At a glance…
- Content Warning: This article touches on the topic of domestic violence and sexual harassment, which may be triggering for some readers.
- It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have been engaged in a series of legal battles.
- Blake Lively sued Justin Baldoni in late 2024, alleging sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign.
- Justin denied the allegations and filed counterclaims, accusing Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds and others of defamation and related misconduct.
- The case ended in a settlement in May 2026, ahead of trial.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have been making headlines for months now. Actually, it’s been going on for years. Their legal case was settled ahead of trial. Finally, Justin Baldoni and his wife Emily broke their silence on the experience in a lengthy video on Instagram.
“We’ve had to wrestle with so many things and try to understand so many things, like, how could something like this even happen? Let alone disguised as a fight for women. So much to unpack. And the reality is that there’s been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family, which also makes it hard to speak,” Emily says in the video. “The truth and the facts have spoken for themselves.”
“There’s been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence over the last couple years, and that created so much noise, and we didn’t want to add to the noise. We just wanted to let the justice system run its course,” Justin adds.
“We are going to focus on continuing the healing and hanging out with our kiddos and enjoying life,” they end the video.
Both Justin and Blake Lively co-starred in the 2024 film It Ends With Us, based on the best-selling Colleen Hoover novel of the same name.
Blake plays the protagonist Lily Bloom, a young florist experiencing domestic violence. While Justin plays Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon who physically abuses Lily.
Justin also directed the film, and his production company Wayfarer Entertainment produced it.
But It Ends With Us is not the sole reason Blake and Justin have been making headlines…
What was the issue between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni?
In very early August 2024, the press tour for It Ends With Us began.
And TikTok sleuths were quick to point out that Blake and Justin were never photographed or took interviews together.
In fact, Blake did most of her interviews and promo with her other co-stars, Brandon Sklenar, Isabela Ferrer, and Jenny Slate. Whereas Justin appeared to embark on his own press tour alone.
This led many to speculate whether there was an issue between the two, as well as between Justin and the wider cast…
But as the press tour continued, Blake started facing heavy criticism online for how she was promoting the film.
She was repeatedly called “tone-deaf” for rarely talking about the heavy domestic violence themes It Ends With Us explores, and instead focusing on her character’s fashion and interest in flowers.
Plus, when the official It Ends With Us TikTok account posted a video of Blake saying, “Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it,” the actress was condemned online.
Multiple comments under this video said her words were “inappropriate”, and that It Ends With Us is not a lighthearted rom-com that should be trivialised with themed dressing.
“This isn’t Barbie,” one comment read.
Blake faced further backlash when she launched and started cross-promoting her haircare line during the press tour of It Ends With Us.
In stark comparison, in most — if not all — of the interviews Justin did, he repeatedly spoke about domestic violence. He shone a light on the important issue while promoting the film.
“The only way I could direct this movie is if I had a group of women behind me who are specialists in this space; from the very beginning, we’ve worked very hard to create a very truthful and honest story that could reflect the reality millions and millions of people go through every day,” Justin said while on the US Today show.
By the middle of August 2024, the general consensus online was that Blake and Justin must have fallen out over creative differences, as they were clearly taking polar opposite approaches with regard to the It Ends With Us promotion.
Then, on August 14, TMZ reported that Blake felt “fat-shamed” by Justin while filming It Ends With Us, and that was the reason for their rift.
Neither Blake nor Justin responded to TMZ’s story. However, shortly after it was published, sleuths spotted that Blake and several other It Ends With Us cast members had unfollowed Justin on Instagram. Thus, suggesting that the two had indeed fallen out and the cast had likely taken Blake’s side.
It was also brought to the public’s attention around this time that Justin had hired crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan, who reportedly ran PR for Johnny Depp during his high-profile defamation trial against Amber Heard in 2022.
Why is Blake Lively suing Justin Baldoni?
On December 21, 2024, Blake filed a complaint — which is a precursor to a lawsuit — against Justin with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging sexual harassment, which Justin vehemently denies.
The actress says that Justin “improvised unwanted kissing” and that both Justin and Jamey Heath (CEO of Wayfarer Studios and lead producer on It Ends With Us) “repeatedly entered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding.”
Blake’s complaint further alleged that after she raised concerns about this behaviour while filming It Ends With Us, Justin and his public relations team orchestrated a smear campaign to “destroy” her reputation.
For instance, Blake says that “the official promotion plan instructed the cast to focus more on the uplifting aspects of the movie than on abuse, and to embrace a floral theme.”
But as detailed above, when Blake promoted It Ends With Us that way, she was severely criticised.
