Colleen Hoover’s Deposition Complicates Blake Lively’s Account in Justin Baldoni Legal Fight

The unsealing of court documents in the Blake Lively versus Justin Baldoni lawsuit has shifted attention away from Hollywood gossip and toward paper trails. At the centre of the latest filings sits Colleen Hoover, the bestselling novelist who sold the film rights to It Ends With Us years before production began. What her sworn testimony and contemporaneous messages now show is not creative distance, but active involvement after the sale, alignment with Blake Lively, and support for Lively’s preferred cut of the film over that of Justin Baldoni.

For readers unfamiliar with the case, the issue turns on a simple principle. Once an author sells film rights, creative control transfers. The documents now public suggest that the boundary became blurred, with consequences that now sit before a civil court.

What Selling the Rights Changed

When Hoover sold the adaptation rights to Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios, she gave up legal authority over how the novel would appear on screen. That structure governs most book-to-film deals. Authors may advise, but they do not decide. Hoover confirmed as much under oath when she described her executive producer credit as largely honorary and said she was not embedded in the writing of the script.

That testimony matters because it sets the legal baseline. Hoover no longer owned the film. Decisions on editing, tone, and final cut belonged to the production and studio. Any later effort to steer those outcomes carried no contractual force, only influence. The filings suggest that influence became sustained and targeted.

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Private Texts Reveal Growing Hostility Behind the Scenes

The unsealed record also includes private messages that shed light on how relationships between the key figures deteriorated as the dispute escalated. In text exchanges disclosed ahead of the summary judgment hearing, Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni of smearing her and vented her frustration to Colleen Hoover about what she described as repeated misconduct during production. Writing in July 2024, Lively said she could not identify any action on her part that justified the treatment she believed she was receiving, maintaining that she had remained focused on improving the film while Baldoni, in her view, portrayed himself as the aggrieved party.

In those messages, Lively described his behavior in blunt terms and framed herself as having exhausted every professional avenue to resolve the conflict. Hoover responded by aligning herself with Lively’s account, expressing support and criticizing Baldoni’s conduct, language that now sits alongside her sworn testimony and forms part of the broader evidentiary record before the court.

Alignment With Blake Lively

Unsealed messages and deposition excerpts show Hoover did not remain neutral once production moved into post-editing. She reviewed competing cuts of the film and expressed a clear preference for Lively’s version. She praised its humor and pacing and supported moving forward with it even when test screening results ranked it below Baldoni’s cut.

In communications disclosed to the court, Lively informed Baldoni that she and Hoover were declaring Lively’s version the chosen cut. Hoover later acknowledged under oath that she backed that outcome. This support came after Hoover had sold the rights and without formal authority to direct the decision. The record shows not a casual opinion, but repeated endorsement of one creative vision over another during a contested stage of production.

Testimony That Complicates the Public Story

Hoover’s deposition also introduced points that now sit uneasily alongside public statements. She testified that Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath told her they felt coerced into signing Lively’s 17-point list of demands, fearing refusal would stop the film.

She also confirmed that she unfollowed Baldoni on social media because Lively asked her to, a detail that directly contradicts Lively’s earlier sworn denial that she made such a request.

Final Thoughts

Creative breakdowns between authors and adaptations are not new in Hollywood. This month alone, George R R Martin publicly described his relationship with showrunner Ryan Condal as abysmal, despite having sold the rights to House of the Dragon to Warner Bros years earlier. Like Colleen Hoover, Martin no longer holds final creative authority over the adaptation of his work. Selling the rights transfers control, even when the author strongly disagrees with the direction taken on screen.

What distinguishes It Ends With Us is not creative disagreement but documented intervention. Unsealed filings show Colleen Hoover and Blake Lively discussing sequel plans and supporting Lively’s cut of the film in communications involving Sony Pictures, even as test screening results favored another version. Hoover has testified that she sold the rights to Wayfarer Studios hoping a woman would direct the adaptation, but that hope carried no contractual authority. The record instead shows continued efforts to influence outcomes after control had transferred, including discussions tied to It Starts With Us. Hoover’s admission that she unfollowed Justin Baldoni at Lively’s request has also complicated the narrative around cast unfollows, raising questions about whether social distancing reflected independent concern or coordinated pressure during the dispute.

A judge will now decide whether some or all of Blake Lively’s claims move forward to trial, which is currently scheduled for May 2026. The filings, particularly those submitted in defense, place greater focus on a Hollywood power struggle taken further than usual, with several parties pressing for influence after creative control had already changed hands.