Blake Lively Admitted She 'Poisoned' Entire Cast Against Male Co-Star Because She Was 'Upset' He Was Hired — As Actress' Legal Battle With Justin Baldoni Explodes
Blake Lively has been dealing with the legal mess since her lawsuit in December.
Feb. 13 2025, Published 5:22 p.m. ET
Blake Lively has admitted she "poisoned" an entire cast against a male co-star because she was left furious he was hired for the role.
RadarOnline.com can report the actress' bombshell resurfaced statements come as she's in the midst of a very nasty legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.
Lively is facing a fortune in legal bills and a career fallout after making her accusations against Baldoni.
In a resurfaced interview with 2009, Lively admitted she was livid after Penn Badgley was cast for the show.
She said: "At first I was so upset that they hired him. I actually poisoned the whole cast against him.
"But then they noticed that he wasn’t a jerk and was actually a really nice, charming person.
"Almost immediately I realized that too, but it took me about a week to admit it."
Lively even claimed at the time of the interview there was no drama between the cast and they spend time together "outside of work."
Despite not being thrilled over casting at first, Lively and Badgley ended up dating for three years in real life – while also dating on-screen on the hit show Gossip Girl, which ran for six seasons from 2007 until 2012.
The couple called it quits back in 2010, but reportedly didn't tell bosses to avoid personal drama impacting their work.
Lively and Badgley dated from 2007 to 2010.
While Lively's co-stars have remained silent in the midst of Lively and Baldoni's nasty legal battle, rumors have since resurfaced about the actress and Leighton Meester's issues on set.
In 2008, New York Magazine reported Lively and Meester, who played Serena and Blair on Gossip Girl, "avoided each other like the plague" on set.
In January, Lively was ripped for being "a mean girl" for her "cruel" joke in a resurfaced video about Meester being born while her mother was in jail.
Lively and Meester were on stage for a panel answering questions, and at one point, Lively said, "Well, some of us started in a cage."
Lively has come under fire many times since the shocking lawsuit against Baldoni.
One user on TikTok pointed out: "She waved her hands in Leighton’s direction when saying it as well."
Another one wrote: "Poor Leighton, that's so mean."
A third said: "Damn! That was so cold-blooded."
Another user commented: "Mean girl is an understatement!!"
During the same press conference, another resurfaced clip showed the two stars discussing whether Serena or Blair are inherently good or evil — who were their characters on the CW series.
Lively interrupted to say "everyone knows blondes are nicer," which led to Meester awkwardly laughing.
Blake Lively said she 'has suffered from grief, fear, trauma and extreme anxiety' due to Justin Baldoni's alleged harassment.
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In December, after months of feud rumors between Baldoni and Lively, it was officially confirmed the two had a falling out after she accused the director of "sexual harassment" and claimed his behavior while filming caused her "grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety."
Baldoni denied all of the actress' allegations and has since filed a $400million lawsuit against her, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and the actress' publicist.
He also filed a lawsuit against The New York Times for $250million for their article about her claims.
Since then, they two have been battling over smear campaign allegations, requesting phone records, releasing emails or texts, and more.
Their trial kicks off in 2026.
