“It Ends With”…A Settlement
After a years-long public lawsuit battle, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reached a settlement ahead of their scheduled May 18th trial.
This all started when Lively sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director for sexual harassment and alleged retaliation through a digital smear campaign in December of 2024. That after she labeled him a sexual harasser in a New York Times hit piece.
Baldoni countered with defamation claims against both Lively and the Times. A judge previously dismissed most claims from both sides, leaving only three retaliation-related charges from Lively for jury consideration. In their joint statement, both parties emphasized commitment to safe workplaces and supporting domestic violence survivors.
In speculating what finally made Lively ready to settle may have been a key witness Team Baldoni had lined up to demonstrate Lively’s reputation was damaged by her own behavior in light a viral video that started showing her “mean girl” behavior.
Another point podcasters who have been covering every document every filed in this case found damning deposition statements made by Lively. In particular, she said under oath she never asked Sony to destroy raw footage (“dailies”), when emails from a Sony executive revealed that to not be true. And it was in September 2024, which was AFTER the movie was in theaters, but before the lawsuit was filed. Also, other emails revealing her husband, Ryan Reynolds, was actually the architect of her cut of the movie she fought for. Keep in mind, Justin Baldoni was THE DIRECTOR.
Not long after the settlement news broke, Lively walked the red carpet solo at the Met Gala.
What do YOU think of the way it ended?