Anne Hathaway was name dropped in court documents from Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s ongoing legal battle.
In January 2026, a series of documents in Lively and Baldoni’s case were unsealed and released to the public. The court documents included correspondence from Baldoni, Lively, members of their respective teams, executives involved in It Ends With Us and more.
In addition to Lively and Baldoni’s messages coming to light, several additional celebrities were thrown into the mix including Taylor Swift, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and more. While Hathaway’s name appeared in the documents, she is not directly involved in the legal proceedings.
Keep scrolling to see why Hathaway was mentioned in Lively and Baldoni’s unsealed documents:
Did Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively Mention Anne Hathaway?
Neither Justin Baldoni nor Blake Lively referenced Anne Hathaway in their It Ends With Us lawsuit. Instead, Lively was compared to Hathaway in an email exchange between Sony executives Tom Rothman and Tony Vinciquerra.
What Was Said About Anne Hathaway?
The email chain began with Tom Rothman and Tony Vinciquerra discussing a The Hollywood Reporter article that Vinciquerra contributed a quote praising Blake Lively for her efforts for It Ends With Us. Rothman applauded his colleague for speaking positively about Lively while she was receiving backlash for how she promoted the movie, which contains themes of domestic violence.
“This is great. I’m really glad you did it. I waded into the cesspool of TikTok today and was actually shocked at how mean, ugly and personally hateful it was toward her,” Rothman replied.
Vinciquerra agreed the situation was “ugly.” Rothman then compared Lively’s backlash to the public criticism Anne Hathaway faced years ago.
“I guess it’s an ugly reflection of society — she has so much (looks, money, fame, hunk husband, kids etc etc), that the instinct of the crowd is to tear her down,” Rothman wrote. “Like what happened to Anne Hathaway and neither of them deserve it, even tho she did bring it all on herself by refusing to listen to advice … and by selling her products.”
Why Were Blake Lively and Anne Hathaway Compared?
During the 2010s, Anne Hathaway endured criticism on social media. While Hathaway did not publicly do anything wrong, trolls argued online Hathaway was trying too hard to be perfect. When Hathaway won her Oscar in 2013 for her performance in Les Miserables, social media users claimed the actress’ speech was too rehearsed and it came off as disingenuous.
In a March 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, Hathaway opened up about how the online comments impacted her career.
“A lot of people wouldn’t give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online,” she told the outlet, adding that she was grateful Christopher Nolan gave her a chance amid the discourse. “I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles I’ve had in one of the best films that I’ve been a part of. I don’t know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect. And my career did not lose momentum the way it could have if he hadn’t backed me.”
Much like Hathaway, Blake Lively received backlash on social media when promoting It Ends With Us. Lively was criticized for her tone deaf remark for moviegoers to “grab your friends and wear your florals,” when going to see It Ends With Us, as the film has themes of domestic violence.
Following the backlash, Lively shared resources on her social media for those who were victims of domestic violence.
