One of Hollywood's ugliest recent feuds has ended in a settlement: Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni announced in May 2026 that they had resolved their dueling lawsuits over the film 'It Ends With Us,' avoiding a trial that had been set to begin two weeks later.
The feud erupted during the promotional tour for the hit adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel, when fans noticed that star and producer Lively and co-star and director Baldoni were refusing to do joint press or even be photographed together. The speculation intensified when fans discovered that Lively and co-star Jenny Slate had unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram.
Shortly after the film's premiere, Lively filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation against Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios, its co-founder Steve Sarowitz, and CEO Jamey Heath. She claimed the defendants orchestrated a smear campaign against her that caused roughly $100 million in reputational and economic damage. Baldoni denied the allegations and fired back with a $400 million countersuit accusing Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and Lively's publicist of defamation and extortion.
The legal battle took a dramatic turn in April 2026, when a judge dismissed 10 of Lively's 13 claims, including her harassment and defamation claims, while allowing her retaliation and breach-of-contract claims to proceed. Baldoni was ordered to pay Lively's legal fees, though the court declined to award additional damages tied to her alleged loss of work. In the April order, Judge Lewis Liman wrote that 'certain conduct [on Baldoni's behalf] at least arguably crossed the line,' adding that 'there comes a point where the accused stops simply defending him- or herself and starts taking action that a reasonable jury could view as retaliation for the fact that the accuser had the temerity to make the accusations.'
The Hollywood Reporter translated the legalese for readers: there was evidence that could lead a jury to conclude Wayfarer had planned aggressive moves meant to destroy her career. That ruling appears to have pushed both sides toward the negotiating table.
In a joint statement announcing the settlement, the parties' attorneys redirected the spotlight to the film that spawned the saga, saying: 'The end product — the movie It Ends With Us — is a source of pride to all of us.' The statement offered no details on the financial terms of the agreement.
The case had captivated Hollywood for nearly two years, generating leaked text messages, competing media campaigns, and endless online debate about workplace behavior on film sets. With the settlement, both stars avoid the spectacle of a public trial — though the reputational aftershocks of the feud are likely to linger in the industry for years to come.