It Finally Ends: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni Settle Lawsuit Ahead of Trial
After years of legal wrangling, Blake Lively has settled a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni over sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us.
The two sides issued on Monday a joint statement announcing the deal. Terms weren’t disclosed.
“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,” they said. “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 statement added, “We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize 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.”
With the deal, Lively and Baldoni avert a trial in a case that has captivated Hollywood and sparked a labyrinthine web of lawsuits over the shooting and public relations machinations behind It Ends With Us. Lively in 2024 initiated the legal battle against Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer for sexual harassment, accusing him and his team of marshaling a plan to undermine her reputation in retaliation for speaking up about misconduct on the set of the movie. This sparked a $400 million countersuit from the director, who claimed that Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds orchestrated a campaign to smear him, and later saw the lawsuit dismissed. The saga has gripped the entertainment industry, with extensive legal maneuvering as the two sides looked for an edge in court. Jury selection was scheduled to start on May 18.
The actress was set to testify in the trial, which would’ve put clashing narratives advanced by her and Baldoni against each other. One told a story of sexual harassment and retaliation by a filmmaker backed by a billionaire funding a unscrupulous network of public relations professionals. The other was the tale of an A-list actress, aided by some of the biggest celebrities in the world who include Reynolds and friend Taylor Swift, scheming to rip away control of a director’s passion project and destroy his reputation.
Court filings indicate that Lively estimated the reputational fallout as a result of the alleged smear campaign to have cost her over $100 million. In the five years after the premiere of It Ends With Us in 2024, she was positioned to secure at least three real roles in high budget movies that would’ve secured her paydays in the range of $10 million to $15 million each, said one expert. For the sequel of the film, Lively said she likely would’ve been paid between $15 million to $20 million in addition to at least $15 million in profit participation and box office bonuses. Much of the damages were tied to losses to Lively’s companies, including hair care line Blake Brown and cocktail company Betty Booze.
Absent the settlement, the trial would’ve focused on allegations of breach of contract, retaliation by Wayfarer and aiding and abetting retaliation by the public relations shop hired by the director. The court significantly narrowed the scope of Lively’s case last month when it dismissed the majority of her claims, including for defamation and conspiracy. The dismissal of the core sexual harassment claim stemmed from the failure to meet certain legal requirements, some of which concern the contracts governing the production.
Still, the court signaled that actions taken by Baldoni’s camp in the wake of the allegations could be problematic. Lively claimed in her lawsuit that the director orchestrated a retaliatory campaign in the press and on social media.
“Certain conduct at least arguably crossed the line,” wrote U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in the order issued last month. He added, “There are limits to the response that the accused can make in response to claims of harassment. There comes a point where the accused stops simply defending him or herself and starts taking action that a reasonable jury could view as retaliation for the fact that the accuser had the temerity to make the accusations.”
While the It Ends With Us director was entitled to protect his reputation, the court found that some of the allegations advanced by Baldoni could constitute an attack on Lively’s reputation. It pointed to key messaging points in Baldoni’s public relations campaign that the actress had a “less than favorable reputation in the industry span[ning] decades,” and that “production members lost their jobs due” to her alleged takeover of the film. There’s evidence that could lead a jury to conclude that Wayfarer planned more aggressive moves meant to destroy her career, according to the ruling.
One example: Melissa Nathan, Baldoni’s crisis communications specialist, said that she can’t send certain documents “that could get us in a lot of trouble” due to concerns over them ending “up in the wrong hands,” per court documents. She added, “You know we can bury anyone.” Wayfarer founder Steve Sarowitz similarly stated, “There will be two dead bodies when I’m done.”
Wayfarer, whose cofounder Steve Sarowitz and CEO Jamey Heath were named in Lively’s lawsuit, has maintained that any actions it took was meant to defend itself and that it never ended up taking many of the offensive action the company contemplated, though the court said that some of those plans were put into action. This includes Baldoni requesting his public relations representatives to amplify a video criticizing Lively as insensitive to domestic violence survivors.
Legal experts said they weren’t surprised by the settlement considering the dismissal of Lively’s core claims and the potential for the trial to further damage the reputation of both sides.
“It’s not worth going to trial and spending weeks and hundreds of thousands of dollars to litigate the breach of contract and smear campaign claims alone,” says Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who’s been following the case. “There isn’t enough meat on the bone to make it worth the parties and the lawyers’ time. This result was expected after the dismissals and will leave fans wondering what really happened between the two celebrities.”
Adds litigator Tre Lovell, “Whether or not money was exchanged as part of the settlement would not be a priority to either side. As with every case involving celebrities, there is the battle in the courtroom and the battle in the public arena, the latter being more important. The number one priority to most celebrity litigations is the effect on their brand and their livelihood, and often the legal cases will follow the track the public fight is having.”
While the settlement ends the dispute between Lively and Baldoni, discovery in the case laid the groundwork for other ongoing litigation involving celebrities. Rebel Wilson‘s crisis public relations team, for example, discussed plans to create anonymous websites that accused the producer of her directorial debut The Deb of sex trafficking as part of an alleged smear campaign solicited by the actress, according to communications unearthed in the case. In a recording obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, digital fixer Jed Wallace instructed Nathan to assert without evidence that the producer, Amanda Ghost, is a “madame” whose work involves procuring young women for wealthy and powerful men. At one point in the private conversation, Wallace referenced the involvement of Hollywood power lawyer Bryan Freedman, Wilson’s then-counsel who represented Baldoni, in the plan. The discovery of communications implicating Wallace, Nathan and Freedman could be traced back to the It Ends With Us legal saga, in which Freedman plays a central role, and a breach of contract lawsuit from ex-Baldoni publicist Stephanie Jones against Baldoni and Wayfarer.
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