If you thought the imminent arrival of Valentine’s Day might’ve spelled harmony for on-screen love interests Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni… well, think again!
The celebrities, who have been entangled in a bitter legal battle stemming from the set of It Ends With Us, have opted out of mediation in their much-publicized case, laying the groundwork for what could be a potential courtroom showdown. The pair’s refusal to mediate the case was revealed in a letter filed by their respective attorneys in New York federal court. Both sides argued that moving ahead with settlement talks would be “inappropriate” and “premature,” making the case move one step closer to a trial. Is it just me, or does this have the whiff of exactly what Amber Heard warned us about?
It marks perhaps the first time the two parties have agreed on something, even if that agreement is that both of them want to keep disagreeing, and that neither of them are willing to wave the white flag. Perhaps that’s the Valentine’s silver lining in all this mess? The refusal to mediate is applied to both of the pair’s cross-fire lawsuits, in which Lively accuses her co-star and the It Ends With Us director of sexual harassment on set, and Baldoni accuses the leading lady of defamation. The court ordered the pair to begin the dispute-resolution process back in late January, but they have evidently hit a stalemate.
It marks the latest development in this seemingly never ending feud, which erupted late last year when Lively filed a lawsuit accusing Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, of orchestrating a PR crisis team-led smear campaign against the actress after her allegations of sexual harassment came to light. Two weeks later, Baldoni fired back, seeking $400 million in defamation damages and naming Lively’s husband, Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds, as a defendant.
Along the way, the case has roped in everyone from The New York Times — who Baldoni also sued — as well as Lively’s former co-stars and members of Baldoni’s family. Taylor Swift’s name has also floated around amid the media frenzy, with the director claiming the pop star was used manipulatively by Lively to intimidate him into making changes to the script of It Ends With Us. So unending is the chaos that we’ve also seen the leaking of communications between Lively and Baldoni during the shooting of the film, including text message exchanges and voice note recordings.
What all of it amounts to is a mess that far eclipses the popularity of the film that birthed it, but given the public’s feverish thirst and Hollywood’s quest to satiate it, we should expect that this case will be dramatized for a Ryan Murphy TV series soon enough. As Chelsea Handler joked during her Critics Choice Awards monologue, it’s somewhat nice to have a low-stakes distraction from all the hullabaloo in Washington, though I’m sure Donald Trump is probably annoyed that the two stars are almost getting more press coverage than him. Well, them and Elon Musk.
Chelsea Handler jokes about the Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively lawsuit at the 2025 #CriticsChoiceAwards pic.twitter.com/z9fUFyS8fW
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 8, 2025
In the meantime, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman cautioned both Lively and Baldoni against litigating through the press, warning that excessive media coverage could lead to an earlier trial date. The trail date is currently set for March 9, 2026. Who knows, though, maybe Valentine’s Day will cast its harmonic spell by then.
Published: Feb 13, 2025 05:56 pm