Movies

Justin Baldoni is breaking his silence amid his ugly legal battle with Blake Lively, saying in a teary-eyed promo clip for a soon-to-be-aired interview he's had an "intense year."

Baldoni sat down with Samir Mourani -- host of the "Gent's Talk" podcast -- for an emotional face-to-face, recorded a month prior to Lively's first court filing accusing the "It Ends With Us" actor-director of sexual harassment and publicly smearing her name. As you know, Lively starred with Baldoni in the film.

In the short interview clip with quick jump cuts, Baldoni tells Mourani, “I had an intense year" and “This morning I sent a text message ... I had anxiety.”

The Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni beef is going big time ... getting roasted during the opening monologue at the Critics Choice Awards.

Chelsea Handler is hosting tonight's award show at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and she poked fun of the "It Ends With Us" costars and their legal war.

The comedian started by thanking Blake and Justin for providing a distraction for lots of folks who have had a tough start to their year.

The biggest stars in movies and TV are arriving in droves for the Critics Choice Awards ... and ya gotta see what they're wearing.

Orlando Bloom is looking dapper, Angelina Jolie is popping on camera with bright red lipstick and nails, and Lupita Nyong'o is looking beautiful.

Colin Farrell and Chase Stokes are also repping for the fellas ... Colin's looking nothing like his work on the HBO hit series "The Penguin," for which he's nominated.

Olivia Newton-John's Santa Ynez ranch is set to be a new owner's "Xanadu" ... the striking property has officially sold after several months on the market.

Real estate sources tell TMZ ... a buyer has decided to be hopelessly devoted to the 4-bedroom, 5-bathroom estate located in Santa Barbara County -- one of California's famed wine regions.

Whoever walked away with the deed certainly got one hell of a deal, as the property was initially listed back in May for a whopping $8.965 million ... and it just sold for $7.95M.

Taylor Swift is the person LOTS of celebs want to mingle with Sunday in her Super Bowl luxury suite ... but we know one person who is NOT invited -- Blake Lively.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Blake is not on Taylor's list of guests as she watches BF Travis Kelce take a run at 3 rings in a row.

We're told, despite what Blake thinks, their friendship is fractured after a text surfaced where Blake told Justin Baldoni she was Khaleesi (from 'GoT') and hubby Ryan Reynolds and Taylor were her "dragons."

Taylor has not seen Blake in a while ... she's been spending lots of time with Travis and hasn't been in New York recently, but we're told the distance is more than geographic.

TMZ broke the story ... Taylor was royally pissed off and, as a well-connected source close to Taylor told us, she was never her dragon. In fact, although Blake tried to make Justin believe Swift was siding with her over a script dispute, Taylor never had a dog in the fight.

As we reported, Blake had invited Taylor over to her penthouse and Swift had no idea there was a meeting going on between Blake and Justin. Taylor walked in as Justin was leaving, and all she did was tell him she was excited to see his movie.

To add insult to injury, we're told Taylor later learned Blake was name-dropping TS all over town.

Blake Lively may have serious beef with her "It Ends With Us" costar Justin Baldoni, but she has plenty of other coworkers she gets along with ... just ask Anna Kendrick.

Despite recent reports suggesting otherwise, Blake and Anna -- who costarred in 2018's "A Simple Favor" and the upcoming sequel, "Another Simple Favor" -- are totally cool with one another ... sources close to the situation tell TMZ.

We're told there is absolutely no beef between the two actresses ... nor was there any drama between them while making the first flick, either.

We've learned David Lynch's cause of death ... his death certificate was released Friday.

In the L.A. County Dept. of Public Health document, David's immediate cause of death is listed as cardiac arrest ... with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as the underlying condition. The document also lists dehydration as a significant contributor.

Lynch himself revealed last year he was diagnosed with emphysema after years of smoking cigarettes, and likely wouldn't be able to direct anymore, or even leave his house. In November, the director responsible for "Blue Velvet," "Mulholland Drive" and "Twin Peaks" admitted he couldn't even walk without oxygen ... saying smoking had been an integral part of his life since he started at just 8 years old.

Jessica Alba has filed for divorce from Cash Warren ... and speaking of cash, sources in the know tell TMZ, there's no prenup.

Jessica and Cash announced their split back in January, but they made it official Friday. Jessica filed her docs, with the help of disso queen Laura Wasser, and Cash filed immediately thereafter with the help of attorney Adam Lipsic. His docs mirror hers.

Our sources say the divorce is "extremely amicable."  They're both asking for joint physical and legal custody of their kids, ages 16, 13 and 7.

Ben Affleck scored some major dad points Thursday night ... not only did he snag himself and his kid some better seats than Kamala Harris for the Lakers game -- he also got Steph Curry to swing by for a meet-and-greet!

Ben and little Samuel Garner Affleck scored some courtside chairs for L.A.'s home tilt vs. the Golden State Warriors ... and the two seemed to have a blast as Curry and LeBron James duked it out on the floor.

The guys were seen cheering often ... with the young Affleck even animatedly celebrating a few 3-pointers in his James jersey.

It may be awards season, but it's members of the Los Angeles Fire Department stealing the show lately ... and Hollywood's brightest stars don't appear to mind sharing the spotlight one bit.

The 2025 AFI Awards finally took place Thursday afternoon, almost a month after they were postponed due to the various wildfires that plagued Los Angeles in January. So, along with the star-studded guest list -- including Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh, Jesse Eisenberg, and Zoe Saldana, among others -- a very special honoree was included in the festivities at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons.

