TLDR
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have walked away from the latest attempt to settle their courtroom clash over “It Ends With Us,” choosing a public trial over a quiet deal.
With most of Lively’s claims already dismissed, the case now zeroes in on whether Baldoni and his team waged a retaliation and PR campaign that damaged her reputation.
The stalemate played out behind closed doors in New York, where back-to-back phone conferences with Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave gave both sides a fresh chance to find common ground. Instead, according to new reporting, Lively and Baldoni each rejected the judge’s latest effort to resolve their battle off the record. No agreement. No peace. The legal war continues.
At the center of it all is the set of “It Ends With Us,” the Colleen Hoover adaptation that paired Lively and Baldoni as onscreen lovers in a romance fans had been waiting years to see. What began as a glossy star vehicle has become a federal case about workplace conduct, creative control, and the power of a celebrity narrative in a courtroom.
The case was dramatically reshaped only days before the settlement talks. Judge Lewis Liman, who is presiding over the lawsuit, dismissed 10 of Lively’s 13 claims, including all of her sexual harassment allegations. The judge found that Lively had not signed an Actor Loanout Agreement that would have governed harassment issues, and that her level of control over the film meant she did not qualify as an employee under the laws she invoked.
What survived, however, could be even more reputationally explosive. The judge ruled that there was enough evidence of a possible retaliation effort for a jury to decide if a campaign to harm Lively’s career actually took place. The remaining counts heading to trial are breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retaliation, all of which Baldoni denies.
For Baldoni, who has built a reputation as a sensitive leading man and filmmaker, Liman’s ruling was an early win. His attorneys, Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach, said they were “very pleased” with the decision that wiped out most of Lively’s claims. His spokespeople have not offered new public comment on the failed settlement talks.
Lively, meanwhile, has framed the case around what happened after she spoke up about conditions surrounding the production. In court filings, she acknowledged that delivering a “certain aesthetic” was “part of the job that we both excitedly signed up for,” a nod to the intense scrutiny that comes with being both a star and a producer. Her team argues that the true injury came when she pushed for safety on set and, they say, paid a professional price.
Attorney Sigrid McCawley, a member of Lively’s legal team, told the Daily Mail that “this case has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial.” McCawley added that Lively “looks forward to testifying at trial.”
The case is currently scheduled to go before a jury in May 2026. That sets up the rare spectacle of an A-list actress and a high-profile director facing off under oath, with text messages, emails, and PR strategy likely dissected in open court while their romantic drama plays in theaters and on streaming.
For now, one thing is clear. Instead of letting “It Ends With Us” remain just a love story on screen, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are letting a New York jury write the next chapter.
Do you think this kind of behind-the-scenes dispute changes how you watch a film, or should the onscreen story stand apart from the legal one?