She alleges that after seeing that “blowback,” Justin and his PR team decided to ignore the official promotion plan and “instead highlight[ed] survivors of domestic violence in his interviews and social media” to sway public opinion against her and in his favour.
Also on December 21, The New York Times published an article further detailing the claims of Blake’s complaint — which was also filed against Wayfarer Studios, Jamey Heath, Steve Sarowitz (co-owner of Wayfarer Studios), Melissa Nathan (publicist and crisis PR expert), The Agency Group, (Melissa’s agency), Jennifer Abel (Justin’s publicist), RWA Communications (Jennifer’s agency), Jed Wallace (publicist), and Street Relations Inc (Jed’s agency).
The article also featured several damning screenshots of text messages alleged to be between Justin, Ms Nathan, and Ms Abel.
Shortly after Blake filed her complaint and The New York Times published the accompanying article, Colleen Hoover, Jenny Slate, Brandon Sklenar, America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, and Amy Schumer publicly supported Blake.
Vital Voices, a global non-profit organisation that focuses on empowering women, also rescinded an award they had given Justin earlier in December 2024 in light of Blake’s allegations.
And finally, Liz Plank, who co-hosts The Man Enough Podcast with Justin, announced she would “no longer be co-hosting” with Justin and was leaving the podcast altogether. Although it should be noted that she didn’t explicitly say that Blake’s allegations were why she was leaving.
Blake went on to file a formal lawsuit against Justin, Wayfarer Studios, Jamey, and the others listed above on December 31, 2024.
Why is Justin suing Blake?
Also on December 31, 2024, Justin filed a libel lawsuit against The New York Times for US$250 million. The actor and Wayfarer Studios lost the case and were ordered to pay the publication US$244,000
“We’re delighted by the court’s decision,” the publication said in a statement.
The actor accused the newspaper of defaming him, and his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement:
“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.”
Legal representatives for The New York Times swiftly responded, saying in a statement:
“We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit. The role of an independent news organisation 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.”
Furthermore, on January 17, 2025, Justin filed a US$400 million lawsuit against Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloan. This lawsuit accuses them of civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.
Justin’s complaint alleges that Blake attempted to gain control over the film’s production through demands and threats. It continued that her accusations were a strategic move to deflect attention from her own actions.
Taylor Swift — a close friend of Blake’s — was also dragged into the lawsuit. Justin claims that when visiting Blake’s apartment to go through changes she had made to the It Ends With Us script, Ryan and Taylor were there and sang Blake’s praises.
Once he left, Justin texted Blake, “I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. [And] makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan or Taylor).”
Blake allegedly responded by saying that she was “lucky” to have Ryan and Taylor in her life, as they acted as “creative barometers” and were like “dragons” who protected her.
In Justin’s lawsuit, his lawyers have argued that Justin “felt obliged to text [Blake] Lively to say that he had liked her pages and hadn’t needed [Ryan] Reynolds and her mega-celebrity friend to pressure him.”
The lawsuit goes on to say, “The message could not have been clearer. [Justin] Baldoni was not just dealing with [Blake] Lively. He was also facing [Blake] Lively’s ‘dragons,’ two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
A spokesperson for Blake said in response to Justin’s lawsuit, “This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”
Justin Baldoni’s team sets up a publicly available timeline
On February 1, 2025, Justin’s lawyer launched a public website which contains Justin’s amended complaint. Along with a ‘timeline of events’ document related to the case.
The timeline document contains numerous screenshots of alleged text message exchanges between Justin and Blake, and Justin and Ryan.
Blake Lively files amended complaint
On February 18, 2025, Blake filed an amended complaint. This complaint alleges that Justin made two other women “uncomfortable” during the filming of It Ends With Us. Furthermore, these women are willing to testify at the trial.
The amended complaint reads, “Ms Lively was not alone in complaining about Mr Baldoni and raised her concerns contemporaneously as they arose in 2023 … Importantly, and contrary to the entire narrative Defendants have invented, Mr Baldoni acknowledged the complaints in writing at the time. He knew that women other than Ms Lively also were uncomfortable and had complained about his behaviour.”
The document outlined that the two unnamed women gave Blake “permission to share the substance of their communications” and “they will testify and produce responsive documents in the discovery process.”
Blake also added a defamation claim to the suit; she alleges that Justin’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has issued “inflammatory content to media outlets” and has been “saying anything, whether true or false, that will harm Ms Lively’s credibility and intimidate others from speaking up on her behalf.”
In a statement made to Variety, Justin and Wayfarer’s legal team denied these new allegations.
