A nearly three-year-old Forbes interview with Blake Lively in which she admits seeking creative control on projects beyond her job description as an actress is going viral amid her dispute with “It Ends With Us” director and co-star Justin Baldoni, who claims she undermined his authority on set.
Blake Lively is interviewed by Moira Forbes at the 10th Annual Forbes Power Women's Summit at Jazz ... [+]
In an interview from the 2022 Forbes Power Women Summit, Lively admits that simply taking direction as an actress isn’t “fulfilling” for her, and she needs to have input on costume design, writing and other pieces of a project.
She said she’s given the impression in meetings for a role to “seem like I'm just there to be the actor and ready to get the gig” without revealing “that I actually need to have authorship in order to feel fulfilled."
Without specifying which projects she’s referring to— this interview took place before she signed on in 2023 to appear in “It Ends With Us”—Lively said she’s had directors, producers and writers “welcome” her input while others have resented her for both overstepping and for the bait-and-switch.
The interview has resurfaced amid a heated legal battle between Lively and Baldoni, in which he claims Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds used their position as Hollywood power players to hijack his authority as director on the set of “It Ends With Us.”
In a $400 million lawsuit filed last month, Baldoni that Reynolds "made unauthorized changes to the script in secret" and that Lively interfered in the editing process, pushing the studio to allow her to create her own director's cut of the film and then threatening to not promote the project if her version wasn't released to audiences.
Here are in-depth explanations for Lively’s claims and Baldoni’s claims in the messy dispute over “It Ends With Us.”
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
In answering a question from Moira Forbes about appearing difficult when speaking up in the workplace, Lively responded: “It’s just as important to say ‘OK, I believe in this and that’s why I’m standing up for it and that’s why I’m… being difficult’ and there are other moments to go, ‘Am I the asshole in the room? What is happening here?’” Lively told Moira Forbes in the resurfaced interview. “It’s always important to check yourself. It’s important to stand up for what you believe in and it’s also important to surround yourself with people who feel like they have a voice, because collaboration is so important.”
Which projects Lively was talking about in her 2022 interview with Forbes, but it’s unlikely to be “It Ends With Us.” While Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios secured the rights to adapt the Colleen Hoover book in 2019, Lively didn't sign on to the project until 2023.
The long-rumored drama between "It Ends With Us" co-stars Lively and Baldoni broke open in December when Lively filed a civil rights complaint alleging Baldoni invaded her privacy by "entering her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed," pressured her to lose weight four months after giving birth and coordinated a PR campaign with a crisis firm "designed to 'destroy' Ms. Lively's reputation." She repeated many of the same claims in a civil lawsuit days later. Baldoni was immediately dropped by his talent agency, and had an award for his women's empowerment work rescinded. Weeks later, Baldoni countersued, alleging Lively "tormented" him, his family and his partners, falsely accused him of sexual harassment and used him as a "scapegoat" to dodge negative press surrounding her. He also claimed he was the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by Lively and her team, and his attorney has released hundreds of text messages and outtakes from the film’s set in attempts to clear his name. A trial date has been set for March 2026.
While promoting the film, Baldoni said Lively was "involved in every aspect of the film" and called her a "powerhouse of a creative and a wonderful collaborator.” In his countersuit, however, he claims he was belittled as the film’s director and that Lively tried to take over the production of the movie, with the help of her husband. He cited an interview Lively gave during the movie's press tour in which she says her husband wrote one of the film's iconic scenes, and said the interview was the first time he learned Reynolds "made unauthorized changes to the script in secret." Instead, he said he was led to believe the script changes were made by Lively herself and was pressured by Reynolds and a powerhouse friend of the couple—Taylor Swift—to accept the revisions. He also said Lively interfered with his authority in the editing process, creating her own cut of the film and threatening not to promote the movie if her version wasn't released to audiences. Baldoni added that Lively lobbied to have his image removed from the movie’s promotional materials—including posters—and tried to keep him from the film’s premiere, ultimately allowing him to attend "under humiliating conditions.”