From on-set tension to courtroom drama

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie just wrapped their epic, 8-year divorce saga, but don’t worry—Hollywood’s next offscreen spectacle is already underway. Justin Baldoni directed It Ends With Us. Blake Lively stars. But the legal battle now playing out between Baldoni and Lively (and her husband Ryan Reynolds) is shaping up to rival Pitt and Jolie’s feud in pettiness, spite, and salacious details.

Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her, while Baldoni is suing The New York Times for reporting on it — dragging Reynolds into the mess for allegedly yelling at him “too aggressively.” Because apparently, defending your wife is a suable offense now.

Offscreen feuds outshine movies

Arguably, Mad Max: Fury Road with Charlize Theron and Three Kings with George Clooney gave us the first two acts of the “Director v. Star” Hollywood trilogy. Baldoni and Lively’s feud is shaping up to be the grand finale. Alas, on-set hostility spilling into courtrooms is becoming classic Hollywood.

But the most interesting and disappointing part of this scandal? Female publicists Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan helped this creep smear Lively — fully aware of how he harassed and exploited her on set. Just like the (White) women who chose the rapist and misogynist Trump over Kamala, this ‘Twisted Sisterhood’ keeps proving women can be their own worst enemies.

But, as frivolous accusations go, Baldoni claiming Reynolds yelled at him takes the cake. Frankly, if someone humiliated my wife like that, a “berating” would’ve been the least of their worries. Hell, George Clooney threw punches at director David O. Russell for mistreating the crew. And, as it was in that case, these offscreen feuds are often more entertaining than anything Hollywood puts on screen.