The lawsuit involving Ryan Reynolds’ wife, actress Blake Lively, was a federal sexual harassment and retaliation case she filed against her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni in late 2024. Baldoni responded with a $400 million countersuit that named Reynolds himself as a defendant. After roughly eighteen months of filings, a judge dismissed the countersuit entirely, narrowed Lively’s case to three claims, and the parties settled on May 4, 2026, two weeks before trial. A judge later ordered Baldoni to pay Lively’s attorney fees.
What Lively Alleged Happened on Set
Production on It Ends With Us, adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel, began in May 2023 with Baldoni directing and playing opposite Lively. According to her complaint, Lively reported “unwelcome and inappropriate behavior” by Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath to a Sony Pictures representative on May 26, 2023. She alleged Baldoni discussed his pornography addiction, made sexual comments, described his own genitalia, and improvised physical contact during scenes that had not been choreographed or rehearsed.1Newsweek. Blake Lively Complaint Another female cast member separately reported concerns about Baldoni’s behavior. Lively also alleged that Heath entered her trailer while she was undressed.2Iowa Public Radio. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Settle Dispute Weeks Before Scheduled Trial
By January 2024, tensions had escalated enough that Lively, Reynolds, Baldoni, and the film’s producers held an “all hands” meeting at Lively’s home to discuss protocols for continuing production. A side agreement called the Contract Rider Agreement, signed by Heath, stated that neither Baldoni nor Heath would touch cast members going forward.1Newsweek. Blake Lively Complaint The film premiered on August 6, 2024. Baldoni skipped the cast photos, and press coverage began noting a visible rift between director and star.3The Hollywood Reporter. Timeline: Justin Baldoni Blake Lively It Ends With Us Legal Battle
The Smear Campaign Allegations
The retaliation half of Lively’s case centered on what she described as an orchestrated effort to damage her reputation after she raised her complaints. A December 2024 New York Times investigation, drawing on internal text messages and emails, reported that Baldoni and Heath hired crisis PR specialist Melissa Nathan. A publicist wrote to Nathan on August 2, 2024: “He wants to feel like she can be buried.”4The New York Times. We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Campaign
Court filings described a “social combat plan” whose tactics, according to a summary written by a staffer on August 7, 2024, included “monitoring and directly influencing forums,” starting social media threads with “theories the team approves of,” and doing so “without fingerprints.”5Yahoo News. Blake Lively Team Cites Emails Consultant Jed Wallace was retained at $30,000 per month. As criticism of Lively surged online, publicist Jennifer Abel wrote to the team: “The narrative online is so freaking good and fans are still sticking up for Justin… I see this as a total success, as does Justin.”4The New York Times. We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Campaign
Baldoni’s team initially denied any coordinated campaign existed, describing the backlash as “organic.” His lawyers later shifted toward arguing the actions were taken in self-defense.6Deadline. Blake Lively Justin Baldoni Smear Campaign Allegation
How Reynolds Was Pulled Into the Case
Lively formalized her federal complaint on December 31, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York before Judge Lewis J. Liman.7CourtListener. Lively v. Wayfarer Studios LLC On January 16, 2025, Baldoni and Wayfarer struck back with a $400 million countersuit that named not only Lively but also Reynolds and Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloane. The suit alleged civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.8ABC News. Justin Baldoni’s $400M Countersuit Against Blake Lively Ended by Judge
The countersuit accused Reynolds of calling Baldoni a “sexual predator” in a call with Baldoni’s agent, of pressuring the talent agency WME to drop Baldoni, of rewriting a “pivotal scene” without authorization from Wayfarer, and of “berating” Baldoni in front of others on set. It framed Lively and Reynolds’ behavior as a “duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies.”9NPR. Blake Lively Justin Baldoni Ryan Reynolds It Ends With Us Lawsuit
Reynolds moved to dismiss in March 2025. On June 9, 2025, Judge Liman threw out the entire countersuit. He held that Baldoni could not sue Lively for defamation over statements made in her own legal filings, because those are protected by litigation privilege. On the extortion theory, the court found the alleged conduct was not shown to be “wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions.”8ABC News. Justin Baldoni’s $400M Countersuit Against Blake Lively Ended by Judge The judge also found that Baldoni had not shown Reynolds, Sloane, or The New York Times “would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them.”10People. Justin Baldoni Countersuit Against Blake Lively Ryan Reynolds Dismissed by Judge
Judge Liman gave Baldoni leave to amend certain contract-related claims, but Baldoni let the June 23, 2025, deadline pass without refiling. After Baldoni also failed to answer an October 17 order to show cause, the court entered final judgment on October 31, 2025, formally ending the countersuit.11Rolling Stone. Justin Baldoni Blake Lively Lawsuit Missed Deadline Lively’s attorneys called it a “total victory and complete vindication.” Reynolds was out of the case.
