Actor Justin Baldoni’s combative lawyer Bryan Freedman has been promising for weeks that he has ‘all the receipts’ concerning his client’s battle with actress Blake Lively over her claims of sexual harassment and, on Saturday, his website containing 168 pages of emails, text messages and WhatsApps between the stars was released. It’s the latest twist in the fight between Ms Lively, 37, and her husband, the actor Ryan Reynolds – two of the most powerful players in Hollywood – and the until-now obscure Baldoni.

Baldoni, 41, stars in and directed the movie It Ends With Us, based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, which came out last August and co-stars Ms Lively as florist Lily Bloom. The 168 pages lay out a timeline from January 2019 to January 2024, which shows how the once close and cordial relationship between Baldoni and Ms Lively deteriorated disastrously – to the point where he was advised: ‘Lawyer up – now!’.

Reynolds, who starred in Deadpool and Wolverine, suffers the embarrassment of having a gushing text to Baldoni revealed in which he tells him that he and Ms Lively are ‘big fans’ and signs off: ‘I happen to adore you Justin.’. And both he and Ms Lively make juvenile jokes. In one, Reynolds, in typical bawdy fashion, suggests he will get a tattoo in an intimate place out of gratitude if Baldoni can make a scheduling change.

According to the documents, in April 2023, Baldoni was even invited to travel from New York – where the film was made – to his home in Los Angeles on a private jet with Ms Lively and her children, so that they could work on the movie together and the director, who was missing his family, could visit them. But by July 2024, according to Baldoni, Reynolds was calling him a ‘deranged predator’.

Blake Lively says Baldoni sexually harassed her. Baldoni, 41, stars in and directed the movie It Ends With Us, based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, which came out last August and co-stars Ms Lively as florist Lily Bloom. This followed reports of Ms Lively’s civil legal suit which alleged sexual harassment by Baldoni. He was later dropped by talent agency WME, who also had Reynolds on its books at the time.

The website reveals the unfolding drama in the words of the protagonists. There is Baldoni’s reaction to a warning by Reynolds that he has ‘two weeks to recast’ his wife’s role, and Baldoni’s sorrowful take on the ‘cruel and intense’ situation which saw him excluded from the editing of the movie and its premiere. We also hear from an executive at Sony who advises that Baldoni should: ‘Suck it up and let her in.’ There is also some inkling of panic at executive levels over the possibility that Ms Lively will get singer and friend Taylor Swift to change her mind about allowing the film to use one of her songs.

Freedman’s website (thelawsuitinfo.com) includes documents such as audience appreciation scores of competing edits of the film made by Ms Lively and Baldoni. His got a 94 per cent ratings, hers 82 per cent. Her version was the one released. February 17, 2023. Ms Lively, who has just given birth to her son Olin, is concerned that she won’t be in shape for love scenes and asks in a text: ‘What’s the chance we can do body scenes at the end of the schedule?’ Baldoni responds that he isn’t able to fix the schedule yet but tells her: ‘I want you to know you will look amazing. Anything you are insecure about we will talk through and get creative together and make you comfortable. I just don’t want you to stress about your body. It’s the last thing you need.’.

February 28, 2023. Baldoni and Reynolds exchange text messages. Baldoni tells him that ‘good ol nerves’ stopped him from reaching out earlier and adds: ‘I’ve been a supporter and admirer of both of you from afar for years. You are in a class of your own.’. Reynolds replies: ‘What a loving and generous message, thank you. We’re both looking forward to getting to know you and your family better. We’re also big fans over here. Since before we met and more so after. You’ve been a wonderful collaborator with B and that means a great deal.’.

He asks for Baldoni to try to move the shooting schedule so that the family can be together the whole time and concludes: ‘Thank you again for all you are doing. I happen to adore you Justin.’. April 7-8, 2023. Ms Lively suggests that she ‘take a pass’ at rewriting a scene between the protagonists on a rooftop. She texts Baldoni that she wants to ‘amp [up] their verbal ping pong/volley’ and says ‘how flirty and yummy and ballbusting’ it will be. Baldoni agrees and, on April 12, has a meeting at Ms Lively and Reynolds’s penthouse in New York, where the latter talks about how great his wife’s rewrite of the scene is. They are joined by a ‘megacelebrity’ – thought to be Ms Swift – who also insists how good Ms Lively’s rewriting is.

April 12, 2023. Ms Lively says she has been bruised by other unhappy experiences over her contributions [rewriting of scripts], but that her husband and her friend make sure her voice is heard. ‘I guess I have to not worry about people liking me,’ she says. Then she texts what could be read as a passive- aggressive threat: ‘If you ever get round to watching Game Of Thrones, you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi and, like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.’.