The Hidden Clash Between Ryan Reynolds And Justin Baldoni Rocks Hollywood

Behind the Hollywood glitz and glam, and carefully managed red-carpet appearances, simmering tensions can stay buried for years, until something finally brings them to the surface.

That’s exactly what happened when newly revealed text messages and courtroom filings exposed an unexpected clash between Ryan Reynolds and Justin Baldoni.

What began as creative friction during the filming of "It Ends With Us" has erupted into a full-scale Hollywood scandal that few saw coming.

For nearly two years, whispers surrounded the tension on the set of "It Ends with Us," but the real shock came when text messages between Baldoni and Rainn Wilson surfaced in legal documents.

In them, Baldoni vividly described a confrontation that left him shaken.

According to the Daily Mail, he wrote that he felt “the wrath of an angry husband” when Reynolds allegedly reprimanded him during a January 2024 meeting in the New York apartment Reynolds shares with Lively and their children.

According to the leaked messages, the exchange blindsided Baldoni. He told Wilson he felt “emotionally paralyzed,” describing Reynolds’ tone as belittling and condescending. As he put it, “Ryan was talking to me like a five-year-old and scolding me.”

The encounter, dated January 5, 2024, left Baldoni feeling “ambushed.” It also triggered a shift in how he viewed his co-stars, revealing in the messages that, for the first time, he started to see Reynolds and Lively not as collaborators but as adversaries.

He explained, “My brain was struggling… because what I wanted to say and do was run and blow this whole movie up because I feel this was so unjust.”

The confrontation didn’t happen in a vacuum.

Baldoni told Wilson that the tension escalated when Reynolds began rattling off a list of grievances he had stored in his phone, complaints Baldoni claimed had been “taken completely out of context.” Reynolds reportedly questioned both Baldoni’s character and that of Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath.

In the messages, Baldoni explained, “They essentially said that Jamey and I are not who we claimed to be and that for us to have a podcast is unsafe because it makes people feel like we are safe.”

The intensity of the confrontation deeply affected Baldoni. He told Wilson the interaction left him feeling “emotionally paralyzed, which is something I haven't experienced in years.”

He admitted he tried to respond with empathy despite the pressure, saying, “The only path forward was to acknowledge her and Ryan’s feelings and apologize and take the wrath of an angry husband – yeah, I couldn't even do that correctly.”

He later confided that even prayer didn’t bring clarity, saying, “I prayed and prayed and prayed for the words and they didn't come, so I felt abandoned by God in that moment – even though I know that's not what happened.”

The confrontation also intersected with growing concerns Reynolds had about the production environment. Baldoni wrote that Reynolds characterized some on-set behavior as “abuse.” He also relayed that Lively described the film shoot as “the worst experience of her life … and others have witnessed this behavior… the behavior on our set was creepy.”

One moment that reportedly intensified the tension stemmed from a scene requiring Baldoni to lift Lively. Because he had a history of back problems, he consulted a personal trainer about her weight to avoid injury. That trainer approached Lively, who then notified Reynolds, setting off the emotional confrontation.

Baldoni’s legal team later stated he had “never been spoken to like that in his life,” calling the exchange “traumatic.”

They also emphasized that Reynolds’ “inappropriate and humiliating berating of Baldoni [was] delivered, perhaps intentionally, as other celebrity friends were coming in and out of their penthouse.”

What truly escalated matters was a deleted scene submitted as evidence by Baldoni’s legal team. The never-before-seen clip from May 2023 showed Lively’s character Lily walking up to Baldoni’s Ryle, grabbing his arms, and kissing him, something that, according to Baldoni’s camp, was not in the script.

Court filings argued that Lively had “herself added to the script, in which her character kissed Baldoni’s character in every take, although there was no kiss in the script.” The clip played a critical role because Lively had previously accused Baldoni of sexual harassment during filming.

She claimed multiple forms of misconduct, including body shaming and orchestrating a smear campaign. Baldoni denied all allegations.

The movie itself performed exceptionally well at the box office, earning $148 million domestically and $350 million globally. However, its success has since been overshadowed by accusations, legal filings, and testimonies from both sides.

Lively’s lawsuit named Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO, and PR personnel Nathan and Abel. She accused him of sexual harassment, retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Baldoni responded with a sweeping countersuit seeking hundreds of millions in damages.

Initially, he sued The New York Times for $250 million before folding the claim into a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, and Lively’s longtime publicist Leslie Sloane.

That lawsuit was dismissed in June, though Baldoni continues to deny all allegations against him.

Meanwhile, the court filings, leaked texts, and resurfaced footage have kept the story alive, leaving fans and industry insiders questioning what truly unfolded behind the scenes.

Despite the carefully curated public images of all involved, the conflict has stripped away Hollywood’s usual polish and exposed a raw, unfiltered clash between major stars. And with more legal proceedings ahead, the saga is far from over.

One thing is certain: the drama behind "It Ends with Us" is now every bit as explosive as the story on screen, and it’s only just beginning.