What Happened at the Lively-Baldoni Settlement Conference?

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reached a settlement on May 4, 2026, ending the lawsuit that grew out of the 2024 film It Ends With Us just two weeks before a jury trial was set to begin. The Lively-Baldoni settlement resolved the remaining retaliation and breach-of-contract claims without disclosed financial terms, and according to a later report by The New York Times, Lively received no financial compensation as part of the deal itself.¹

What the Settlement Said

Attorneys for both sides announced the deal on May 4, 2026, eliminating the need for the May 18 trial.² The dollar terms, if any, were not made public.

In a joint statement, lawyers for Lively and the remaining defendants acknowledged that the production of the film “presented challenges” and that “concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard.” The statement continued: “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 online.”³

Both camps publicly framed the outcome as favorable to them. Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman said his client was “ecstatic” and that both Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath were “very pleased with where this ended up.”⁴ Freedman separately stated: “In our view, they settled because they knew they were going to lose in court.”⁵ Lively’s team did not issue comparable public statements characterizing the outcome.

One piece of the case was carved out of the deal by design. Lively’s September 2025 motion for attorneys’ fees under California Civil Code Section 47.1 remained pending before the court, and both sides irrevocably waived their right to appeal whatever the judge decided on it.⁴

Which Claims Were Still Live at Settlement

The settlement did not cover the sprawling case Lively originally filed. On April 2, 2026, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed ten of the thirteen claims in her Second Amended Complaint, including every sexual harassment and defamation count. The harassment claims failed because Lively was an independent contractor rather than an employee, placing her outside Title VII, and the California harassment statute did not apply because filming occurred in New Jersey.⁶

Three claims survived to the May 18 trial date and were the claims the settlement actually resolved:

Retaliation under California law against It Ends With Us Movie LLC and Wayfarer Studios, based on the alleged public-relations campaign launched in response to Lively’s complaints.
Aiding and abetting retaliation against The Agency Group PR LLC, founded by Melissa Nathan, which Lively accused of planting false narratives to portray her as a “bully.”⁷
Breach of the Contract Rider Agreement against It Ends With Us Movie LLC, centered on the anti-retaliation provision Lively negotiated in January 2024 before returning to set.⁸

Baldoni’s own $400 million countersuit against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane had already been dismissed in June 2025, when Judge Liman ruled the conduct described amounted to “legally permissible hard bargaining.”⁹ That dismissal became the basis for the fees ruling that followed the settlement.

The Failed February 2026 Settlement Conference

The May deal came only after an earlier attempt collapsed. On February 11, 2026, Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave presided over a court-ordered settlement conference at the U.S. District Court in New York, closed to the public. Lively and Baldoni were both present in person but were kept in separate courtrooms for most of the day, with Judge Cave moving between the two legal teams.¹⁰

The parties left without a deal. Freedman said afterward that they had been “unsuccessful in reaching any kind of resolution,” and the case moved into its final pretrial phase.¹⁰ Whatever changed in the roughly ten weeks that followed, the terms were agreed to under the pressure of an approaching trial rather than through the formal conference process.

The Attorneys’ Fees Ruling That Followed

On June 12, 2026, Judge Liman issued a 47-page order deciding the piece of the case the settlement had left open. He granted Lively a partial victory, ruling she was entitled to recover attorneys’ fees incurred in defending against Baldoni’s dismissed $400 million countersuit. The judge found that Lively’s sexual misconduct complaints were made “without malice” and that Baldoni’s side had failed to present evidence to the contrary.¹ The exact dollar amount had not yet been determined as of the ruling.

The statute behind the fee award, California Civil Code Section 47.1, was enacted during the #MeToo era to protect people who report sexual misconduct from retaliatory defamation lawsuits. Judge Liman denied Lively’s request for compensatory and punitive damages under the same statute, finding that Section 47.1 “does not sweep so broadly” and that it “establishes a narrow exception to the usual litigation process for a specific and limited kind of relief.”¹¹ To pursue damages, the judge indicated, Lively would need to file a formal counterclaim or an independent lawsuit. Reports indicated that Lively’s legal team believes the settlement agreement preserves her ability to do so.¹²

Baldoni’s lawyers had opposed the fee award, arguing that Lively “twisted innocuous interactions into harassment allegations in an effort to assert control over the making of the movie.”¹³

What the Settlement Did Not Touch

The deal resolved Lively’s claims against Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, Heath, and The Agency Group. It did not end every piece of litigation that grew out of the same fallout. Stephanie Jones, a Wayfarer co-founder, and her firm Jonesworks sued Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel in December 2024, alleging that Abel and Melissa Nathan conspired to blame Jones for the PR fallout around Baldoni while stealing clients and employees from Jonesworks.¹⁴ That case was active and undergoing discovery as of April 2026, also before Judge Liman.¹⁵

Between the fees ruling and the possibility of a follow-on damages suit, the courtroom fight that began with a December 2024 civil rights complaint was not fully over when the settlement was announced. What ended on May 4 was the trial.

1
The New York Times. Blake Lively Legal Fees Ruling Justin Baldoni Settlement
2
NPR. Blake Lively Justin Baldoni Settle Trial It Ends With Us
3
CNN. Blake Lively Justin Baldoni Settlement
4
Deadline. Blake Lively Settlement Details Justin Baldoni
5
E! Online. Justin Baldoni Lawyer Reacts to Blake Lively Settlement Victory Claim
6
NPR. Blake Lively Sexual Harassment Claims Against Justin Baldoni Tossed Out
7
Courthouse News. With Just Weeks Until Trial, Justin Baldoni PR Firm Loses Bid to Toss Blake Lively Suit
8
U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. Opinion and Order, Lively v. Wayfarer Studios LLC
9
BBC. Blake Lively Justin Baldoni Legal Battle
10
NBC News. Blake Lively Justin Baldoni Settlement Conference
11
Courthouse News. Judge Awards Blake Lively Legal Fees in It Ends With Us Feud With Justin Baldoni
12
Los Angeles Times. Blake Lively Awarded Legal Fees From Justin Baldoni but Not Damages
13
The New York Times. Blake Lively Legal Fees Ruling Justin Baldoni Settlement
14
Courthouse News. Jones v. Abel Complaint, New York County Supreme Court
15
CourtListener. Jones v. Abel Docket