Justin Baldoni’s former agent, Danny Greenberg, seemingly compared Blake Lively’s behavior on the set of It Ends With Us to extortion.
According to court documents obtained by multiple outlets on Monday, October 13, Greenberg, who repped Baldoni at the time of filming the Colleen Hoover adaptation, testified in a deposition that Lively’s behavior and pressure towards Baldoni and the studio felt like “extortion” to him. Greenberg accused Lively of making an “effort to gain control of the film.”
Greenberg later clarified that he did not mean Lively was committing literal criminal extortion.
“My use of the word extortion there was referencing just cumulative behavior that both the studio and [production company Wayfarer Studios] and Justin was having to manage,” he said in the deposition.
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Greenberg also stated that he believed Lively made threats regarding the It Ends With Us August 2024 premiere. The talent manager claimed that he had conversations with Sony production executive Ange Giannetti “about the behavior that Blake was displaying along the way” regarding “the premiere issue.”
People reported that Lively’s talent agent Warren Zavala was deposed on Monday, per documents obtained by People. as well. When asked about his visit to the It Ends With Us set, Zavala reportedly claimed that shared he was not “aware of any incidents that made Ms. Lively uncomfortable” and that “everything seemed to be going well.”
However, Zavala later alleged that there were claimed that Lively reported to him there were “definitely issues” reported by Lively during the film’s post-production process regarding her “interaction … with Justin and their collaboration in the final stages of post.”
Lively’s spokesperson slammed Greenberg’s comment and Baldoni’s move to depose him in a statement to Us Weekly on Monday.
“The court already dismissed their so-called ‘taking over a movie’ claim, and this cherry-picked deposition quote from Baldoni’s prior agent before he was dropped from WME adds nothing new,” the statement read. “In fact, the court’s dismissal even assumed their allegations were true for the sake of argument — and still held that they don’t amount to a valid claim under the law. That’s what matters, because this is a legal process, not a click-bait one. This is just a recycled distraction that has nothing to do with the actual sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit Baldoni and the Wayfarer Defendants are facing.”
Lively and Baldoni’s legal issues began in December 2024 when the actress accused her It Ends With Us costar and director of sexual harassment and orchestrating an alleged smear campaign against her.
Baldoni vehemently denied the allegations and countersued Lively. A judge dismissed Baldoni’s lawsuit earlier this year. Lively’s case remains ongoing and is scheduled for March 2026.
“The court decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defense against Ms. Lively’s claims,” a Baldoni lawyer said in a statement to Us in June. “Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations. Instead of revising the existing claims, our clients will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us.”
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Back in July, Lively was deposed by Baldoni’s legal team in New York City. Us previously reported that Baldoni was present for the deposition. Following the meeting, Lively’s lawyers shared they were happy with the outcome and looking forward to the next steps in the case.
“We are very pleased with the outcome of her deposition, and now look forward to deposing Justin Baldoni and each of the codefendants in short order,” a spokesperson for Lively said in a statement to Us at the time. “Deposition testimony is confidential for good reason — it’s evidence in a legal proceeding and is subject to objections and evidentiary rules. Juries aren’t just handed deposition transcripts to read at home, and instead they listen to testimony that is presented at trial under a judge’s supervision.”
Recently, Us exclusively obtained a copy of an unsigned draft of Lively’s contract for It Ends With Us. The document revealed that Lively was to be paid more than $1.7 million for the film. The contract also included hefty bonuses for Lively based on box office performance and if she was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe or SAG Award.
