Blake Lively and her It Ends With Us director and co‑star Justin Baldoni are headed toward a high‑profile federal trial in 2026, after more than a year of dueling lawsuits and public filings, as outlined in this legal battle timeline from ABC News. Lively first sued in December 2024, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment, retaliation and orchestrating a smear campaign tied to their work together on the Colleen Hoover adaptation. Baldoni denied the allegations and countersued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and others for defamation and extortion, seeking around 400 million dollars in damages before a judge ultimately dismissed his case.
TMZ Staff
Court documents show the fight has turned into a test of new legal protections for people who speak out about alleged misconduct in Hollywood. In June 2025, Judge Lewis Liman threw out Baldoni’s countersuit under California’s Protecting Survivors From Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits Act (AB 933), ruling that Lively’s original harassment claims were legally protected speech and that Baldoni hadn’t shown they were made with “serious doubts” about the truth. His decision became final in the fall, when Baldoni missed a deadline to amend his complaint, leaving Lively’s request for attorneys’ fees still on the table.
Lively’s own case, which seeks nearly 500 million dollars in damages, is still active and currently scheduled for trial on March 9, 2026 in New York’s Southern District, barring a settlement or further delay. Legal analysts say the proceedings will not only revisit conduct on the It Ends With Us set but also spotlight how courts balance reputational harm claims against laws meant to shield people who report alleged abuse.