“Our clients have been transparent in providing receipts, real-time documents and video showing a completely different story than what has been manipulated and cherry-picked to the media. Our clients have taken this matter and these issues very seriously, notwithstanding the jokes made publicly by the plaintiff and her husband. Her underwhelming amended complaint is filled with unsubstantial hearsay of unnamed persons who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims,” the statement read.
“Since documents do not lie and people do, the upcoming depositions of those who initially supported Ms Lively’s false claims and those who are witnesses to her own behaviour will be enlightening. What is truly uncomfortable here is Ms Lively’s lack of actual evidence,” it continued.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively file a motion to dismiss
On March 18, 2025, Ryan filed a motion to dismiss Justin’s legal claims against him.
Two days later, on March 20, 2025, Blake filed a motion to throw out Justin’s suit.
Her lawyers argued that his suit is retaliation for lodging a sexual harassment claim. They also invoked a recent California law that protects sexual harassment accusers – the law was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2023 in response to a wave of defamation suits against women who spoke up during the #MeToo movement.
“The painful reality is that Ms Lively is not alone in being sued for defamation after speaking up about being sexually harassed at work,” a spokesperson for Blake said in a statement released on March 20.
“While Ms Lively has suffered greatly by speaking up and pursuing legal claims, it is important for other people to know that they have protections, and that there is a specific law that expressly protects them from being silenced or financially ruined by a defamation lawsuit because they had the courage to speak up.”
Taylor Swift issued a subpoena
On May 9, 2025, Taylor Swift was subpoenaed as a witness. Deadline reported that Justin’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, issued the subpoena earlier in the week.
Shortly after the news of the subpoena broke, a representative for Taylor confirmed her team would file a motion to quash the subpoena and sent a statement to several outlets that read:
“Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history [The Eras Tour].
“Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”
Less than two weeks later, on May 22, 2025, Justin’s lawyers withdrew the subpoena sent to Taylor.
“We are pleased that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties have withdrawn their harassing subpoenas to Taylor Swift and her law firm,” a spokesperson for Blake said.
“We supported the efforts of Taylor’s team to quash these inappropriate subpoenas directed to her counsel and we will continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process.”
Blake Lively seeks to withdraw some claims
On June 3, 2025, it was reported by Variety that Blake is seeking to withdraw her emotional distress claims against Justin, likely because his legal team is pushing for access to her private medical records, including therapy notes.
In response, Justin’s lawyers filed a court document objecting to her attempt to withdraw the claims without prejudice, which would leave the door open for her to refile them later. The filing read:
“Instead of complying with the Medical RFPs, Ms Lively’s counsel recently advised us, in writing, that Ms Lively is withdrawing her [infliction of emotional distress] Claims.
“However, Ms Lively has refused the Wayfarer Parties’ reasonable request that the withdrawal of such claims be with prejudice. She is only willing to withdraw her claims without prejudice. In other words, Ms Lively wants to simultaneously: (a) refuse to disclose the information and documents needed to disprove that she suffered any emotional distress and/or that the Wayfarer Parties were the cause; and (b) maintain the right to re-file her IED Claims at an unknown time in this or some other court after the discovery window has closed.”
Blake’s lawyers called this new filing a “press stunt,” and said they are simply “streamlining and focusing” her case.
“The Baldoni-Wayfarer strategy of filing retaliatory claims has exposed them to expansive new damages claims under California law, rendering certain of Ms Lively’s original claims no longer necessary. Ms Lively continues to allege emotional distress, as part of numerous other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and massive additional compensatory damages on all of her claims.”
A federal judge throws out defamation case
However, on June 9, 2025, a federal judge tossed out Justin’s defamation lawsuit against Blake. His suit against the New York Times was also thrown out.
Judge Lewis J Liman ruled that Blake and her co-defendants – Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane – hadn’t defamed Justin, as their claims were made solely through legal filings, which are exempt from libel claims under US law.
Furthermore, the judge found that Justin and his team provided no evidence to support the claim that Blake had knowingly made false claims about him.
Blake’s lawyers called Judge Liman’s ruling a “total victory.”
“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it,” they said in a statement. “We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages.”
Similarly, a spokesperson for the New York Times said in a statement, “We are grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting. Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognised that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism.
“We will continue to stand up in court for our journalism and for our journalists when their work comes under attack.”
Justin had until June 23, 2025, to revise his lawsuit and pursue different claims against Blake.
Justin Baldoni has other lawsuits
As of July 30, 2025, Justin has filed another lawsuit against the It Ends With Us insurance companies, New York Marine, QBE Insurance Group Limited and Certain Underwriters of Lloyd’s. These top entertainment insurers allegedly promised to protect Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni’s production company, against lawsuits such as the defamation suit pursued by Lively; however, they reportedly denied any coverage.
