Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reached a settlement on May 4, 2026, in their federal lawsuit stemming from the production of the 2024 film "It Ends With Us," ending the litigation roughly two weeks before a jury trial was scheduled to begin on May 18 [1]. Terms were not disclosed [1].
Lively filed the original complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment on set and a coordinated retaliatory social media campaign orchestrated against her after she raised concerns about Baldoni's conduct [1]. Baldoni, who directed and co-starred in the film through his production company Wayfarer Studios, denied the allegations and filed counterclaims [1]. The case drew sustained public attention in part because pre-litigation communications between Baldoni's crisis-management team and publicists became central to Lively's retaliation theory.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman substantially narrowed the case in April 2026, dismissing 10 of Lively's original 13 claims and permitting the matter to proceed only on breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retaliation [1]. That ruling compressed the trial-ready issues and may have shaped each side's settlement calculus in the weeks that followed. Lively was represented by Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson; Baldoni retained Bryan Freedman [1].
With the settlement reached before any verdict, no judicial findings of liability attach to either party. The confidential terms preclude public resolution of the underlying factual disputes, including the scope of the alleged harassment and the degree to which the social media response was coordinated. The case had drawn legislative interest as well, with congressional scrutiny of crisis-PR tactics used to counter accusers in high-profile employment disputes raising broader questions about retaliation frameworks in the entertainment industry.
The dismissal of the federal action closes the principal litigation between the parties for now. Whether any related proceedings, including any outstanding cross-claims or parallel state-court matters, remain active was not immediately confirmed by available sources.
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