The long-awaited courtroom showdown between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has been called off at the last minute, with the pair reaching a settlement just weeks before their multi-million dollar dispute over alleged smear tactics linked to It Ends With Us was due to kick off in New York.
“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. Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind, said lawyers for Baldoni and Lively today in a shocking development,” Baldoni’s lawyers — Bryan Freedman, Ellyn Garofalo, Michael Gottlieb, and Esra Hudson — wrote in a statement.
“We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognise concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard. We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments. It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online.”
The saga kicked off in late 2024, when Blake Lively filed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against Justin Baldoni and his inner circle with the California Civil Rights Department. The messy dispute between the It Ends With Us co-stars was later dubbed “a feud between PR firms” by Judge Lewis Liman in March 2025.
Whether that assessment would have held up in court remains unclear, but with a May 18 trial date looming, several of Lively’s claims — including the sexual harassment allegation — were dismissed last month on jurisdictional and other grounds.
With her retaliation claim still in play and Justin Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit already tossed, Blake Lively made it clear she wasn’t backing down.
In an April 3 statement urging people not to get swept up in the “digital soap opera”, the Another Simple Favour star said she would keep working to expose “the systems and people” that harm and silence victims. Backed by husband Ryan Reynolds, Lively has, from the outset, accused Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, and a crisis PR team led by Melissa Nathan of orchestrating an online smear campaign against her in mid-2024, ahead of the release of It Ends With Us.
In a very 2020s twist, she alleged Baldoni enlisted Nathan and fellow publicist Jennifer Abel to undermine her publicly before the film’s debut, in anticipation of claims she might make about his conduct.
Despite reportedly explosive messages between members of The Agency Group and others about Blake Lively, along with the involvement of self-described “hired gun” Jed Wallace, publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel denied ever launching a coordinated online attack. Both have previously worked with clients including Johnny Depp and Rebel Wilson, and maintained there was no need to target Lively, claiming public sentiment was already against her.
After multiple failed attempts at court-ordered mediation in recent weeks, the case looked headed for a month-long jury trial in Manhattan. Sources say Justin Baldoni continued to deny any involvement in harassment or coordinated online campaigns.
But with the dispute increasingly centred on corporate liability — and both sides poised to air more damaging claims in court — a settlement ultimately prevailed.
As reported by Deadline, insiders have suggested the decision came down to cold, hard cost-benefit analysis, including what a prolonged legal fight could mean for future careers. For Lively, that meant potential fallout in Hollywood; for Baldoni, a more uncertain path that may have involved repositioning himself publicly.
Now, following a tightly worded statement from a handful of the many lawyers involved, it seems this long-running saga has, at least for now, finally come to a close.
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