Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle: Judge says March 2026 trial date will be moved up if case continues to be ‘litigated in the press’
Lawyers for the feuding former "It Ends With Us" co-stars were in court Feb. 3.
Attorneys for Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni attended their first court hearing on Feb. 3 for the It Ends With Us drama — at which the judge vowed to move up the expected March 2026 trial date if the respective parties continued to litigate in the press — but that’s just one of several new developments in the case.
Over the weekend, Baldoni’s legal team filed an amended lawsuit against Lively, whom he’s suing for $400 million, along with her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy. They also launched a website with documents related to the case.
Lively initiated the legal battle, first with a complaint and then a lawsuit, alleging that Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set of the 2024 film, which was based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, and then launched a smear campaign against her when she spoke up. Baldoni directed the film and played Lively’s love interest.
What happened at the 1st hearing
Neither Lively nor Baldoni was expected to be present for the hearing, CNN reported, and that turned out to be the case.
According to Deadline, the hearing, overseen by New York federal Judge Lewis J. Liman, centered around a potential gag order. Liman said if the matter continued to be “litigated in the press,” the March 2026 trial date would be moved up because the media attention could taint a jury pool.
Variety reported that the judge advised both sides to adhere to the New York Rules of Professional Conduct, which block attorneys from making comments that could have a “substantial likelihood” of influencing a jury. The rule does, however, allow attorneys to talk to the press as far as protecting their clients from negative publicity.
Deadline reported that Liman said that Lively will not be deposed at the present time. The judge also said that Lively does not get to choose who deposes her.
That’s significant because going into the hearing, Baldoni’s team said they wanted Lively’s deposition to happen as soon as possible, but Lively’s lawyers indicated she wouldn’t agree to be deposed by Baldoni’s lead attorney, Bryan Freedman. Lively and Reynolds’s attorneys sought a protective order to stop Freedman from what they said was a “harassing and retaliatory media campaign” against the couple.
The issue of Baldoni’s lawsuit website was discussed in court, according to Deadline. Baldoni's lawyer said that only documents that can be accessed publicly are on the website.
The judge did take issue with the 168-page timeline Baldoni attached to Baldoni’s Jan. 31 amended complaint. He said he thinks it violates federal court procedure because it’s a narrative. Lively’s attorney said they plan to have that document stricken.
Lively’s lawsuit and Baldoni’s countersuit will be combined for trial, which both parties agreed to. What was new was that Freedman told the judge that he’s set to pull the plug on Baldoni’s separate lawsuit against the New York Times, Deadline reported. That’s because Baldoni’s amended complaint added the news outlet as a defendant.
Lively’s lead attorney, Michael Gottlieb, said they were given no notice that Baldoni was adding the New York Times to his countersuit until it was reported by media outlets on Jan. 31. He said that Lively and Reynolds may be filing an amended complaint of their own, potentially with new claims.
Outside court, Gottlieb told reporters he was “very happy” with how the hearing proceeded. Freedman said he “couldn’t be more pleased” and wants the case to “move as quickly as we possibly can and prove our innocence.”
Next to be considered is Lively and Reynolds’s motion to dismiss Baldoni’s lawsuit altogether.
Baldoni launched public website with lawsuit documents
The members of Baldoni’s legal team said they planned to publicly share documents related to the case on a dedicated website aimed at defending the filmmaker against Lively’s allegations, and followed through on Friday.
The website, titled Lawsuit Info, has the amended complaint as well as a 168-page "Timeline of Relevant Events" related to the dispute and the film's production. It begins with an email from Baldoni to Hoover on Jan. 1, 2019, about the It Ends With Us book, and ends with the claim about the New York Times metadata on Jan. 29, 2025.
Included were previously unseen — and unverified — text messages, including one Lively sent to Baldoni in April 2023 discussing a rewrite of the movie’s rooftop scene.
“if you knew me (in person) longer you’d have a sense of how flirty and yummy the ball busting will play. It’s my love language. Spicy and playfully bold, never with teeth….,” she allegedly texted Baldoni.
Another was purportedly sent from Reynolds to Baldoni in February 2023, saying how excited he was for Lively to work with Baldoni.
“I’m excited for Blake to crack open her creative piggy bank with someone as dynamic as you. This is gonna be INCREDIBLE. I happen to adore you, Justin,” Reynolds allegedly wrote.
Baldoni, who claimed he was steamrolled by Lively in a bid for creative control of the film, also claimed the actress declined to meet with the intimacy coordinator for the film. He shared notes from that meeting.
“These notes would later become the basis for Lively’s Complaint, in which she states that Baldoni would talk about his own sex life and insert gratuitous scenes with Lively’s character orgasming,” Baldoni’s timeline stated. “As seen in the notes, these mentions come directly from the intimacy coordinator’s notes. … Ideally, these conversations would have taken place directly between Lively and the intimacy coordinator directly, as Baldoni had requested; however, Lively declined to meet with her.”
Baldoni also claimed Reynolds had him fired from their mutual agency, WME, which WME has denied. The timeline on the website states that Baldoni’s production company was “informed that Reynolds contacted Baldoni’s personal agent at WME” on July 15, 2024, and called Baldoni “a ‘deranged predator.’” It also claimed that Reynolds “approached a senior executive at WME” at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere after-party on July 22 and said, “the agency is working with a ‘sexual predator.’”
Baldoni also published on the website a statement he claimed Lively and Reynolds demanded that he release in August 2024. This was around the time of the premiere, as rumors ran rampant of infighting between the co-stars. Baldoni said he refused to issue the statement.
“It Ends With Us was a troubled production which we take full accountability for,” the alleged statement ran. “We are very sorry to everyone we caused upset to privately and publicly. Blake Lively, Colleen Hoover, the entire cast and crew led with professionalism every step of the way, any negativity aimed at them is ours to own. We mutually agreed that the cast would be promoting the film separately and understood why.”
The website launch followed the release by Baldoni’s team of a 10-minute clip of a slow-dancing scene Baldoni and Lively shot for the film. Baldoni also included some texts in his lawsuits against the NYT and Lively.
Lively’s initial lawsuit against Baldoni also included texts. Baldoni asserted that he was smeared by the news outlet and Lively because they took texts that he had sent and reported them out of context.
A brief timeline of the Lively v. Baldoni legal battle
With multiple lawsuits and even more plaintiffs, here’s a quick guide to the legal battle…
Aug. 9, 2024: It Ends With Us hits theaters. Ahead of its release, there were rumors of a feud between the director-actor and actress.
Dec. 20, 2024: Lively files a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department.
Dec. 21, 2024: The New York Times story, “‘We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” comes out with texts purportedly showing Baldoni’s alleged campaign to tarnish Lively’s reputation after she accused him of misconduct.
Dec. 31, 2024: Lively officially files a federal lawsuit against Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios and his publicists, alleging she was retaliated against for reporting the misconduct.
Baldoni and his publicists file a $250 million lawsuit against the New York Times for libel over the article.
Jan. 16, 2024: Baldoni countersues Lively, Reynolds and her publicist for $400 million, accusing them of defamation.
Jan. 31, 2024: Baldoni files an amended complaint against Lively, Reynolds, her publicist and the New York Times and launches his lawsuit website.