At the Time100 Gala on Thursday night, Blake Lively paid tribute to her mother, Willie Elain McAlpin, and alluded to her legal battle with Justin Baldoni in a five-minute personal speech.
“My life was influenced most by my mother, Willie Elain McAlpin, who’s here with me tonight, an eternal optimist who’s always leaving me messages, hoopin’ and hollerin’ sayin’: ‘Life’s just a bowl of cherries,’” she said while pointing out her mother in the crowd. Lively was giving the speech after being honoured as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People.
“My mom never got justice from her work acquaintance who attempted to take her life when she was the mother of three young kids – years before I was born. She has always credited her beating heart today with the story she heard from another woman in a similar circumstance, speaking on the radio as my mom drove home one day.”
Lively continued: “She was saved by a woman whose name she’ll never know. I am alive, and standing with you all here today, being honoured because of a woman whose name I’ll never know. I am here, my mom is here, because that woman not only survived, but she told others how.”
In her speech, she addressed that being called “influential” was “a significant responsibility” and “How we use that matters. Who and what we stand up for, and what we stay silent about, what we monetise versus what we actually live, matters.”
“I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum.”
Lively's reference to the “last two years” refers to her continuing legal dispute with Baldoni, the director and co-star of It Ends With Us.
Here is a timeline of the behind-the-scenes drama of It Ends With Us.
August 13, 2024: Feud rumours circulate and Baldoni hires Johnny Depp’s crisis management PR firm
Tensions between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively began to stir online as fans noticed the pair steering clear of each other during the promotional tour for It Ends With Us. Eagle-eyed social media users quickly spotted that Baldoni and Lively didn’t follow each other on Instagram.
According to TMZ, the alleged friction stemmed from claims of “fat-shaming,” inappropriate on-set remarks, and Baldoni lingering too long during kissing scenes. Meanwhile, whispers on social media speculated that the rift could have been linked to Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, being overly involved in the production process.
In response to the controversy, Baldoni brought on high-profile crisis manager Melissa Nathan. Known for representing Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against Amber Heard, as well as Drake and Travis Scott, Nathan’s involvement suggested Baldoni was gearing up for a serious reputation defence. As Deadline reported, Nathan’s previous work included handling allegations of orchestrated social media smear campaigns, making her a strategic choice for Baldoni’s team.
December 21, 2024: Lively files lawsuit against Baldoni accusing him of sexual harassment.
Before Christmas, Lively accused Baldoni of behaviour that caused her “severe emotional distress”, according to lawsuit filings obtained by TMZ.
The filing detailed a meeting attended by Lively, Reynolds, Baldoni and their legal teams, where she outlined her grievances. As per the lawsuit, she issued specific conditions for continuing to work on the film. These included a ban on Baldoni showing explicit images or videos, discussing his alleged past “pornography addiction”, making inappropriate comments about sexual conquests, weight or genitalia, and mentioning Lively’s late father. She also insisted no additional sex scenes or explicit moments be added outside the script she had approved.
According to TMZ, Sony Pictures agreed to these conditions, but Lively alleges that Baldoni retaliated by launching a campaign to “destroy” her reputation.
In response, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freeman, claimed Lively’s lawsuit was an attempt to “fix her negative reputation”. Freeman described the allegations as “false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious”, accusing Lively of creating issues on set, threatening not to show up and refusing to promote the film, which he argued contributed to its underperformance at the box office.
December 22, 2024: New York Times investigation claims PR campaign was organised to ‘bury’ Lively
Private messages obtained by the New York Times suggested a deliberate effort to “bury” Lively by Baldoni and his team. In one message, Baldoni’s PR consultant, Melissa Nathan, allegedly stated, “You know we can bury anyone,” according to the Times.
The report also detailed Baldoni sharing an example of a viral social media thread accusing another celebrity of bullying, writing, “This is what we would need.” Nathan allegedly proposed hiring contractors to execute a covert campaign that included creating viral threads, orchestrating “full social account takedowns”, and manipulating online narratives. “All of this will be most importantly untraceable,” Nathan is said to have written.
In the Blake Lively vs Wayfarer Studios LLC, Lively’s representatives alleged that Baldoni bit the actress on the lip during filming, came into her trailer while she was breastfeeding her baby, tried to discuss pornography with her, and brought his friend on set to play a doctor during a birth scene where Lively was pressured to perform nude.
December 23, 2024: Hollywood stars rally in support of Lively
A day after THR reported that Baldoni was dropped by WME, who also represents Lively and her husband, several high-profile stars came out in support of the Gossip Girl actress.
Colleen Hoover, Gwyneth Paltrow, Amber Heard, America Ferrera, Amy Schumer and Paul Feig have voiced support for Blake Lively, sharing messages of solidarity following the public allegations. Lively’s sister, fellow actor Robyn Lively, also expressed her backing, writing, “FINALLY, Justice for my sister Blake Lively.”
In a powerful statement, Lively addressed the situation, saying, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
December 23, 2024: Baldoni’s legal team issues response to sexual harassment claims
Bryan Freedman, speaking on behalf of Baldoni, defended his client’s actions, saying: “Audiences found Lively’s own actions, interviews, and marketing during the promotional tour distasteful, and responded organically to that which the media themselves picked up on,” according to People.
He also spoke in defence of the PR firm involved, saying: “TAG PR operated as any other crisis management firm would when hired by a client experiencing threats by two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources.”
December 24, 2025: Baldoni stripped of ‘ally to women’ award
On Christmas Eve, Vital Voices rescinded Baldoni’s 2024 Voices of Solidarity Award following the allegations detailed in Lively’s lawsuit.
