Attorneys for Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are now in talks about a potential settlement, following a judge’s decision to dismiss Lively’s claims of sexual harassment that occurred during filming of ‘It Ends With Us.’ This development comes just one day after the judge’s ruling.
Lawyers involved in the ongoing case have been asked to speak individually with US Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave on Monday.
It comes a day after Lively’s case was stripped to its bones.
The public will not be allowed to hear what is said on the two calls on Monday.
A meeting with Lively’s legal team is scheduled for 3pm, and Baldoni and Wayfarer Productions’ lawyers will meet an hour after that.
Both sides have been told they should address ‘their client’s updated settlement position’.
Michael Gottlieb, Lively’s attorney, stated that the case isn’t necessarily finished. He added that the actress is anticipating the trial, which is set to begin next month.
According to a statement given to the Daily Mail, Gottlieb stated that the jury will still be presented with her allegations of sexual harassment, which she considers the central issue of the case.
Gottlieb explained that the court’s decision to dismiss Ms. Lively’s harassment case wasn’t about approving of the defendants’ actions, but rather about technical legal problems with the case.
The court decided Ms. Lively couldn’t bring her sexual harassment case before a jury. This was because she didn’t have a contract, she worked as an independent contractor rather than a direct employee, and the harassment happened in New Jersey, not California.
The 39-year-old actress initially filed a lawsuit against Karl Urban and other investors in their movie, ‘It Ends With Us,’ alleging she experienced sexual harassment and an unhealthy work atmosphere.
On Thursday, Judge Liman dismissed the most serious parts of the lawsuit, leaving only three claims to be considered: breach of contract, retaliation, and assisting in retaliation.
They had been due to go to trial in New York on May 18.
The core of this conflict is accusations that Baldoni harassed Lively during filming, followed by her claim that he and his colleagues then tried to damage her reputation after the film’s failure.
In December 2024, Lively filed a lawsuit in California, claiming she was subjected to fat-shaming and pressured into performing in scenes she felt uncomfortable with.
The New York Times quickly covered the lawsuit, reporting that Baldoni and his team were accused of trying to damage Lively’s reputation.
Baldoni quickly refuted the claims and then filed a lawsuit against The New York Times, Blake Lively, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Both lawsuits were dismissed, and all of Lively’s remaining issues were combined into a single case, which will be heard in New York in May.
Baldoni’s team celebrated the judge’s ruling yesterday that most of Lively’s claims be tossed.
We are happy the court rejected all claims of sexual harassment and dismissed the case against Justin Baldoni, Jamey Heath, Steve Sarowitz, Melissa Nathan, and Jennifer Abel.
These were significant claims, and we appreciate the Court’s thorough examination of the facts, legal arguments, and extensive evidence presented.
Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach, attorneys for Baldoni, stated they are prepared to argue their case in court, as the scope of the legal issues has been considerably reduced. They told Daily Mail they ‘look forward to presenting our defense to the remaining claims.’
Lively has accused Justin Baldoni of unprofessional behavior on the set of ‘It Ends With Us.’ She claims he kissed her during a scene without it being written in the script. She also alleges that he entered her trailer while she was nursing her baby, and that a producer shared a video with her of Baldoni’s wife giving birth.
According to Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for Blake Lively, the lawsuit centers on the damaging actions the defendants took to harm Lively’s reputation after she spoke up about safety concerns on set. McCawley told the Daily Mail that this retaliation is the core issue of the trial.
Blake Lively believes the most important outcome of this situation is that those responsible for the online attacks have been identified and are facing consequences from other women they’ve targeted. She plans to share her experiences in court and hopes to raise awareness about this harmful type of online harassment, making it easier to recognize and stop.
The sexual harassment case isn’t moving forward, not because of any wrongdoing by those accused, but because the court decided Blake Lively was working as an independent contractor rather than a traditional employee.
Judge Lewis Liman ruled that the contracts Lively presented as evidence weren’t legally valid because she hadn’t signed them.
Lively didn’t sign the agreement outlining how to handle sexual harassment on set – the Actor Loanout Agreement – because she and Baldoni’s team had been arguing for months over its conditions.
The judge, in a 152-page decision, stated that the agreement between the parties (ALA) was never a legally binding contract. This is because IEWUM (It Ends With Us Movie) made it clear they didn’t intend to be bound by the agreement unless it was fully signed and finalized.
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2026-04-03 21:34