Blake Lively gets no payout as Justin Baldoni legal fight settles privately

Blake Lively walked away from her private settlement with Justin Baldoni without a payout, but the fight over It Ends With Us is not neatly over. The deal, reached May 4, came less than two weeks before a trial set to begin May 18 in New York City, and reports said no money changed hands even as the terms stayed confidential.

The dispute started with the 2024 film, where Lively and Baldoni co-starred and Baldoni directed. Lively escalated the conflict in December 2024 by filing a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging sexual harassment on set and a retaliatory smear campaign. From there, the case widened into dueling lawsuits that turned a studio drama into one of Hollywood’s most closely watched legal battles.

The timing of the settlement mattered. A federal judge in April 2026 dismissed most of Lively’s claims, and settlement talks intensified after that ruling. By the time the sides reached an agreement, the litigation had already shifted from a straight damages fight into a broader contest over credibility, publicity strategy and who would control the public story around the film’s troubled production.

That story still is not fully settled. Lively has a pending motion seeking attorneys’ fees and damages tied to Baldoni’s failed defamation suit against her, which means the courtroom conflict has not disappeared entirely. Even without a payout, the legal record, the surviving motions and the competing narratives around alleged harassment and retaliation remain in play.

Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said Baldoni was “ecstatic at the result,” a sign that each side may be reading the settlement differently. For Hollywood, the case is a reminder that a private agreement can stop the money fight without ending the reputational war, especially when the allegations involve workplace misconduct, publicity tactics and the damage that can follow a headline-grabbing set dispute.