The Momo Slate

Ok if you live under a rock or don't care, the TLDR is that Colleen Hoover is a mediocre author with very popular books and years ago, Justin Baldoni bought the options for "It Ends With Us" to turn it into a film that he would ultimately end up starring in and directing. Blake Lively was cast as his love interest and we had to live through the annoying pap shots for the filming for months before it was released in August of 2024. (Yes, I saw it in theaters with my friends AND read the book.) After the release, it was COMPLETE chaos online over a Blake vs. Justin fallout. Team Blake vs. Team Justin raged for months before Blake sued Justin for lots of things including sexual harassment and a coordinated campaign to ruin her reputation. Justin sued back for something else but who cares because it was dismissed.

He accused her of hijacking a movie that she was only cast in (aka NOT hired to re-write, NOT hired to direct, NOT hired to edit) even forcing his family and friends to wait in a basement during the premiere. Ultimately, she pushed for her edit to be the final version even though all feedback favored Justin's edit. She accuses him of being inappropriate, commenting on her body, being a crap director and coordinating bots to go after her.

The legal nonsense has dragged on for months and I kind of forgot about it, but now, the judge in the case has unsealed a sh*t ton of text messages from Blake AND her annoying husband, Ryan Reynolds and it's a DOOZY. So let's break it down! (Editor's note, I have found RR annoying FOR YEARS, this is nothing new.)

I should preface that I really don't know who is at fault here, doesn't look good on both sides, but I will say 1) there are no winners - no way either careers come back from this and 2) wow celebs are annoying and entitled!

Ok let's start with: The Taylor Swift of it all. (Disclaimer, I'm a Swiftie!) Justin has accused Blake of employing Taylor to use her superstar power to help beat down Justin and get the world #teamBlake. Spoiler alert- Taylor dropped her like a bad habit and tried to distance herself but the newest texts...aren't great. However I will say this- she was being a good bestie! The hatred towards her (via Travis Kelce's insta comments) is so unwarranted and goes to show you that women ALWAYS be blamed.

1) Unrelated to Taylor, Blake calls Colleen Hoover "the greatest living storyteller" and right there should be the end of it because...that's a lie. Can we be real here, it wasn't that great of a book OR a movie!

2) Blake's texts prove Justin's accusation that she had Taylor be at the apartment to intimidate him into using her re-written scenes (Which maybe also Ryan re-wrote and maybe also Gossip Girl is a better writer?) There's a lot there from Blake to Justin about her using her dragons to protect her and Blake really needs to update her cultural references.

3) Blake mentions "you dug a movie out of a grave once already for me" so going to need to know WHICH movie asap.

4) Taylor basically responds that whatever Blake needs, she'll help and a later text proves that she came through because Blake calls her epically heroic. (Taylor then calls her THE COOLEST GIRL IN THE WORLD and makes me think Blake has embraced too much Serena into her personality?) Note: Blake tells her she doesn't actually HAVE to read the rewrites, just blindly support them.

5) Sounds like Taylor got EARFULS about Justin and in friendship solidarity, called him a bitch. ALLOWED! Some men are bitches and wouldn't I love to see what men in Hollywood text about women... It's part of a larger text insinuating that they know a hammer is about to fall. Only days later, a slanted report by the NYT that is heavily favoring Blake is released and I will say, it does sound from later depositions that maybe they writers weren't so unbiased.

6) Blake refers to Justin as a doofus and a clown...which is kinda funny

7) The texts between besties joking about taking Justin down and him being a predator continue and I really don't know if we'll ever know the full truth other than he said/she said and if he is a terrible human, good news- I promise you he will never work in Hollywood again! But in this case, besties talking sh*t about dumb men - cancel all women because it's what we do best!!

8) So I guess this is all going down DURING the filming then around the release. Fast forward to December, 2024 and the heat is ON this feud. Taylor is one to distance herself from controversy if she can so Blake sends her a long text featuring the word "donno" and basically says she feels like Taylor is pulling away - she realizes she's been all about herself but she needs her bestie, etc. TAYLOR replies back in a very nice way but does call out that the communication from Blake has become corporate-sounding and distant. We have not seen them in the same room since...

Ok WOW - a lot there (so much paraphrased and context missing, just trying to recap here). It does NOT end with Taylor (ok one thing we can give Colleen is that title is providing oodles of funny play on words). Blake and her husband, Ryan, decide Taylor is not enough. Time to employ the big guns...Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Which I find inherently funny. Because we love them, but I don't see those two dude like ever going to the mat for a mediocre movie. Like it's just so funny that they picked the Boston buddies. But let's quickly recap THOSE texts:

1) May 2024, Blake asks Ben for his opinion on her edits. He IS an Oscar Winning Writer AND Producer (he did not win for directing Argo, just producing). But also- they were in The Town together eons ago and the rumor mill is there was a love situation that went down while he was married to Jennifer Garner and they haven't been seen together. PS we don't shame here but we do pass on information and Blake does have a reputation for enjoying the company of her male co-stars and I need to know what went down on Green Lantern to cause such a quick divorce between Ryan and Scarlett Johannsen but we can save that for another day.