The filmmaker was honoured at the star-studded event, which celebrates men who “elevate women, combat gender-based violence, and promote gender equality worldwide” and took place on December 9. However two weeks after giving him the award, the non-profit, which is dedicated to ending sexual and domestic violence, said the lawsuit “alleges abhorrent conduct” that stands “contrary to the values of Vital Voices”.
December 31, 2024: Baldoni files $250m lawsuit against The New York Times
Baldoni, along with nine other plaintiffs, including publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, filed a $250 million lawsuit against the New York Times, alleging libel and false-light invasion of privacy. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles superior court, accused the publication of using “‘cherry-picked’ and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead”.
In the action, the Jane the Virgin actor claimed he was “aggressively berated” by Reynolds after asking Lively how much she weighed. Baldoni, who suffers from back problems, argued that the question was necessary “to ensure he could safely perform the lift without injury”.
December 31, 2024: Lively files official lawsuit against Baldoni
Lively first filed a legal complaint in December, outlining her allegations against co-star and director, amid longstanding rumours of tension during the filming of Hoover’s best-selling 2016 novel adaptation.
A follow-up lawsuit filed on January 1 in a New York federal court makes similar claims to her first. Lively accused Baldoni and the studio behind It Ends With Us built “a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out”.
January, 2 2025: The New York Times and Baldoni’s lawyers issue responses
In a statement to media, a New York Times spokesperson said: “The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead.
“Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error. We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well.
“We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman told press: “In this vicious smear campaign fully orchestrated by Blake Lively and her team, the New York Times cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative.”
January 16, 2025: Baldoni files a $400m countersuit against Lively and Reynolds
After weeks of counter-suing threats, Baldoni filed a $400 million (£327 million) lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds, accusing them of attempting to “destroy” his reputation and career. The suit alleges loss of income, civil extortion, defamation, privacy violations, and interference with both contractual and economic opportunities.
January 21, 2025: Baldoni’s legal team releases unedited footage from It Ends With Us
Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman released nearly 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the film, showing takes included only as a slow-motion montage. Baldoni's legal team claimed the footage disproves Lively's December 2024 allegations of sexual harassment.
Lively's lawyers refuted this in a statement, stating the footage supports her claims: “The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character.
“Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss.”
January 22, 2025: Lively and Reynolds seek gag order
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds filed a gag order against Baldoni’s legal team after raw, unedited footage from the set of It Ends With Us was leaked.
The clips, which surfaced online, featured multiple takes of Lively and Baldoni performing a dance scene for the romantic drama, where they played Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid respectively.
The legal letter accuses Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman of “improper conduct” in releasing the footage.
“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning,” they told Page Six.
“The video shows Mr Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character.”
January 27, 2025 – Baldoni apologises to Lively in leaked voice memo
In a leaked voice memo allegedly sent to Lively during the film’s production, Baldoni can be heard apologising to his co-star. The nearly seven-minute recording is believed to have been sent after Baldoni questioned changes Lively made to a key rooftop scene – months before their legal battle erupted.
His reaction to Lively’s edits reportedly left her frustrated, prompting him to acknowledge his misstep. “Man, reading the second part of your message, my heart sank and I’m really sorry. I, for sure, fell short and you worked really hard on that,” Baldoni said in the voice note.
“I feel really grateful that you feel safe enough to tell me that that’s how you feel and share that with me. And I’m really sorry. I f***ed up. That is a fail on my part.”
January 30, 2025 – Lively and Reynolds move to dismiss Baldoni’s lawsuit
Lively and Reynolds’ legal team filed a notice on 30 January stating their intention to seek the dismissal of Baldoni’s countersuit.
Meanwhile, Baldoni’s legal team has pushed to depose Lively as soon as possible. However, they claim her representatives are resisting efforts to have his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, conduct the deposition due to “unspecified statements made by Mr Freedman.”
February 19, 2025 – Lively claims more women will testify against Baldoni for making them ‘uncomfortable’
The star filed an amended legal complaint claiming that two other actresses were made to feel “uncomfortable” by Baldoni on the set of It Ends With Us — and they were willing to testify when the case comes to trial.
The new filing claimed two other women on set complained at the time of filming and that their complaints were “acknowledged” by Baldoni in writing. “He knew that women other than Ms. Lively also were uncomfortable and had complained about his behaviour,” Lively’s amended complaint said.
March 18, 2025 – Reynolds files motion to dismiss Baldoni's complaint against him
Reynolds filed a motion to dismiss Baldoni’s complaint after its amended version was filed in January. The accusations within include defamation, among others.
March 20, 2025 – Lively files motion to dismiss Baldoni's countersuit
Two days later, Lively’s attorneys petition a judge to dismiss Baldoni’s complaints against her, citing California Civil Code section 47.1, a law designed to protect people who report allegations of sexual assault, harassment, or discrimination from being sued unless the person making the claims was acting with malice.
If the case was dismissed under this law, Baldoni would need to pay Lively's legal fees.
April 24, 2025 – Blake Lively alludes to legal woes in in Time100 gala speech
At the Time100 gala, Lively made reference to her legal dispute with Baldoni.
The actress, who was listed as one of the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, spoke for about six minutes on Thursday April 24 at the annual event at Jazz at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
“I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum,” she said, choosing to speak about “the feeling of being a woman who has a voice today”.
Lively claimed that her mother, Willie Elaine McAlpin, was the "survivor of the worst crime someone can commit against a woman" and that she had "influenced most" her life.
“My mom never got justice from her work acquaintance who attempted to take her life when she was the mother of three young kids years before I was born.” she said.
The phrase “last two years” was a clear reference to Lively's continuing legal dispute with Baldoni.
A trial date has been scheduled for March 2026.
