The decision by Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s camps to wave their white flags stunned gossip hounds captivated by their blockbuster legal battle, which left no shortage of reputational casualties for both.
After their names and personal communications dominated headlines for well over a year, the actors won’t be heading to trial, though one of Lively’s claims remains alive and well. Still, with a jury trial averted, along with its starry testimonials, it’s time to reflect on how it all started and so quickly devolved.
Both former CW stars — she of “Gossip Girl” fame, he from “Jane the Virgin” — Lively and Baldoni were on good terms when they met in 2022 and started working together the following year. They were starring as romantic leads in Baldoni’s directorial effort “It Ends With Us,” adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel of the same name.
The book and film center on floral shop owner Lily Bloom (Lively), as she tries to break free from the cycle of abuse plaguing her outwardly idyllic romance with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), which mirrors the violence in her parents’ marriage.
It wasn’t until the summer 2024 press tour for the film, a box office triumph, that the internet grew wise to something amiss between the co-stars.
Those watching were perplexed that two people who could play husband and wife — albeit, locked in an abusive relationship — wouldn’t do press in the same room, let alone pose together at the premiere. In fact, Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios would later allege he and his camp were all but hidden away in the basement during the premiere, where Lively took center stage with the rest of the cast, as well as her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
But legal documents would later show tensions were already brewing between the “It Ends With Us” costars by the time the writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023 halted production, and they only continued when filming resumed months later.
Lively was more alarmed than charmed by the “quirks” Baldoni and his producer Jamey Heath “had seemingly brought to the production,” including an abundance of on-set hugging, wrote Vulture in an expansive summary of the events surrounding the case.
Per The New York Times’ December 2024 feature, “We Can Bury Anyone,” Lively would allege her director “repeatedly entered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding.” She accused Heath of the same.
Baldoni, who sued the Times for libel over that article in a since-dismissed suit, would counter in his complaint that Lively actually did extend an invite on at least one occasion while she was breast pumping, not breastfeeding, texting: “I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines.”
Lively made a list of 17 demands before she would return to production, according to an exhibit included in Lively’s complaint, first obtained by the New York Times. Among those were that nobody was permitted entry to her trailer “while she is in a state of undress.” She also wanted to ensure her demands spawned no retaliation, or what was referred to as “any changes in attitude, sarcasm, marginalization, or other negative behavior.” The parties agreed, and the second half of production was characterized in part by Lively seeking more of a hands-on role behind the scenes.
Communications show that executives at Sony, which distributed the film, weren’t exactly thrilled with Lively, either. Vulture cited a text from Sanford Panitch, who referred to the actress as “a terroridt [sic],” and later saying she’d “probably … never work again.”
Fast forward to the film’s press tour: While Baldoni continually brought the messaging back to the film’s domestic violence themes, Lively faced broad criticism for promoting her hair care and beverage lines, and for the now-infamous call to action: “Grab your friends, wear your florals.” Lively has maintained this approach was in line with the press tactic laid out for her by Sony, but the internet quickly lashed out at her given the film’s serious subject matter.
Lively has alleged that the scope of the backlash was fueled by a smear campaign engineered by the Wayfarer parties, and that it ultimately cost her $300 million — including partnerships with multiple big brands such as supermarket chain Kroger and Princess Cruises.
TMZ this week obtained communications that show companies were “spooked” to continue working with Lively’s alcoholic beverage company, Betty Booze, and blamed the backlash for their cold feet.
The speculation about bad blood was validated just before Christmas 2024, when Lively filed a civil rights complaint in California, followed by a lawsuit in New York that accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and of executing a smear campaign in anticipation of her complaint. Lively formally sued Baldoni in New York federal court on New Year’s Eve.
Baldoni, who has maintained his innocence and claims Lively’s grievances stemmed from miscommunication and a power struggle, filed the first of two gargantuan lawsuits the same day: a $250 million libel complaint against The Times. The second was a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and the actress’ publicist Leslie Sloane.
Baldoni’s extensive filing also made its way online, with court documents available for internet sleuths to pick through and draw their own conclusions. Among the most eyebrow-raising were alleged texts from Lively, who referred to Reynolds and best friend Taylor Swift as her “dragons,” like those that protected “Game of Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen.
This was back when Lively was allegedly angling for more creative control of the film, but she and Baldoni were not yet at complete odds. Still, he said he regarded the sentiment as a veiled threat.
This January, a trove of communications between Lively and Swift — which the former hoped to shield from Baldoni in their eventual legal battle — as well as the former’s attempts to reach Ben Affleck and other stars to support her cut of the film, were released as part of court exhibits.
Among those texts between Lively and Swift were ones from the day the actress called on the pop star to sing her praises to Baldoni about Lively’s rewritten version of a scene: “Having the greatest living story teller 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.”
Baldoni’s team subpoenaed Swift as a witness in May 2025, though that was quickly withdrawn.
The texts between Lively and Swift seemed to counter the pop star’s claims she had no knowledge of the tensions plaguing the production, let alone anything to do with the film — save for her song, “My Tears Ricochet,” featuring in the finished product and the trailer.
Texts between the stars also show Lively asking for Swift’s take — as well as that of her now-fiancé, Travis Kelce — on the trailer. Once Swift gave her friend the green light, Lively said she’d “never felt more like Khaleesi. I have dragons,” according to one reported text eventually removed from public view of the docket.
“If Justin was strategic, he would be like no Taylor swift in the trailer. Because that gives you more power over the film, that’s your ally not his,” wrote Swift.
In the weeks leading up to Lively’s civil rights complaint and the Times’ piece, Swift texted about Baldoni, “I think this b—h knows something is coming out because he’s gotten out his tiny violin.” She was referring to a People article in which Baldoni said he’d once been “sexually traumatized by an ex-girlfriend.”
Though they were initially supposed to head to trial this March, Lively and Baldoni’s case was postponed to later this month. In April, the judge tossed 10 of Lively’s 13 complaints, including those related to sexual harassment. Prior to that, a judge had dismissed both of Baldoni’s suits.
By the time a settlement was reached Monday, Baldoni personally was no longer formally part of the case, just its exhaustive narrative. Perhaps most bafflingly, after all that time and seemingly infinite exhibits, no money was awarded and no formal apology given, though lawyers for Lively and the Wayfarer parties released a joint statement contending her concerns “deserved to be heard.”
However, the settlement allows Lively to pursue a remaining claim in California, over Baldoni’s defamation suit, according to settlement communications obtained by TMZ Thursday. If a court sides with Lively’s contention that Baldoni’s defamation suit was unfounded and retaliatory, recently ratified legislation in the Golden State would entitle her to attorneys’ fees and both compensatory and punitive damages.
Lively’s lawyers told TMZ in a statement that the Wayfarer parties, as part of the settlement, were “waiving their right to appeal.”
The joint statement from Monday, they said, “ended once and for all the fiction that Ms. Lively ‘fabricated’ claims of sexual harassment and retaliation.”