2) The EMAIL starts with "don't hang up" which is hilarious but also proof that Ben would open an email from Blake and be like "huh?" She comments that a documentary on the MAKING of the movie would be like The Fyre Festival and Going Clear... ok I think we can all agree comparing a bad filming experience with SCIENTOLOGY is a bit much. But then she accuses him of being in a cult and now I realize she's weaponizinging his religion. He's a member of the Baha'i faith and I think always err on the side of treading lightly re someone's religion (UNLESS it IS Scientology - my blog, my rules).

3) Blake claims she had to rewrite and direct the movie. OK LOL I looked at IMDB and she has written and directed exactly one thing: A Taylor Swift video. Take that for what it's worth.

4) Blake then goes on to praise his wife, Jennifer (Lopez).

5) She ends it with: “Ryan asked Matt to watch also so I think he’s watching this weekend. Good men showing up. I’m beyond grateful for that. Also. can you believe Jason Bourne is watching my movie!?!?! I’ll get you an autograph one day. Don’t worry.”

6) It does not appear that Ben wrote back.

7) BOTH Ryan and Blake email Matt (separately) and Lucy Damon. Blake reiterates the cult comment. Both are like "NO PRESH, please watch Blake's edit and tell us how amazing it is".

8) Matt DOES reply: “We’ll give you any help we can. And if this experience hasn’t totally destroyed your soul, Blake, you should come direct your next movie at Artists Equity. We’re kind of like a cult but a really nice one.” (Damon and Affleck co-founded Artists Equity, an independent production company launched in 2022.) Again, Blake has directed a music video.

9) They go back and forth: Blake and Ryan tell Matt and Lucy that Justin asked for her weight (because he had to carry her in a scene and while as offensive as that is, especially for a post-partum mom, COULD it have just been because he wanted to be prepared to carry her?? OR MAYBE HE IS A CREEP!!! I DON'T KNOW!)

Sony pipes in. So Sony was distributing the movie and clearly it was a sh*tshow the entire filming, post-production AND during the press junkets.

1) Andrea Giannetti called Blake a "f*cking terrorist" for a laundry list of requests that was delaying the filming/release then later, following the film’s box office success, Giannetti texted Lively, “Blake, $50 million!! Your blood, sweat, tears, brilliant smarts, heart and soul in every single frame. My God, it’s incredible. Thank you 50 million times. And it’s only Saturday night.”

2) Another exec exchanged notes that even though the movie was on track to be very successful, Blake has made herself unhirable. Another said she'll be FINE. A third said she's done, at least for a while.

3) Why, you ask? Well they call her stunt of using the press of a movie surrounding Domestic Violence as a vehicle to launch a hair care line AND an alcohol brand (which she famously does NOT drink so it's wild to capitalize on it!) “epic-level stupid" and that she wouldn't listen.

4) The messages from Sony execs seem to spell out an actress who wanted a lot of decision-making power and didn't listen. But ultimately, the executive who wrote the following was probably the most accurate:

In an Aug. 9, 2024 message, Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, described the fallout as a “f*cking disaster” and that, “None of the who or right or wrong matters at all. The mess is the story now and it will define the film. No one can watch the film the same way. Tragic.”

PHEW a lot there and I come across biased because I think two things can be true: I think Justin can be a creep and not great at his job (although, I feel like producers/studio would step in if that part was true- someone get Seth Rogan's character from The Studio to weigh in STAT). He may have worked with his PR team to drive anti-Blake sentiments on the internet. All those things are BAD! But the other piece is that Blake (and Ryan) used their immense power in Hollywood to rally the troops against Justin.

So what will happen from here:

There will be a decision in the case. It won't matter. Justin's career has a slim shot in hell of recovering. Blake is on VERY thin ice. I think the hardest thing for her will be that she came across very difficult and controlling - like she was the only person who could make the movie good. Blake will not be at Taylor's wedding. Ryan Reynolds, unfortunately, will still be out and about doing his schtick.

Oh geez- can you believe I had this written and MORE texts came out??? I'll make this quick:

- lots of texts between Blake and Brandon Sklenar (who also starred in the movie and is currently in Housemaid) where he's all in on Team Blake and both of them complain about being employed on successful TV shows because it cuts into other projects (I feel like that bit is going to backfire on Brandon but I assume they couldn't foreshadow subpoenas!) He was annoyed he couldn't automatically leave set (he was on 1923) to help support the movie which feels like something his agent should have negotiated? Apparently, Blake has similar sentiments re Gossip Girl- the show that made her famous...

- the texts also start to show a theme. Between Taylor, Matt/Ben, Brandon - Blake is really going after Justin and his character (which could still be warranted!) but if you pay close attention, it's all in support of HER edit of the movie. Which feels icky...like she's demolishing this man's character for credit? To say it was HER movie? Again, no matter what side you're on, you have to see the pattern. I'm a victim, he's terrible, don't you love my edit??

- Also texts from Jameela Jamil to Justin's publicist (whom she also works with) and they're calling Blake things like "suicide bomber", "she's over over over", etc.

OK I AM DONE FOR NOW!