L.A. firefighter Tim Larson, who battled the blaze in Pacific Palisades, attended the celebration alongside Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos ... and reportedly received a standing ovation from the room full of stars.

Taylor Swift feels she was used by Blake Lively in her war with Justin Baldoni, and she resents Blake calling her one of her "dragons" and leveraging her name.

As we reported, there was a critical meeting at Blake and Ryan Reynolds' NYC penthouse with Justin to discuss a scene that Blake had rewritten for "It Ends with Us." Justin has said the meeting got super heated, and he felt ambushed because Ryan and Taylor showed up.

But a well-connected source close to Taylor tells TMZ ... Taylor came to Blake's apartment at the time Blake told her to, not knowing anyone else would be there. In other words, Taylor had no idea there was a meeting going on with Justin.

The source goes on to say ... Justin was about to leave after the 2-hour meeting as Taylor walked in, and she was introduced to him for the first and only time. We're told all Taylor said to Justin was how excited she was to see the movie because he was her friend's boss.

Our source says Taylor believes Blake timed her meeting with Justin so Taylor would arrive before he left and is baffled by Blake later characterizing her as her "dragon." The source adds, "It's weird to say that about a friend."

As Daily Mail reported, friends of Taylor's called the dragon remark, "Uncool and unnecessary."

Remember, Blake texted Justin after the meeting ... referring to herself as Khaleesi from "Game of Thrones," and Taylor and Ryan as her protective "dragons."

And there's more ... the source says Taylor is also learning Blake has been inappropriately leveraging her name for a long time, like telling a young actress that Taylor "cast her," which simply did not happen.

TMZ dropped a new podcast Wednesday, "Two Angry Men," in which Harvey asked Justin's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, about subpoenaing Taylor for a deposition. Go to 25:37 on the podcast player to hear that exchange -- it's easy to read between the lines -- but it's clear Taylor feels used.

This is a huge falling out ... Taylor is godmother to one of Blake and Ryan's kids.

But, one source close to Blake has a different take, telling TMZ ... Blake believes the relationship is "not strained" with the two still talking regularly.

Another source close to the situation says Taylor was pissed about the extent to which she was involved, and specifically she was angry about the "dragons" remark … but Blake has since apologized, they had a good cry and hugged it out.

Elijah Wood is officially a married man ... tying the knot with his longtime partner Mette-Marie Kongsved.

The "Lord of The Rings" star set off alarms recently when he referred to Mette-Marie as his wife on a podcast ... so we did some digging and found out the couple has a marriage license on file in Los Angeles County.

Thing is ... Elijah and Mette-Marie chose a confidential marriage license ... so it's unclear when exactly they tied the knot.

The Super Bowl is going big, about as big as it gets in Hollywood, anyway -- enlisting Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt to be part of Sunday's festivities ... TMZ has learned.

Sources involved in the production tell us both Tom and Brad will have prominent roles in FOX's Super Bowl pregame broadcast. We're told Brad's role will have something to do with a tribute to America about 30 minutes prior to the 6:30 PM ET kickoff.

It's unclear exactly what Tom will be doing for the pregame, but his involvement immediately takes us back to his Olympics Closing Ceremony appearance where he did a skydive to signal the Games coming to L.A. in 2028.

Selena Gomez stepped back into the spotlight alongside Jennifer Aniston at a beauty event -- her first public outing since tearing up over recent mass immigration arrests.

The "Only Murders in the Building" star stepped out for her Rare Beauty Galentine’s Day bash alongside Jen’s LolaVie haircare brand Wednesday … and while the vibe was chill, Selena kept it real, doubling down on her message that women should always have each other’s backs.

SG had her girl Jen right by her side -- sticking close and even holding hands as "The Morning Show" star added it had been a rough couple of weeks and hoped everyone was staying safe.

Justin Baldoni's lawyer has an ace in the hole in his client's legal war with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds ... and the threat of a Taylor Swift deposition can go a long way here.

TMZ has a new podcast with Harvey Levin and Mark Geragos -- "Two Angry Men" -- and in our first episode we broke down the Blake-Baldoni beef with special guest Bryan Freedman, the attorney repping Justin.

Harvey hammers Bryan about potentially deposing Taylor ... because she's central to the dispute by virtue of her involvement in an infamous meeting between Justin, Blake and Ryan.

1:15 PM PT -- Chip Babcock, a partner in the Texas law firm Jackson Walker LLP that represents Jed Wallace, tells TMZ ... "Blake Lively made false statements to the press through a private administrative filing, claiming Mr. Wallace and Street Relations had sexually harassed her, retaliated against her, aided and abetted others who did the same, breached a contract with her and engaged in other improper conduct. Mr. Wallace, who is a very private person, has never met or spoken to Ms. Lively. Ever. He has not engaged in a smear campaign against her at any point in time. The decision to file this lawsuit to rightfully protect himself and his family was made after Ms. Lively not only filed against him first in Texas but, indicated she intended to name him in yet another lawsuit."

Blake Lively's legal headaches are getting worse ... the actress is now being sued by a crisis PR firm for defamation in her ongoing lawsuit battle with Justin Baldoni, TMZ has learned.

Blake was slapped with a new lawsuit by Jed Wallace and his company, Street Relations Inc., after she named both parties along with Baldoni in her December 2024 California civil rights complaint for bad behavior related to the filming of "It Ends With Us."

Wallace accuses Blake of falsely lumping his firm into the allegations she made against Baldoni, and then sending the information to various media outlets, including Elle Magazine. Despite the fact that Blake did not name Wallace or Street Relations in the lawsuit she filed just days later, and he says the damage was done and the media continued to report he had engaged in illegal activity.