Blake Lively privately reached out to Ben Affleck in 2024 to voice serious concerns about her experience working with Justin Baldoni, newly unsealed court documents reveal, shedding fresh light on the escalating legal battle surrounding It Ends With Us.

The email, along with text messages involving Taylor Swift and deposition statements from Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, is now part of the growing paper trail tied to Lively’s lawsuit.

According to the documents, Lively emailed Affleck on May 17, 2024, describing what she called one of the worst experiences of her career. 

She made it clear the message came with “zero pressure,” but explained she was seeking feedback on her own edit of the film after what she characterised as months of turmoil behind the scenes. 

“I’ve just come out the other side (well almost) of the most upsetting experience I’ve ever had on a movie,” she wrote, adding that the story behind the production was more dramatic than the film itself.

In the same message, Lively claimed she rewrote and restructured the entire script and effectively directed the movie through what she referred to as a “chaotic clown ‘director’/actor/producer/financier/studio head at the center,” stressing it was “all the same person.” 

She went on to allege serious internal issues, including “wild HR issues and beyond,” and described being placed in a last-minute editing “bake off” after Baldoni had been working on his version for months.

Lively asked Affleck if he would be willing to watch the film and offer notes, even welcoming feedback from his family while flagging the movie’s domestic violence themes. 

Emphasising how much the project had cost her emotionally, she wrote, “This movie nearly killed me,” adding that she could think of few people whose insight she trusted more.

She also mentioned that Ryan Reynolds had asked Matt Damon to watch the film, jokingly marveling at the idea of “Jason Bourne” seeing her work, while expressing gratitude for what she called “good men showing up.”

The email surfaced amid Lively’s broader legal claims filed in December 2024, in which she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and a coordinated effort to damage her reputation. 

Baldoni has denied the allegations, with his legal team calling them false, and his countersuit was dismissed earlier this year.

The newly released documents offer a deeper look at how isolated and overwhelmed Lively says she felt as the conflict unfolded behind closed doors.

Zendaya might dominate this year with an impressive slate of blockbuster projects on the horizon.

The 29-year-old American actress and singer is heading into a packed 2026 that could define the biggest year of her career yet with the release of Euphoria Season 3, her fourth Spider-Man film and Dune: Part Three.

The Golden Globe Award winner will make her long-awaited return as Rue Bennett in the upcoming final season of HBO’s hit series Euphoria.

It is pertinent to note that the show’s full-length official trailer racked up a record-breaking 100 million views in just 48 hours since its release on January 14.

The sky-high response has fans speculating about just how massive viewership will be once the full season begins streaming.

Euphoria Season 3 release date

Euphoria Season 3 is scheduled to premiere on April 12, with several major changes.

The story will feature a five-year time jump, moving the characters beyond high school and into early adulthood.

In addition to Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi’s return, the new season also boasts an expanded cast of high-profile guest stars, including Sharon Stone, Rosalía, Natasha Lyonne, and Eli Roth.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day release date

Zendaya has reportedly wrapped filming on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is set to hit theaters on July 31, 2026.

The film marks her fourth appearance in the Marvel franchise alongside her fiancé Tom Holland, following Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Far From Home (2019), and No Way Home (2021).

Dune: Part Three release date

Closing out the year, Zendaya will return to the sands of Arrakis in Dune 3, expected to release in December 2026.

The film serves as the final installment in Denis Villeneuve’s trilogy and adapts Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah, exploring the darker consequences of Paul Atreides’ rise to power.

The cast includes returning stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, among others.

With leading roles across some of the biggest franchises in entertainment, Zendaya’s 2026 lineup positions her for a comeback and a career peak.

Prince Harry struck a combative tone as he testified Wednesday in his lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail and insisted that his latest legal battle with Associated Newspaper Ltd. was “in the public interest.” 

Harry and six other prominent figures, including Elton John and actor Elizabeth Hurley, allege that the publisher invaded their privacy by engaging in a “clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering” for two decades, attorney David Sherborne said. The celebrities allege that the company illegally spied on them by hiring private investigators to hack their phones, bug their cars and access private records. Testimony from several private investigators, who have said they worked on behalf of Associated Newspapers, is set to be used in the trial.

Associated Newspapers Ltd. has denied the allegations, called them preposterous and said the roughly 50 articles in question were reported with legitimate sources that included close associates willing to inform on their famous friends. 

Harry said in his 23-page witness statement that he was distressed and disturbed by the intrusion into his early life by the Mail and its sister publication the Mail on Sunday, and that it made him “paranoid beyond belief.” Harry also alleged that the lives of “thousands of people” were “invaded” by Associated “because of greed.” 

“There is obviously a personal element to bringing this claim, motivated by truth, justice and accountability, but it is not just about me,” Harry said in a written statement unveiled as he entered the witness box. Under the English civil court system, witnesses present written testimony, and after asserting that it’s the truth are immediately put under cross examination. “I am determined to hold Associated accountable, for everyone’s sake … I believe it is in the public interest.” 

A heated cross examination  

Harry, dressed in a dark suit, held a small Bible in his right hand in London’s High Court and swore to “almighty God that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” After the Duke of Sussex said he preferred to be called Prince Harry, he acknowledged that his 23-page statement was authentic and accurate.

Defense lawyer Antony White, in a calm and gentle tone, began to put questions to Harry to determine if the sourcing of the articles, in fact, had come from royal correspondents working their sources at official events or from friends or associates of the prince. Harry said that his “social circles were not leaky” and disputed suggestions that he had been cozy with journalists who covered the royal family. 

Harry suggested that information had come from eavesdropping on his phone calls or having private investigators snoop on him. He said journalist Katie Nicholl had the luxury to use the term “unidentified source” deceptively to hide unlawful measures of investigation.

“If you complain, they double down on you in my experience,” he said in explaining why he had not objected to the articles at the time.

As a soft-spoken Harry became increasingly defensive, White said: “I am intent on you not having a bad experience with me, but it is my job to ask you these questions.” 

Eventually, Justice Matthew Nicklin intervened in the tense back-and-forth and told Harry not to argue with the defense lawyer as he tried to explain what it’s like living under what he called “24-hour surveillance.” Nicklin also reminded Harry that he does not “have to bear the burden of arguing the case today.” 

At another point in his cross examination, Harry appeared close to tears as he said tabloids had made his wife Meghan’s life “an absolute misery.” Harry has previously said persistent press attacks led to the couple’s decision to leave royal life and move to the U.S. in 2020. 

Harry’s media crusade 

For decades, Harry has had what he called an “uneasy” relationship with the media, but kept mum and followed the family protocol of “never complain, never explain,” he said.

The litigation is part of Harry’s self-proclaimed mission to reform the media that he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris. 

He said “vicious persistent attacks,” harassment and event racists articles about Meghan, who is biracial, had inspired him to break from family tradition to finally sue the press. 

It is Harry’s second time testifying after he bucked House of Windsor tradition and became the first senior royal to testify in a court in well over a century when he took the stand in a similar, successful lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mirror in 2023. 

Last year, on the eve of another scheduled trial, Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloid publisher NGN agreed to pay Harry “substantial damages” for privacy breaches, including phone hacking.

This trial is expected to last nine weeks and a written verdict could comes months later.  

“If Harry wins this case, it will give him a feeling … that he wasn’t being paranoid all the time,” Royah Nikkhah, royal editor for The Sunday Times and a CBS News contributor, told CBS News on Monday. “If Harry loses this case, it’s huge jeopardy for him, not just in terms of cost, but in terms of pushing all the way to trial and not seeking to settle. So we have to wait and see, but it’s high stakes for Harry.”