How the Lively-Baldoni settlement came together

With two weeks to go before a scheduled trial, “It Ends With Us” co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni announced a surprise settlement Monday, ending a dispute that had played out in court hearings and headlines for almost a year and a half.

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Publicly, lawyers for the former co-stars continued to hash out key pretrial issues before a federal judge.

But behind the scenes, talks to resolve the case began in earnest last month, after a judge dismissed most of Lively’s claims, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News. The teams held meetings over the weekend and finalized the deal Monday, the source said. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

By Monday evening, after attorneys for Lively and Baldoni issued a joint statement, Lively stepped out in full glam for the Met Gala, where she smiled and waved to fans as she made her way up the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The appearance marked an unofficial close of a chapter for Lively, whose personal life (including her relationship with husband Ryan Reynolds and friendship with Taylor Swift) became a public fascination amid the ongoing Baldoni dispute.

In December 2024, Lively alleged in a sexual harassment complaint that Baldoni repeatedly harassed her on the set and crossed boundaries during intimate scenes in the film, which had been released in August of that year.

The movie, which was based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, follows Lily Bloom (played by Lively) and her abusive relationship with a neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid (played by Baldoni). Baldoni optioned the film in 2019 with Wayfarer Studios and later signed on to direct and star in it. Lively also was a producer.

Lively also alleged that Wayfarer Studios retaliated against her after she complained about allegations of misconduct on the set.

Baldoni and Wayfarer denied all of Lively’s claims.

In January 2025, Baldoni countersued Lively and Reynolds, alleging defamation and extortion. He argued that they tried to wreck his reputation and accused Lively of using her grievances as a way to “seize control” of the movie, which was co-produced by Wayfarer and the Sony-owned Columbia Pictures.

Baldoni also lodged 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 stars’ legal saga continued, however, with a trial set for May 18.

Lively’s suit centered on 13 claims, including sexual harassment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a landmark law that bars employment discrimination based on gender and other grounds. She sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman tossed out 10 of Lively’s claims against Baldoni, including harassment, defamation and conspiracy. Liman let three other claims stand: breach of contract, retaliation and aiding and abetting in retaliation.

Later in the month, the actors’ legal teams debated expert witness testimony before Liman. He then asked both sides to look into the availability of some of the expert witnesses they planned to call at trial to participate in a pretrial hearing.

That hearing had been scheduled for Friday.

In their joint statement Monday, Bryan Freedman, Ellyn Garofalo, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, attorneys for Baldoni and Lively, said: “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. Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind.”