Justin Baldoni is allegedly weighing offers worth up to a reported $10 million to tell all about his bitter clash with Blake Lively over It Ends With Us, after a settlement reached in early May left him free to speak publicly about the film and the legal war that followed.
According to court documents cited by In Touch Weekly and fresh claims from industry insiders, the actor‑director is already being courted for television interviews, potential docuseries projects, and even a book deal that would chronicle one of Hollywood's most rancorous recent disputes.
The news came after Baldoni and Lively quietly settled their long‑running legal fight on 4 May, ending years of accusations and counter‑claims surrounding the 2024 adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel.
The film, which Baldoni directed and starred in opposite Lively, was dogged by litigation almost from the moment cameras stopped rolling, with the off‑screen fallout gradually eclipsing its box office performance and subsequent streaming release on Netflix. What might once have become a comfortable romance‑drama franchise instead turned into a cautionary tale about creative partnerships gone sour.
A key detail of the settlement appears to have opened the door to Baldoni's potential windfall. His lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told The #NoFilter with Zack Peter podcast on 5 May that the agreement with the former Gossip Girl star does not contain a non‑disclosure clause, a notable omission in a high‑profile Hollywood dispute.
'In most cases that get settled, there is a confidentiality that is broad, that you can't say anything negative about anyone, you can't say this, you can't say that,' Freedman said, according to the podcast recording. He added that for Justin Baldoni, 'the most important thing... is being able to speak his truth, being able to tell the story.'
Justin Baldoni Weighs 'No‑NDA' TV Deals And Book Offers
For context, Baldoni, 42, and his team are now said to be testing the market for that story, with one unnamed source telling In Touch that the Jane the Virgin alum is 'champing at the bit' to sit down on camera and give his full account of what happened on It Ends With Us. The source claimed he is already exploring the 'logistics' of a major TV interview and hinted at a broader media package.
'It would make him an absolute fortune, no doubt,' the insider said, suggesting the financial incentive sits alongside any desire to clear his name. The same informant floated the idea of a memoir that could accompany a televised tell‑all, arguing that a book about the legal saga and its impact on his career would be 'even more lucrative.'
Another industry figure painted an almost gleeful picture of the likely scramble to land the rights. For any broadcaster or streamer, they argued, securing exclusive access to Justin Baldoni and his unfiltered version of events would be 'a guaranteed slam dunk' because the case was already 'ingrained into the history books as one of Hollywood's most explosive legal battles of all time.' A bidding war, they said, would be inevitable.
No figures have been confirmed on the record, so any numbers should be treated cautiously. Yet the same source pointed to Prince Harry's reported $27 million deal for his memoir Spare as a benchmark, arguing that 'it's hard to imagine Justin getting any less than $10 million for his story, if not more.'
They speculated that a multi‑part docuseries centred on the making of It Ends With Us and the ensuing court fight could command an even higher price, particularly if rival platforms entered the fray.
Legal Battle With Blake Lively Still Casting A Shadow
The suggestion that Justin Baldoni might cash in on the saga does not mean the matter is fully resolved. While the central dispute over It Ends With Us has been settled, documents obtained by In Touch indicate that Blake Lively is still pursuing legal fees and triple damages from Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios. This relates to a defamation case he brought against her, which was dismissed in June last year.
According to The New York Times, if a judge ultimately sides with Lively on that point, Baldoni could be left owing her 'millions of dollars.' In a separate filing cited by In Touch, Baldoni's legal team described her request for money as 'draconian,' underlining how raw relations remain behind the legal formalities.
The row has already taken a professional toll. After Lively filed a complaint against Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni responded with his own defamation suit against Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds. Anonymous insiders say the legal crossfire chilled studio enthusiasm for turning Hoover's work into a franchise, despite the success of the first film.
'People genuinely thought the franchise was dead. Studios were nervous. Producers didn't know if the sequel had become too toxic to touch,' one unnamed source told CinemaBlend. Both stars have seen their project slates narrow during the dispute, with Baldoni notably absent from new acting or directing announcements while the case rumbled on.
Justin Baldoni And The Question Of An It Ends With Us Sequel
Yet Justin Baldoni has not, it seems, abandoned the world that first brought him into conflict with Lively. Separate reporting, attributed to industry tipster Rob Shuter, claims Baldoni remains interested in adapting Hoover's follow‑up novel It Starts With Us for the screen. Hoover had not initially planned a second film, but the books' built‑in audience remains tempting.
An unnamed insider said Baldoni 'still believes in these stories and believes audiences are ready to move on,' adding that he thinks 'the focus can finally return to the movies instead of the drama.' Another source suggested Baldoni would even consider working with Blake Lively again 'if it helped save the franchise,' insisting he was 'not interested in revenge' and 'just wants to make movies again.'
None of those claims has been independently confirmed, and there is no indication so far from the studio side that a sequel is in active development. For now, It Ends With Us sits on Netflix, drawing fresh viewers who may only dimly be aware of the complex legal fight behind it, while the man at the centre of that storm weighs up whether to trade his silence for a very public, and potentially very profitable, reckoning.
