Blake Lively's It Ends With Us costar Brandon Sklenar's awkward response to questions about nasty unsealed Justin Baldoni texts

Blake Lively's It Ends With Us costar Brandon Sklenar declined to talk about his recently released texts with the actress where they seemingly torched director Justin Baldoni.

While attending UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas over the weened, in his first public appearance since the bombshell messages were unsealed, Sklenar, 35, was asked if he wanted to 'clear up' any of what was said in the messages.

'Nah,' he said, flashing a brief awkward smile, in a video shared by ET.

Lively and Sklenar's text messages were submitted as evidence in court amid her 2024 lawsuit, in which she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, retaliatory conduct and intentional infliction of emotional distress on set - allegations he has denied.

Lively starred as Lily in the film, adapted from Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name. Baldoni directed and co-starred as her partner Ryle, while Sklenar portrayed her other love interest Atlas.

Sklenar found himself caught up in the legal drama earlier this month following the unsealing of more than 180 documents, including texts between him and Lively.

The messages seemingly show Sklenar expressing support for Lively while discussing Baldoni. He also appeared to shade his own starring role on 1923, where he portrayed Spencer Dutton from 2022 to 2025. 

While discussing her experience working with Baldoni, Lively — whom the director has accused of attempting to hijack the film with help from her husband Ryan Reynolds — told Sklenar that they had each put together separate cuts of the movie. 

Sklenar appeared to reassure the actress that her version would ultimately be selected. 

Lively alleges Baldoni entered an editing bay to view her cut of the film 'without authorization', after she had already completed her own edit.

In the exchange obtained by the Daily Mail, Lively writes, 'He's bats***,' while Sklenar comments that Baldoni is 'definitely scrambling' and 'totally f***ing himself for any future work.'

Lively then responds, 'Oh you don’t know the first of it', before unleashing further claims against Baldoni. 

According to the unsealed exchange, she texted: 'Yeah the crazy thing is I would've continued to let him take credit for everything. He would've been handed a career. He would've been f***ing on his next job, but he at least would have been a big sucesss [sic].'

'And he'll still hit. But the word is out. And I've been protecting it from getting out bc all I want to do is focus on the work and not be pulled into the f***ing mess they make.'

'But they wreck [sic] havoc everywhere they go. And everyone sees it. Then they come to me.'

Lively then recalls a moment on set when Baldoni allegedly leaned in and told Sklenar he had something to say but stopped himself, warning he would 'probably get canceled' and remarking that 'you can’t say anything on this set anymore.'

Sklenar replies that he vaguely remembers the exchange, though he says he does not recall whether Baldoni ever explained what he meant.

Lively then claims Baldoni frequently attempted to pull others into what she characterizes as his 'messiness', framing the comment as her personal impression of his conduct.

Later in the conversation, Sklenar says he is baffled by what he views as Baldoni's lack of foresight, particularly in light of his public persona shaped by TED-style talks, podcasts and books.

Lively responds that the contrast 'makes perfect sense' to her, alleging Baldoni was 'running from something gnarly' while presenting a more polished image publicly.

Sklenar appears to agree, replying, 'It does make perfect sense.'

Hollywood's glossiest names have been dragged into the It Ends with Us fallout, including Lively's husband.

Reynolds, 49, recently defended his unsealed messages in which he allegedly called Baldoni a 'dumb-dumb' and a 'predatory fraudster'.

'Yes, Ryan got involved — what husband wouldn't support his wife and the mother of his children?' the actor's representative said in a statement to Puck News, as part of a report by the publication titled 'Is Blake Really Unhireable — and Can Ryan Escape the Blast Radius?'

'He saw his wife fighting daily to stand up against sexual harassment in a private and respectful way, only to face retaliation for doing so,' the spokesperson added.

'If anything, Ryan feels like he wasn't angry enough. He passionately believes in and will stand up for the basic right to a safe workplace free of harassment and retaliation for his wife and others. Then, now and always.'

An insider also told Puck News that Reynolds — who reportedly confronted a tearful Baldoni about 'fat-shaming' his wife in 2023 — 'is very protective of his image. It's his worst nightmare to have this stuff exposed.' 

It Ends with Us earned $148 million in domestic box office and $350 million globally — but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars.

In a series of recently unsealed text messages from the lawsuit, Reynolds lashed out at 'dumb-dumb' Baldoni while claiming that his wife was responsible for the box office success of the movie.

In one text exchange from July 2024 to a WME executive, Reynolds allegedly referred to Baldoni as a 'thoroughbred, predatory fraudster' and an 'inexplicably toxic mess.' 

A spokesperson for Baldoni provided Daily Mail with a statement from his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, which read: 'As stated all along, and reflected in our clients motions, as well as in messages from Sony discussing Ms. Lively's behaviors, the evidence does not support the claims as a matter of law.'

'A simple read of the newly released message exchanges make the truth abundantly clear. We remain confident in the legal process and clearing the names of all the Justin Baldoni parties.'

Others stars that got dragged into the feud include Taylor Swift, who reportedly called Baldoni a 'b***h' in her texts to Lively.

According to court papers, Lively called Baldoni the 'doofus director of my movie’ while Swift agreed to help her, saying: 'I’ll do anything for you!’ 

Just before a bombshell article in the New York Times outlining Lively's claims was due to come out in December 2024, Swift told her friend: 'I think this b**** [Baldoni] knows something is coming because he's gotten out his tiny violin.'

The court papers also revealed that Lively bad-mouthed Baldoni to her other famous friends, including Matt Damon and his wife Lucy, and she allegedly told Ben Affleck that Baldoni was a 'chaotic clown'. 

Lively is seeking more than $160 million in damages, with the trial set for May 2026 in New York.