Note: Blake Lively attended last night’s Met Gala solo (the photos in this post). She wore an archival Versace (from 2006) and she stepped out just a couple of hours after the big news was announced. When the settlement and statement came out Monday afternoon, I thought “oh, they’re trying to bury this right before the Met Gala.” Blake showing up to the gala makes it seem like she wanted this 18-month mess done with so she could attend the gala.
So, the year-and-a-half-long battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni is over. The case will not go to trial this month, the parties have “settled” and released a joint statement. The terms of the settlement are unknown, which is unfortunate at this point, after all of the smears, lies and craziness. I was actually looking forward to seeing all of this play out in a trial, especially after the judge tossed out all of Blake’s sexual harassment claims against Baldoni one month ago. Once the cache of emails and texts to and from Blake started coming out earlier this year, you could really feel the mood shift. It was eye-opening, to say the least, to read all of the written evidence of a conspiracy on Blake’s side.
The legal battle between “It Ends With Us” co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni will no longer go to trial in May after they reached a settlement deal that they announced on Monday.
The two effectively ended their yearslong legal dispute after a court-ordered settlement conference last week. The terms of the settlement were not made public.
Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment during the production of the 2024 movie “It Ends With Us,” which he directed. Lively has also alleged that Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, retaliated against her after she complained about alleged misconduct on the set of the film. Baldoni vehemently denied Lively’s claims.
Attorneys for Baldoni and Lively issued a joint statement on Monday.
“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,” Bryan Freedman, Ellyn Garofalo, Michael Gottlieb, and Esra Hudson said in a statement. “Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind.”
The lawyers said they “acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize 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,” the statement continued.
The settlement came a month after a federal judge tossed out most of Lively’s claims against Baldoni, including harassment, defamation and conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman allowed three of her claims to proceed to trial, including breach of contract and retaliation.
Baldoni also brought a defamation suit against The New York Times over an article headlined: “‘We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” Liman tossed out both suits last year.
The highly publicized case has reverberated through Hollywood, exposing text messages between A-listers and uncomfortably candid studio business conversations that normally remain behind closed doors. It also subjected Lively and Baldoni to the broader culture war around sexual harassment.
Lively’s private communications were unsealed as part of her suit against Baldoni — including messages with Reynolds and pop star Taylor Swift.
“We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments…” “Unproductive environments,” what a euphemism. While Blake’s case fell apart because all of the sexual harassment claims were tossed out, it felt like Baldoni and his side (including his publicist) still had many issues which needed to be worked out in the trial. As in, I can’t see Blake offering a financial settlement to make this go away after everything that’s happened, so what exactly IS the settlement?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
