Richard Craig is Senior Author at Screen Rant, covering everything superhero related. Richard has also written extensively about horror and film soundtracks, contributing a chapter to the first major academic collection on the folk horror genre, The Routledge Companion to Folk Horror. Richard is also a performing musician and holds an MA in Music and Sound Art.
The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has rapidly become one of Hollywood’s most confusing legal timelines – one which is due to culminate in 2026. Lively and Baldoni’s lawsuits transformed the hit film It Ends With Us into a high-stakes courtroom drama. Now, the dispute remains active, with key legal dates and developments continuing to shape the narrative.
In December 2024, Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment. Baldoni vehemently denied these allegations and responded with a countersuit seeking hundreds of millions. Subsequent lawsuits from both sides have claimed they’re victims of coordinated smear campaigns, dragging in Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds and even singer Taylor Swift.
The greatest irony of all is that Baldoni directed It Ends With Us, a movie about a woman (Lively) in an abusive relationship with a man (Baldoni). Further compounding this is that Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, made the movie. Now, the fictional abuse the pair depicted on the big screen has spiraled into several lawsuits citing real-world abuse, lies, and egos.
2023-2024: Production On It Ends With Us
April 10, 2023
- Blake Lively’s team call for stricter intimacy protocols and script revisions, citing discomfort with explicit content.
May 25, 2023
- Rumors of creative disagreements between Lively and Baldoni began to emerge.
June 8, 2023
- The It Ends With Us intimacy coordinator noted Lively’s discomfort with improvisation during physical scenes.
- Baldoni reportedly apologized on set.
January 10, 2024
- Filming resumes after the Hollywood strike.
- Lively and Baldoni arrive on set separately with claims of mounting tensions.
2024-2025: It Ends With Us Post-Production & Press Junket
January 2024
- Lively commissioned It Ends With Us editor to complete a second cut of the movie.
February–May 2024
- Lively missed group cast events.
- Baldoni praised Lively in interviews but avoided mentioning her by name.
July 15, 2024
- Lively and Baldoni avoided joint interviews and photos.
August 9, 2024
- It Ends With Us premiered in theaters.
- Social media began rampantly speculating about Lively and Baldoni’s relationship.
August 13, 2024
- Feud rumors erupted online.
- Media circulated claims of fat-shaming, inappropriate remarks, and Baldoni lingering during kissing scenes.
- Baldoni hired crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan, known for representing Johnny Depp.
- Old and slightly unfavorable video clips of Lively surfaced on social media.
September 2024
- Lively covertly filed against 10 unnamed John Does through her inactive company Vanzan, hiding her and Ryan Reynolds’ identity.
- Subpoena issued to Baldoni’s former publicist, Stephanie Jones, and her company, Jonesworks, demanding all communications relating to Baldoni, Lively, and Reynolds.
- Lively obtained text messages between PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan and Jones’s former employee Jennifer Abel, which were later used as the basis for Lively’s claims.
2024-2025: The Lawsuits Begin
December 20, 2024
- Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department.
- She accused Baldoni of creaing a hostile work environment through sexual harassment, orchestrating a smear campaign, and retaliation.
- She alleged Baldoni made inappropriate comments, exposed her to explicit material, and added unscripted explicit scenes.
- Lively alleged Baldoni’s social media PR expert Jed Wallace weaponized a “digital army” to create and promote fake social media content.
- The New York Times published an extensive review of the court documents, under the title ‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.”
December 21, 2024
- Lively filed a federal lawsuit in New York. She named Baldoni, producer Jamey Heath, Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios, and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel.
- Lively detailed 12 incidents, four witnesses, and requested damages and a public apology.
December 22–31, 2024
- Baldoni’s legal team responded, calling the allegations “false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious.”
- Baldoni accused Lively of creating on-set issues and refusing to promote It Ends With Us, hurting its box office performance.
December 31, 2024
- Baldoni filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times.
- Baldoni claimed coverage of Lively’s claims was selective and lacking context.
January 1–2, 2025
- Baldoni filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane.
- Baldoni alleged defamation, civil extortion, and a coordinated campaign to destroy his reputation.
January 4, 2025
- Ryan Reynolds posted a cryptic tweet saying, “Truth always comes out.”
January 16, 2025
- Baldoni officially filed a defamation lawsuit, naming Lively, Reynolds, and Sloane.
- Baldoni claimed Reynolds pressured WME to drop him and that Sloane spread stories suggesting he was a predator.
January 22, 2025
- Baldoni’s team released footage from It Ends With Us set depicting a dance scene they claim contradicts a sexual harassment claim in Lively’s lawsuit.
January 27, 2025
- A voice memo from Baldoni to Lively at 2 AM leaked online, in which he apologized for “messing up,” admits he’s “a flawed man.”
