Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s Wayfarer reach settlement, two weeks ahead of trial start
The high-profile legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s production company will no longer go to trial after the parties announced a settlement just two weeks before jury selection was slated to begin.
Details of the settlement agreement were not immediately available.
Lively filed a complaint alleging Baldoni sexually harassed her during the filming of “It Ends With Us,” which they costarred in and Baldoni directed. According to Lively, Baldoni later orchestrated a smear campaign to retaliate against her for speaking up about the alleged mistreatment. Baldoni denied all the allegations.
Last month, a federal judge threw out ten of the thirteen claims in Lively’s lawsuit, including sexual harassment and defamation, effectively narrowing the case. Some of the tossed claims, including the ones involving sexual harassment, were nixed due to legal technicalities, such as Lively being considered an independent contractor rather than an employee.
The remaining three claims – retaliation, aiding and abetting retaliation, and breach of contract – were not against Baldoni personally. His production company, Wayfarer, an LLC for the movie, and a public relations company retained by his team were the defendants in the remaining claims.
The trial, which was scheduled to begin May 18 with jury selection, would have been the culmination of a year-long legal drama that has captured the public’s interest.
In a joint statement released Monday by attorneys for Lively and the remaining defendants, they acknowledged that the process of making the film “presented challenges” and that the “concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard.”
“We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments,” the statement read. “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.”
How it began
The legal battle between Lively and Baldoni started in late 2024, when The New York Times reported that Lively had filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department about Baldoni’s alleged conduct during and after production of “It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel of the same name.
Lively later filed a civil complaint in New York federal court against Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios and several others.
In the complaint, Lively alleged Baldoni made sexual comments towards women on set and spoke about his personal sex life, including his “previous pornography addiction.” She also accused him of improvising intimacy that had not been choreographed, including in some footage that was later publicly released.
In court filings, Baldoni said the alleged behavior amounted to “no more than miscommunications and awkward comments,” and argued some of the conversations were relevant since the movie’s story grapples with intimate adult themes.The production team listened to Lively’s concerns at the time and implemented the changes she requested, he said.
Lively also claimed Baldoni and his team later “weaponize(d) a digital army” to turn public opinion against Lively.
Baldoni’s lawyers argued in court filings his public relations team engaged in standard practice after Lively “set out to destroy his reputation.”
The legal proceedings have been marked by a back-and-forth that drove headlines, particularly when text message exchanges and video footage from the set became public. At one point, Lively’s correspondence with superstar friend Taylor Swift became the focus of attention.
Last year, Lively’s lawyers accused Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, of publicly making “misleading and selective” statements about Lively and her ongoing legal dispute and asked the court for a hearing “to address the appropriate conduct of counsel moving forward.” The judge presiding over the case advised the attorneys to avoid making statements in public that could prejudice the proceedings.
During the legal saga, Baldoni also filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively and her superstar husband Ryan Reynolds, alleging they “hijacked” his film and attempted to destroy his career. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit last June.
The judge’s ruling did not address the merits of Baldoni’s complaint but rather held that Lively’s sexual harassment claims were protected by law and could not form the basis of a defamation claim.
The judge also dismissed a libel suit Baldoni filed against the New York Times. Baldoni alleged its article detailing Lively’s claims was “rife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and omissions.” In a statement at the time, the newspaper defended its reporting, saying the article was “meticulously and responsibly reported.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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