Inside Blake Lively’s early career and later legal drama as The Shallows hits Netflix
Inside Blake Lively’s early career and later legal drama as The Shallows hits Netflix
Lauren MartinezSat, August 15, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTC
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Blake Lively starred in The Shallows in 2016 -Credit:Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock
Blake Lively catapulted into stardom with Gossip Girl and a number of different movie projects before drama erupted in 2024 over It Ends With Us and potentially derailed her stellar career.
One project Lively starred in before the drama over what occurred on the set of the film, adapted from a Colleen Hoover novel, was a 2016 film called The Shallows, which is now hitting Netflix.
Lively, who has also allegedly lost her ‘credibility’ in Hollywood when she also lost her friendship with Taylor Swift over the drama, portrayed a medical student named Nancy Adams who must fight for her survival after she gets stranded following an attack by a great white shark.
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The film received a Certified Fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with an overall score of 78%, while audiences were more critical, giving the movie a 59%.
The film came out 11 years after her mainstream debut in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which she starred in alongside America Ferrara, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn.
The debut film was a hit with both critics and audiences, receiving 82 percent and 77 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but was followed by several films that didn’t fare quite as well.
Lively's debut came in The SIsterhood of the Traveling Pants -Credit:Warner Bros. Pictures.
She followed it up with Accepted (a 38 percent with critics and 72 percent audiences), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (66 and 65 percent), Green Lantern (a 25 and 45 percent), and The Age of Adaline (54 and 67 percent).
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She had another hit in 2018 with A Simple Favor opposite Anna Kendrick, which got 84 and 72 percent ratings.
However, her last two films were seemingly affected by the drama that unfolded on set, with It Ends With Us receiving 55 and 87 percent ratings, and her final project, Another Simple Favor, receiving only 59 and 35 percent ratings.
Lively's career appeared to reach a standstill after drama erupted over It Ends With Us -Credit:AP
The drama erupted in December 2024, months after the film was released, when Lively filed a complaint against her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment on the set.
Baldoni vehemently denied the allegations against him and quickly filed a lawsuit against both her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million, as well as the New York Times for $250 million. Lively then countersued.
Both parties went on to release text exchanges, voice memos, and video to prove their sides of the story, with Baldoni claiming her allegations were an attempt to take over the film’s production.
Lively and Baldoni's suits were both dismissed and concluded on June 2026 -Credit:AP
The case also dragged several other famous names into it, with Swift among them, when Baldoni ought to subpoena her in May 2025, alleging that Lively and Reynolds had used her influence to coerce him into accepting Lively’s rewrites of scenes. Swift denied involvement in the production, and Baldoni’s suits were dismissed.
Others dragged into the drama included Scooter Braun and Perez Hilton.
In April 2016, the courts went on to dismiss 10 of Lively’s 13 claims, including sexual harassment, which also removed Baldoni from the suit. Her suit against his Wayfarer Studios, and claims of retaliation and breach of contract, were resolved in May 2026 without any monetary settlement.
Lively’s attorneys’ fees were awarded in connection with Baldoni’s defamation claim, but by June, the settlement terms were publicized, revealing that all parties waived their rights to any future litigation.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
