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A massive scandal can push a once-happy relationship to its limits.
In late 2024, Blake Lively became the target of online ridicule — months before her legal battle began and the world learned what was really going on.
Recently, rumors have circulated that she and husband Ryan Reynolds are in troubled waters.
Can a look at the actor’s unsealed texts shed light on where things stand?
‘Obviously a predator and sociopath’
Newly unsealed court documents show a text exchange between Reynolds and author Colleen Hoover.
Hoover is a sometimes polarizing author, but she is relevant here for having written It Ends With Us — the book that spawned the film adaptation that turned Lively’s life upside down.
Page Six got ahold of texts from August 10, 2024 in which Reynolds is clearly alluding to Justin Baldoni.
“It’s amazing to me that you can have everybody involved with a production completely run away from a person who is obviously a predator and sociopath,” he lamented.
“And,” Reynolds continued, “the narrative must first land on why a woman is the problem.”
Before any of the drama first erupted on TikTok, people had already noticed that none of the It Ends With Us cast seemed eager to speak about Baldoni on the red carpet.
Remember, he was not only one of the stars, but also the film’s director. His absence from promotions, and the clear disinterest in discussing him, was very conspicuous.
“It’s amazing to me how low people still go,” Reynolds remarked in the texts.
“But people are already coming forward,” he continued “and soon enough someone is just gonna go on record.”
It seems that at the time, he and Lively had not yet reached the decision to file a claim against Baldoni.
‘The really smart folks already know’
Colleen Hoover responded in agreement — but she also shared her perspective with Reynolds about Lively’s online critics.
“It’s mind-blowing,” Hoover echoed.
“But,” she continued, “also I feel like the loud ones are mostly 13-year-olds who don’t have fully developed brains yet and will be mortified by their thought process a few years from now.”
As with other, similar cases, a tremendous number of people online have come forward to admit that they regretted being hoodwinked by online caricatures of Lively.
“Good to hear it’s already beginning to skew away from him,” Hoover added, another apparent reference to Baldoni.
“Surprising it’s mostly girls,” Reynolds remarked. Many expect misogyny to spread most by and among men, but patriarchy is more insidious than that. “At least, that’s what I’ve seen.”
He continued: “And the really smart folks already know. Although the narrative at the moment is how insanely well the film is performing and how much audiences love it. So…”
A source close to Reynolds spoke to Page Six, saying: “It is no secret that Ryan was trying to protect his wife, who was being targeted by a crisis PR team hired by Baldoni.”
The source added: “This is the same crisis team who has been accused of these smear tactics in at least 5 other lawsuits according to the NYT.”
Though this was from over two years ago, these texts are from the height of the hate campaign against Lively. If Reynolds was standing by his wife this adamantly before the public learned the truth about what she experienced on Baldoni’s set, one would imagine that the injustices that she faced in and out of court did not sour things.
