A federal judge presiding over Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us courtroom battle with Justin Baldoni has made a decision regarding her recent legal move.
According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Tuesday, May 12, Judge Lewis J. Liman denied Lively’s request to file additional briefs and offer additional information in the case.
Instead, the judge explained that he didn’t need to read any more from the parties before making a decision on whether Lively, 38, is entitled to any fees or damages. (TMZ was first to report the news.)
Us has reached out to Lively and Baldoni’s teams for comment.
News broke on May 4 that both parties had reached a settlement and would be avoiding a New York City trial later in the month.
“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,” attorneys for both Lively and Baldoni, 42, said in a statement to Us. “We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard.”
The statement continued, “We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments. It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online.”
Days later, however, Lively filed a notice of settlement, in which she requested damages to cover her attorneys’ fees and costs, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.
“This settlement is a resounding victory for Blake Lively,” her attorneys told Us on May 7. “By agreeing to this settlement, and waiving their right to appeal, Justin Baldoni and every individual defendant now face personal liability for abusing the legal system to silence and intimidate Ms. Lively. And by admitting that Ms. Lively’s concerns ‘deserved to be heard,’ the defendants have ended once and for all the fiction that Ms. Lively ‘fabricated’ claims of sexual harassment and retaliation.”
Baldoni’s team, however, saw the settlement as a “total victory” and a chance for all parties to move on.
“The court had already dismissed 10 of Ms. Lively’s 13 claims, including every sexual harassment claim, every defamation claim and all claims against the individual defendants,” Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement to Us on May 7. “Ms. Lively voluntarily dismissed the rest. In our view, they settled because they knew they were going to lose in court. All that remains is a pending request for fees based on a very narrow issue that has been with the court since September 2025.”
Lively and Baldoni’s legal drama began in December 2024, when the actress accused her It Ends With Us costar and director of sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment and purposefully creating a smear campaign targeting the actress.
Lively sued Baldoni, his publicity team and a series of other defendants, alleging that she was retaliated against for coming forward with her sexual harassment allegations.
Baldoni strongly denied the allegations and countersued Lively. In June 2025, however, a judge dismissed his lawsuit against the actress.
In April, Lively faced her own legal setback when a judge ruled that most of her legal claims against Baldoni would be dismissed.
Read the full article here
