On January 20, the public got a front-row seat to just how ugly things can get behind the scenes in Hollywood. A whopping 181 pages of newly unsealed court documents from Blake Lively's legal battle with her It Ends With Us costar and director, Justin Baldoni, put private conversations on full display. The contents ranged from juicy to shocking - including messages from Lively to celeb pals Ben Affleck and Matt Damon asking them to watch her cut of the movie and offer feedback, as well as texts between Lively and Taylor Swift in which the singer called Baldoni "a bitch." The docs also featured Lively's castmate Jenny Slate calling Baldoni a "clown" and a "false ally," and Baldoni's producing partner, Jamey Heath, slamming Lively as "bats**t crazy." Elsewhere in the drop, one Sony exec referred to Lively as a "f**king terrorist," while a marketing exec labeled Baldoni "a moron." The movie studio's president, Sanford Panitch, criticized Lively for selling her haircare line while promoting the film, which centers on domestic violence. "[It] was epic level stupid," he wrote in an email. Baldoni's PR person, Jennifer Abel, called her client "pompous" and "so unlikable and unrealistic as a leading man." The lawsuit has been dominating headlines for more than a year, but with A-listers and Hollywood bigwigs now being pulled in even deeper, the docs have marked a new low for everyone involved. Lively, 38, sued Baldoni, 42, in late 2024, claiming he'd sexually harassed her and orchestrated a smear campaign against her; Baldoni, who denied the allegations, filed a since-dismissed $400 million countersuit against Lively, alleging extortion and defamation. The case - which is set to go to trial on May 18 - can't go away soon enough. "The feeling is frustration," a source from Affleck and Damon's circle tells Us Weekly. "There's a sense of, 'Why am I being dragged into this?' It's created unnecessary stress and irritation, and people feel like it's become a black hole. Even those who have nothing to do with it are worried about getting mentioned or dragged into public speculation." Group chat texts show Reynolds implored Damon and his wife, Luciana, to watch Lively's version of It Ends With Us. In response, Damon said they'd help "any way we can." According to the source, Damon and Luciana "aren't close friends" with Lively, and while they have been supportive throughout the whole situation, "they don't love that their texts are public." MEGA; Getty Images Lively similarly emailed Damon's longtime pal Affleck, with whom she costarred in 2010's The Town, asking whether he and his then-wife, Jennifer Lopez, could screen her cut of the film. "If I would've just formally directed it, it would've been much easier, but having to troubleshoot through his taste, ego and preexisting decisions made it so difficult and that's not even touching on any of the wild HR issues and beyond," Lively wrote, describing Baldoni as a "chaotic clown." Affleck "didn't respond to Blake's email; he was filming a busy," says the source, adding that they don't believe he saw the film ahead of time. Lopez, for her part, "didn't even know this was happening at the time and wants no involvement," explains the source. "[She] has no affiliation with Blake or the film." For the celebs caught in the crossfire, the fallout runs the gamut from minor annoyance to PR crisis. While the correspondence with Affleck and Damon seems relatively harmless, texts between actress and feminist Jameela Jamil and Abel, the publicist who represented both Jamil and Baldoni, may be more damaging. Jamil called Lively "a suicide bomber" and said she's "never seen such a bizarre villain act before" in response to Lively's light tone while doing press for It Ends With Us. On January 25, Jamil addressed her statements saying via TikTok that she was "purely venting" about Lively's "press rollout," adding that as the victim of domestic violence, "It offended me." (Lively has said the marketing plan was to keep things upbeat.) What was once a behind-the-scenes war involving Lively and Baldoni has become a Hollywood dumpster fire. The first source says there's "a growing sentiment that the situation has crossed from a private dispute into an industry-wide headache." Adds a Lively

Source: "People in Hollywood have been distancing themselves from Blake and Ryan.

Even close friends of theirs have been keeping their heads down and staying neutral." (A source close to the matter emphasizes that Lively's private texts were only unsealed because Baldoni's team submitted them as evidence.) PR expert Mark Borkowski says "no one wants to be an accessory in someone else's legal psychodrama," adding that for the stars who've been dragged into it, "their reputational risk is minimal - but their irritation levels will be off the charts." Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's New Court Documents: Biggest Bombshells Both Lively and Baldoni have clocked legal and PR wins and losses. It seemed Lively ha