Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle ends
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have reached a settlement after nearly a year and a half of legal disputes.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s year-and-a-half legal battle ended just weeks before they were scheduled to go to trial in New York City.
The stars of “It Ends With Us” agreed to settle Lively’s breach of contract and retaliation lawsuit on May 4, a spokesperson for defendant Wayfarer Studios, co-founded by Baldoni, confirmed to USA TODAY. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
“The final film, ‘It Ends With Us,’ is a source of pride for all of us who worked to make this film a reality. Raising awareness and meaningfully impacting the lives of victims of domestic violence, and all survivors, is a goal we support,” a joint statement from attorneys for both parties said.
Brian Friedman, Erin Garofalo, Michael Gottlieb, and Esra Hudson said, “We acknowledge that this process has had its challenges, and we recognize that the concerns raised by Ms. Lively are worth hearing.” “We remain steadfastly committed to a workplace free of fraud and counterproductive environments. We sincerely hope this closure completes and allows all involved to move forward constructively and peacefully, including in a respectful environment online.”
The lawsuit between Lively, 38, her director and co-star Baldoni, 42, and his co-defendants includes conflicting accounts of how their relationship broke down on the set of the 2024 film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s book, as well as allegations of intentional defamation and sexual harassment.
The high-profile controversy has also engulfed other celebrities, as the stars’ private communications were exposed during legal discovery in the Lively-Baldoni case. The hundreds of items in the exhibit, which were unsealed in January, included messages from Taylor Swift, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and co-stars Jenny Slate and Isabella Ferrer.
Why most of the claims in Blake Lively’s lawsuit were dismissed
The move comes a month after U.S. District Judge Louis Lehman effectively dismissed most of Lively’s legal claims, including sexual harassment, defamation and false invasion of privacy claims, on April 2, after Baldoni’s lawyers sought to avoid the lawsuit. Trial scheduled to begin on May 18th.
At the time, defense attorneys Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Buck celebrated the move, saying, “What remains is a fairly narrowed case, and we look forward to presenting our defense to the remaining claims in court.”
Liman’s order granted most of the defendants’ claims and dismissed some. Motion for summary judgment.
Legal claims of sexual harassment were dismissed on jurisdictional and employment issues. Lehman wrote that although Lively filed the lawsuit under California law, the alleged misconduct occurred during filming in New Jersey. He also noted that the facts “overwhelmingly show” that Lively was an independent contractor and not an employee, so he could not sue for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
The judge allowed three of her 13 claims, including breach of contract, retaliation and aiding and abetting retaliation, to proceed to trial. The remaining charges related to It Ends With Us Movie LLC (breach of contract and retaliation), Wayfarer Studios (retaliation), and The Agency Group PR LLC (aiding and abetting retaliation), a company that Lively had accused of orchestrating an online campaign to cast Lively in a negative light.
Baldoni’s co-defendants included Wayfarer Studios, its co-founder Steve Sarowitz, producer Jamie Heath, crisis public relations expert Melissa Nathan, and publicist Jennifer Abel.
A timeline of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle
After months of online speculation about a feud between the stars of the Colleen Hoover film adaptation, The New York Times published a detailed report on Lively’s allegations in December. The article’s headline was, “‘Anyone Can Bury’: Inside Hollywood’s Smear Machine.”
The piece was released at the same time that Lively filed a complaint in California, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation by Baldoni and Heath, and later filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York.
Lively alleges that Baldoni acted inappropriately on and off set, writing in her lawsuit that she and other Seraph of the End cast and crew experienced “invasive, unwelcome, unprofessional and sexually inappropriate conduct.”
Lively alleged in her lawsuit that Baldoni “often referred to women in the workplace as ‘sexy'” and that “when the women expressed discomfort, Baldoni attempted to deflect or cover up.” In one incident, Baldoni told a female cast member that leather pants looked “sexy,” and when the comment was “rejected,” he said, “I can say that because my wife is here today.”
She also claimed that Baldoni and Heath “entered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including while she was breastfeeding her infant” and “invaded[her]privacy” throughout filming. Lively said that in retaliation for her complaints about the alleged behavior, the production company and PR agency orchestrated a “space lawn campaign” to discredit and “bury” her.
Baldoni and his co-defendants have repeatedly denied the actress’ claims. Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios, and their publicist sued The New York Times for defamation on December 31, 2024, but the suit was later dismissed by a judge.
The parties formally responded to Lively’s legal complaint with a counterclaim on January 16, 2025. They accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloan of extortion, defamation, and false invasion of privacy.
The plaintiffs “seized control” of the film and “attempted to destroy their lives and businesses if they did not yield to her constant demands, and when they refused to yield, she did just that, accusing them of vile and reprehensible sexual misconduct,” the lawsuit alleges. The suit went on to claim that Lively’s claims of sexual harassment by Baldoni were “fabricated” and “used throughout the production of this film to gain control.”
They argued in the lawsuit that Wayfarer, Baldoni, Heath and their publicists, not Lively, were “the targets of a calculated and virulent smear campaign.”
The two lawsuits were ultimately consolidated with Lively’s federal lawsuit into a single lawsuit in New York federal court.
In October 2025, Liman issued a final judgment on the claims of Baldoni and his co-defendants, effectively ending their case, leaving the door open to appeals and refiled charges related to contract issues.
