The months-long bitter legal war between ‘It Ends With Us‘ co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni is expected to be dragged well into the spring of 2026. Back in January, New York federal judge Lewis J Liman set a trial date of March 9, 2026, asking both actors’ lawyers to be ready to “address complaints about pretrial publicity and attorney conduct.”
While the trial is expected to kick off the official round of court drama, spilling shocking bombshells, the months-long wait is already dotted by an endless track of claims and alleged revelations. At a time like this, the Hollywood film’s actor-director Justin Baldoni’s body double has also broken his silence on the matter. Stunt Actor Thomas Canestraro, who’s previously worked alongside Blake Lively for her 2018 film A Simple Favor’s “provocative” marketing campaign, again came on board for her 2024 movie’s action-packed scenes.
It Ends With Us controversy: Justin Baldoni’s stunt double in the middle
Despite initially being booked to work up to five days on the ‘It Ends With Us’ set as Baldoni’s stunt double, Canestraro ended up staying on board for two weeks in Weehawken, New Jersey. As the shoot was admittedly taking longer than he expected, he could sense some differences in Lively compared to his prior working experience with her. Seemingly confirming the evident air of tension on the movie set, the stunt actor told the Daily Mail that Blake was “closed off” during filming. Nevertheless, he maintained a neutral stance, choosing not to take any particular actor’s side in the heated legal debate.
Also noting that the set was tense, the 38-year-old divulged, “There was some discomfort from everybody.” Since Thomas only joined others for the filming procedure in the final two weeks, he was unable to narrow down the cause of these notable tensions. And yet, he couldn’t ignore the feeling that something between Lively and Baldoni was possibly the root cause of it all.
Blake Lively seemed off compared to previous movie set experience: Report
Speaking out about filming taking longer than expected, he couldn’t help but question everything. He even drove attention to the drastic contrast in Lively’s outlook while filming. Recalling his previous on-set experience with her, he revealed that despite having joined the actress for “provocative” advertisements for A Simple Favor, he had an “extremely easy time” with her years ago. At the time, he posed with only a “sock” covering his genitals while Lively stood over him.
As for his work with her in ‘It Ends With Us’, he was involved in action sequences, including an instance where he was on top of Lively and she eventually threw him to the ground.
Ryan Reynolds on set
Insisting that even if people were in the know about what had gone down between Blake and Justin they “did a good job of doing damage control.” Furthermore, Canestraro confirmed Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds’ presence on set, which he at the time perceived as a demonstration of his usual stand as a “supportive husband.”
It was only in hindsight that everything fell into place for him as Lively and Baldoni’s lawsuits made waves as headlines. “When the whole scandal came after, it was just like, now that explains why things were taking longer. Now that explains why you could sense a discomfort,” he said.
Despite coming on board as Justin Baldoni’s double and his reunion with Blake Lively, the stunt actor confessed that he didn’t want to be in any team. Hoping for the actors to find common ground, he added, “We don’t need that in the industry. At the same time, you can’t discredit anybody’s feeling, and anybody’s experience.”
Stunt double on Justin Baldoni
Much like the general takeaway from the Blake-Justin legal tussle, Canestraro also felt that their Hollywood feud ended up overshadowing serious themes about domestic abuse. In addition to opening up about his brief professional ties with the Gossip Girl actress, the stunt double described Baldoni as “extremely friendly.”
Not having kept in touch with him, Thomas also tried to put some support behind Justin’s side. Sympathising with the actor-director, he noted how the Jane the Virgin veteran has a wife, family and friends. Moreover, he even took note of how some people had put their faith in him amid the ongoing feud that has as of now resulted in some serious accusations from both sides. “Some of them have a question mark over his head, and that must not be a good place to be… It must affect him,” the stunt actor said of Justin.
What’s next
Even Taylor Swift was dragged into the ‘It Ends With Us’ controversy, as Baldoni’s side subpoenaed the pop star as a witness in the legal battle. The actor’s team ultimately dropped the subpoena after the Grammy winner’s reps dismissed claims of her involvement in the movie.
Finally, while either side of the coin has denied all allegations, Lively formally accused her co-star of sexual harassment on set, in addition to crafting an alleged smear campaign against her. Subsequently, Baldoni filed a $400 million countersuit against Blake and Ryan Reynolds, claiming that they were out to “destroy” his career and reputation. More and more seething exchanges have followed, and are expected to continue until the trial goes live in March 2026.