What Survived of Lively’s Case
Lively’s amended complaint raised thirteen claims, including sexual harassment and retaliation under both federal Title VII and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, whistleblower retaliation, aiding and abetting, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, breach of two contracts, and civil conspiracy.12U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. Opinion and Order, Lively v. Wayfarer Studios
The sexual harassment claims did not survive. On April 2, 2026, Judge Liman dismissed them, ruling that because the film was produced on the East Coast, the alleged misconduct lacked the “substantial connection” to California required under the state’s harassment statute. The judge also found that Lively worked as an independent contractor and did not qualify as an “employee” under federal anti-discrimination law.13E! Online. Blake Lively on Justin Baldoni Sexual Harassment Claim Dismissal Only three claims remained: retaliation under California law against the production entities, aiding and abetting retaliation against The Agency Group, and breach of the Contract Rider Agreement.12U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. Opinion and Order, Lively v. Wayfarer Studios
The Settlement
Jury selection was scheduled for May 18, 2026. On May 4, 2026, the parties announced a settlement, and a formal Notice of Settlement and Stipulation was filed on May 7, ending the case.14CNN. Blake Lively Justin Baldoni Settlement15People. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s Settlement Terms Revealed
The joint statement acknowledged that “Ms. Lively’s concerns ‘deserved to be heard.'” Her attorneys said that language “ended once and for all the fiction that Ms. Lively fabricated claims of sexual harassment and retaliation.” Baldoni and the Wayfarer defendants irrevocably waived any right to appeal the dismissal of their countersuit. The agreement preserved Lively’s right to seek attorney fees under California Civil Code Section 47.1, the statute that protects people who report sexual harassment from retaliatory defamation suits.15People. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s Settlement Terms Revealed
Baldoni’s lead attorney, Bryan Freedman, characterized the outcome as a “total victory” for his client, noting that ten of Lively’s thirteen claims had been dismissed before settlement.16Variety. Blake Lively Attorney Fee Advocacy Justin Baldoni Both sides said in a joint statement they hoped to “move forward constructively and in peace.”
Attorney Fees Awarded to Lively
On June 12, 2026, Judge Liman issued a 47-page order granting Lively’s motion to recover attorney fees and costs from Baldoni under California’s Protecting Survivors from Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits Act. He found that the statute applied because Lively’s statements concerned sexual harassment, she prevailed in defending against the defamation claims, and there was “no evidence of malice.”17Deadline. Blake Lively Attorney Fees Justin Baldoni Defamation Suit The court denied Lively’s separate request for damages under that statute but left open the possibility of pursuing damages through other avenues.18Los Angeles Times. Blake Lively Awarded Legal Fees From Justin Baldoni but Not Damages
The dollar amount was not set at that time. Lively’s team was directed to submit billing records for the court to review.
Related Lawsuits Around the Main Case
Several satellite cases orbited the main dispute. Jed Wallace, the crisis consultant Baldoni’s team hired, filed a $7 million defamation suit against Lively in Texas federal court on February 4, 2025, alleging her filings falsely accused him of joining the smear campaign. A Texas federal judge dismissed it on November 17, 2025, for lack of personal jurisdiction, finding Wallace had not shown Lively’s actions were “directed toward” Texas.19Deadline. Blake Lively Defamation Suit Reaction Jed Wallace20Haynes Boone. Jurisdictional Victory in Texas Defamation Suit
PR firm founder Stephanie Jones sued Wayfarer and Baldoni’s crisis team in December 2024 for breach of contract. Baldoni and Abel countersued Jones in March 2025, accusing her of leaking Abel’s texts to Lively’s publicist. That case remained active as of April 2026.21Variety. Justin Baldoni Sues Publicist Stephanie Jones Baldoni also filed a $250 million libel suit against The New York Times in Los Angeles Superior Court on December 31, 2024, over its smear-campaign reporting; Judge Liman had dismissed the Times from the federal countersuit in June 2025.22Deadline. Blake Lively Justin Baldoni Feud Timeline Leslie Sloane and her firm Vision PR, named alongside Reynolds in the $400 million countersuit, were dismissed with prejudice on June 9, 2025.23BSF LLP. BSF Secures Motion to Dismiss for Client