- The memo mentioned Reynolds and Taylor Swift being present at a script meeting.
- Baldoni praised Lively’s script changes and her “dragons,” who are presumably Reynolds and Swift.
January 28, 2025
- Judge Lewis Liman warned both Lively and Baldoni against “litigating in the press.”
January 30, 2025
- Lively and Reynolds filed a motion to dismiss Baldoni’s countersuit, calling it a retaliatory attack.
February 1, 2025
- Baldoni launched a website on which he posts his claimed timeline, text messages, and notes from the It Ends With Us intimacy coordinator.
February 2, 2025
- Baldoni released all text exchanges with Lively. Messages include Lively’s “flirty” language and Reynolds confronting Baldoni over a weight comment.
February 2025
- Lively sued for defamation by Baldoni’s crisis PR firm.
February 13, 2025
- Lively’s legal team subpoenaed Baldoni’s phone records and those of his publicists, seeking evidence of a smear campaign.
February 19, 2025
- Lively filed a 163-page, amended complaint in New York, updating her initial complaint with additional evidence, new defamation claims and witnesses.
- Lively added Jed Wallace to her complaint.
- Baldoni acknowledged these complaints in writing.
February 20, 2025
- Lively filed a motion to dismiss Baldoni’s lawsuit, arguing that her alleged defamatory statements were opinions not subject to a defamation claim or were true.
February 25, 2025
- Social media data revealed that Lively has lost 864,085 followers since September, while Baldoni has gained 230,896.
February 28, 2025
- The New York Times filed a motion to dismiss Baldoni’s claim against it.
March 14, 2025
- Baldoni opposed the motion, arguing that The New York Times made unverified claims.
March 18, 2025
- Ryan Reynolds filed a motion to dismiss Baldoni’s claim against him, claiming it is based on Reynolds’ calling Baldoni a predator, which is protected as an opinion.
March 20, 2025
April 8, 2025
- The actor playing Lively’s character’s gynecologist in It Ends With Us disputes her claim of being “nearly nude” in a scene, saying she wore a full hospital gown, black shorts, and a prosthetic.
April 10–13, 2025
- It Ends With Us storyboad artist, Talia Shire, claimed Lively tried to seize control of the film.
- Baldoni accuses Lively’s team of orchestrating a media campaign against him.
May 2025
- Baldoni petitioned to subpoena Taylor Swift, claiming Lively used her and Reynolds to coerce him into accepting Lively’s rewrite of the film.
- Baldoni alleged that Lively blackmailed Swift by leaking private text messages to garner her public support in the controversy.
- Swift denied any involvement.
- Baldoni withdrew the subpoena request after the court condemned him for an abuse of process.
June 2025
- The court dismissed Baldoni’s suits against Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times, but granted him access to Lively’s text conversations with Swift.
- The judge allowed Baldoni time to amend the complaint to refocus on contractual obligations.
- Lively filed to subpoena the American media proprietor Scooter Braun and his entertainment company, Hybe America, alleging association with Baldoni’s PR.
July 19, 2025
- Lively subpoenaed celebrity blogger Perez Hilton for communications with Baldoni and his associates, alleging that Hilton may have participated in a smear campaign.
July 2025
- Lively’s case against Wallace was dismissed by New York courts.
- Lively amended and re-filed the claim.
August 2025
- Lively subpoenaed content creators suspected of working with Baldoni’s team.
September 2025
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada offered to represent Hilton pro bono.
- Lively withdrew the subpoena against him.
October 2025
- A federal judge officially ended Baldoni’s $400 million extortion and defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, and Baldoni’s libel claims against The New York Times.
- The New York Times files a lawsuit against Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios to recoup legal fees.
November 2025
- Lively’s lawsuit against Wallace was dismissed again and he was formally removed from it.
- Baldoni missed his deadline to resubmit his defamation lawsuit, but can still appeal the decision.
December 9, 2025
- The court date is delayed from March 2026 to May 2026.
December 19, 2025
- Settlement talks are planned between Lively & Baldoni for 2026.
2026: Latest Updates And Upcoming Trial Dates
Entering 2026, it seems neither Lively nor Baldoni are planning to back down, despite supposed settlement talks. At time of writing, Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds and The New York Times has been dismissed, though he can still appeal. Meanwhile, Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni is set to go for trial in 2026, despite being delayed by two months.
January 20, 2026
January 22, 2026
- A summary judgement hearing confirmed the trial would go ahead.
March 9, 2026
- Original trial date (postponed to May 18).
April 21, 2026
- The final pretrial conference for Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni.
May 18, 2026
- Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni and associates goes to trial.
- Release Date
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August 9, 2024
- Runtime
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130 Minutes
- Director
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Justin Baldoni
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