieces this week of how horrible Blake is to work with. Just to get ahead of it."

In another email exchange on Aug. 8, 2024, Justin asked his publicist, "What is the TikTok strategy? I’d like you guys to start posting me ONLY talking about domestic violence and clips and why this movie is so important." He further urged his team to promote survivors of domestic violence, writing, "Need you to be finding survivors sharing their stories and amplifying them on my page and TikTok."

At one point, one of Justin's PR team members wrote in a text message, "The majority of socials are so pro-Justin, and I don’t even agree with half of them lol."

It’s presumed Justin and his team orchestrated these efforts as a precaution in case Blake came forward with allegations. The goal seemed to be painting himself as a positive voice for domestic violence victims rather than someone accused of sexual harassment. Making matters worse, Blake was allegedly advised not to promote the film in a critical light but to stick to "light-hearted" messaging per her contract, avoiding any deeper discussion of the movie’s themes, particularly domestic violence.