Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have ended their 18-month court battle, but there is no public sign that the It Ends With Us co-stars are anything close to friends now. What is clear, according to Page Six Hollywood, is that the pair spent a combined $60 million on legal fees before reaching a last-minute settlement on Monday, 4 May, just two weeks before trial.
The settlement came after a bruising dispute that had sprawled far beyond the film itself. Lively, 38, sued Baldoni, 42, for $400 million in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and a smear campaign. Baldoni then countersued, and the case became increasingly messy as parts of both sides' arguments were dismissed in court.
A Legal Bill Bigger Than Their Film
The scale of the dispute is stark. According to court documents cited by Variety, It Ends With Us, which opened in cinemas in August 2024, was budgeted at $25 million but ultimately cost about $55 million to make and went on to take $351 million at the global box office. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have now together spent more than that production budget simply arguing over what happened on set and afterwards.
For all the money the Gossip Girl alum, and Baldoni spent on legal counsel since she first filed suit against him in late 2024, they never ended up having to fork over any money to one another, nor did Baldoni issue a formal apology.https://t.co/sKJtw8IDqu
— The Star (@staronline) May 6, 2026
Put bluntly, the money burnt on legal teams could, on paper, have funded at least two more mid‑budget dramas of the same size. Page Six Hollywood notes that the lawyers including Bryan Freedman, Ellyn Garofalo, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, whose names appeared on the joint settlement statement are among the few undisputed winners in a case that has left both stars bruised.
Inside the astonishing deal that ended Blake Lively's $300M war with Justin Baldoni https://t.co/qDMApbqLBL
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) May 5, 2026
The underlying claims have already been sharply narrowed by the court. Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni's countersuit last June. In April this year, he threw out 10 of Lively's 13 causes of action, including all of the sexual harassment allegations levelled at Baldoni. What remained was still serious, but much of the tabloid‑fuelled narrative around the lawsuit had already been stripped away by the time the settlement was reached.
Even so, the damage from the very public airing of accusations is harder to quantify than any line item on a legal invoice. Studio executives were blunt about the professional fallout. One put it plainly, 'Justin does not have enough value in the market to overcome the suspicion that he may have created an unsafe set. I am not sure he could cast a movie right now.' That is not a legal judgment, but in a business driven by perception and risk, it may prove more decisive than any ruling.
What the Settlement Says — And What It Leaves Out
The precise terms of the settlement between Lively and Baldoni are confidential, and both sides are barred from discussing them publicly. Instead, they issued a carefully worded joint statement, shared by People, that sought to redirect attention away from the courtroom and back to the work.
Blake Lively Got Absolutely Bodied In Her Settlement With Justin Baldoni After Spending Tens Of Millions Of Dollars On Lawyers https://t.co/aX4Hd4c3Ot https://t.co/aX4Hd4c3Ot
— Brotips (@brotips) May 5, 2026
'The end product, the movie It Ends With Us, is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life,' the statement read. 'Raising awareness and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors and all survivors is a goal that we stand behind.'
The reference to the film's subject matter is not incidental. It Ends With Us is based on a bestselling novel that centres on domestic abuse, and both stars had publicly framed the project as a way to start conversations about violence and control. That backdrop has made the off-screen dispute feel even more jarring, not least for audiences who were drawn to the film because of its themes.
In the same statement, Lively and Baldoni attempted to acknowledge the tension without re-litigating it. 'We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognise concerns raised by Ms Lively deserved to be heard,' they said.
Blake Lively was all smiles at the 2026 Met Gala — just hours after she settled her lawsuit with It Ends With Us costar Justin Baldoni. Link below for details. https://t.co/rFVd4xEScL pic.twitter.com/A42HCB8qTb
— OK! Magazine USA (@OKMagazine) May 6, 2026
'We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments.' They went on to express the 'sincere hope' that the agreement 'brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online.'
Those lines are doing a lot of work. They nod to the seriousness of Lively's complaints, even as a judge has already removed the most explosive allegations from the case. They also seek to reassure future partners and crews that, whatever happened on this production, both stars now endorse the industry's standard language on safe sets and professional conduct.
What the statement does not do is settle the question many in Hollywood are really asking, whether the reputational cloud around Justin Baldoni will lift quickly enough for him to continue directing and producing at scale, and whether Blake Lively will be able to command the same fees and creative control after spending 18 months in open conflict with a collaborator. On those points, nothing is confirmed yet, so predictions about their careers should be treated with caution.
The settlement closes the legal file, but it will be the casting sheets, not the court docket, that eventually show how costly this $60 million dispute has really been.