On August 14, 2025, Judge Lewis J. Liman unsealed redacted emails and texts submitted by Blake Lively’s team, in support of her legal claims against Justin, revealing further details about the crisis management services hired by Justin and Wayfarer.
Baldoni’s publicist, Melissa Nathan, introduced Justin’s Wayfarer associate, Jamey Heath, to “social media guru” Jed Wallace. According to these messages, Jed was paid a sum of $90,000 USD for a three-month contract and, along with his team, was responsible for some of “the most monumental behind-the-scenes projects globally”.
Melissa Nathan explained in a text chain with Jamey Heath that Jed would be creating a “social fan engagement to go back and forth with any negative accounts, helping to change the narrative and stay on track”, emphasising that “all of this will be, most importantly, untraceable.”
In conjunction with this, Katie Case, Melissa Nathan’s employee, sent an email outlining their “social and digital mitigation and remediation” plan, noting “the integral part here is to execute without fingerprints.”
The email also included concerns over Blake Lively “activating the Taylor Swift fan base”.
Taylor Swift and Blake Lively rumoured to not be on good terms
Since Taylor Swift’s name was brought into the legal battle earlier this year, the mega pop star and Blake’s friendship have been under scrutiny. As of August 2025, the two reportedly “aren’t speaking.”
However, ahead of the summary judgment hearing, text messages between Taylor and Blake were unsealed, showing how their relationship was impacted by the legal battle.
The first series of messages discussed Blake and Justin’s creative differences. The actress asked Taylor for support in persuading Justin that her cut of It Ends With Us was stronger.
A text chain shows Taylor met Justin in April 2023, with Blake and Ryan Reynolds at their New York City apartment.
“He’s a clown and thinks he’s a writer now … so having the greatest living storyteller unknowingly echo to him how much you love what we’re doing (giving him credit as if he wrote them with me) will go such a long way,” Blake wrote in April 2023.
Taylor responded, “I’ll do anything for you!!”
Following the meeting, Blake sent an appreciation message to Taylor, saying she was “epically heroic today” and “recapped every moment” to her husband. “I kept remembering stuff- You making shit up about me and lenses. And referring to yourself as my doll. This clown falling for all of it. But also resisting it. You are the worlds absolute greatest friend ever.”
On December 4, 2024, Blake approached Taylor via text to discuss their changing friendship dynamic.
“Hey, just checking in,” Lively writes. “I have no reason to ask, but I donno, l’ve been feeling like I should… is everything OK? I felt like a bad friend lately because I was such a sad sack who only talked about my own shit for months. You were generous to not only be the key person there for me during all of it, but also to let me off the hook for being so in it. But I still have a feeling something may not be right. I told Ryan. He said to just ask you. But I felt so stupid and like it sounded needy and awkward for everyone, especially be I can’t explain why I have this feeling. And you know I have toxic masculinity so I can’t be needy. But also, I do want to know everything is good so I’m asking. I always want the opportunity to be a better friend if there’s something | unintentionally did. I know how busy and taxed you are – physically, emotionally, practically, so I don’t expect any more from you ever. Just want to make sure all is good.”
Taylor responded: “No you’re not wrong, but it’s also not a big deal. I think I’m just exhausted in every avenue of my life and in recent months had been feeling a little bit of a shift in the way you talk to me. Yes there has been a lot of the Justin stuff but I’ve been through things like this before and I know how all consuming it is. It’s more like… and I feel really bad saying anything about this because your texts have been so nice in their intent but your last few… it’s felt like I was reading a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees. You said the word ‘we’ like 18 times. And it feels awful to be in any way critical of any way you process what you’ve been going through but I just kinda miss my funny, dark, normal-speaking friend who talks to me as herself, not like. A plural unit. When it’s a group l’m hearing from. I feel distanced from you even more than we are geographically. And I know you feel attacked from all sides for ridiculous reasons so you’re feeling like you have to overly explain things or be overly nice or whatever but. It’s me! That’s just caused a little distance. And you don’t need to apologize. Just come back please.”
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni settle lawsuit ahead of the trial
The trial between Blake and Justin was scheduled to start in May 2026.
However, ahead of jury selection, both parties released a joint statement announcing that they’d come to an agreement. No terms were shared.
“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,” the statement read. “Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors – and all survivors – is a goal that we stand behind.”
“We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognise 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.”
The news of Blake Lively’s settlement with Justin Baldoni comes on the day of the 2026 Met Gala. Blake returned after a couple of absences in previous years.
If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues raised in this article, help is available. Call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit their website.
