A Complete Timeline of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's Feud (Including the Latest in their Legal Battle)

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal drama may have only come to light in December 2024, but the two have had tensions brewing since the early days of making their first movie together.

The actors collaborated on the 2024 summer blockbuster It Ends With Us, starring alongside each other as the two leads. Baldoni also served as the executive producer and director.

However, months after rumors of a rift surfaced around the film's premiere, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni, producer Jamey Heath, Heath and Baldoni's production company, Wayfarer Studios, as well as its co-founder Steve Sarowitz, claiming sexual harassment and an alleged retaliatory public smear campaign to "destroy" her reputation.

She also named Jeb Wallace, an independent contractor, and Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, publicists accused of harming Lively’s reputation. While Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, denied the accusations to PEOPLE, The New York Times ran an investigative story looking into Lively's claims.

Related: The Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Lawsuits, Explained: A Complete Breakdown of the Allegations, Key Players and Who's Said What

Shortly after, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against the outlet, alleging libel, which The New York Times denied, followed by another lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane's PR firm Vision PR, Inc for $400 million, on claims of civil extortion and defamation, among other things.

Lively's legal team called the filing "another chapter in the abuser playbook." Now, the two are preparing to take their issues to court, with a trial date set for March 9, 2026.

From the first filing to the latest updates, here's a complete timeline of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal drama.

January 26, 2023: Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively are announced as the leads in It Ends With Us

Baldoni and Lively were announced as the co-leads of the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel of the same name.

“Our Lily is going to be played by Blake Lively,” Hoover said in her announcement. “Blake Lively, y’all. She’s my dream Lily. And then when I first met Justin Baldoni, who is directing the film for It Ends with Us, I immediately wanted him to be Ryle. I just thought that he had what it takes to play that character, and the good news is he’s gonna be Ryle.”

Baldoni reposted the video on his Instagram, writing, "Here we go!!!!"

May 2023 - Early 2024: Filming for It Ends With Us takes place

The movie kicked off filming on May 5, 2023, with photographers capturing Lively in costume in Hoboken, N.J.

However, production was paused a month later due to the ongoing writer's strike. It picked back up in early 2024 when the release date was pushed from February to August that year.

August 6, 2024: Just Baldoni walks the It Ends With Us premiere red carpet separately from the rest of the cast

Rumors of a feud between Baldoni and his costars began when the director was notably missing during the press tour, opting to take interviews separately from his cast.

The rumors came to a head during the movie's New York premiere on Aug. 6 when Lively posed alongside all of her main costars, including Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate. Baldoni, meanwhile, walked the red carpet with his wife Emily and his family and didn't pose with the rest of the cast.

He also didn’t introduce the film ahead of the screening, opting instead to allow Lively and Hoover to take the reins despite being the director.

"All is not what it seems," a set source told PEOPLE at the time. "There is much more to this story."

August 9, 2024: It Ends With Us premieres to a massive box office debut

It Ends With Us was met with massive success at the box office, earning $50 million when it opened at the domestic box office.

By its third weekend, the movie had become Lively's highest-grossing project yet, with over $242 million earned worldwide, according to Deadline.

August 13, 2024: Justin Baldoni hires a crisis PR representative

Days after the film's premiere, Baldoni hired crisis public relations manager Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group, who previously worked with Johnny Depp.

December 20, 2024: Blake Lively files a complaint against Justin Baldoni

After months of speculation of a rift between the cast, Lively filed a bombshell Dec. 20 complaint in which she accused Baldoni of exhibiting “disturbing" and “unprofessional” behavior on set that led to a "hostile work environment."

She further alleged that Baldoni and his producing partner Heath's behavior and the alleged smear campaign after filming caused her "grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety," per the filing.

Alongside allegations of entering her trailer uninvited while she was breastfeeding her child and making inappropriate statements regarding sex and porn on set, Lively accused Baldoni and his PR team — including Abel and Nathan — of planting stories in the media to tarnish her reputation.

Freedman strongly denied the allegations on behalf of Baldoni and said in a statement that representatives of Wayfarer Studios "did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity."

December 21, 2024: Justin Baldoni is dropped by his talent agency

The New York Times published an investigative story on the situation, detailing Lively's allegations in her complaint on Dec. 21. The same day, Baldoni's talent agency, William Morris Endeavor, dropped him as a client, with Deadline reporting that it was in part due to the complaint. Lively is also one of WME's clients.

In his lawsuit against The New York Times, Baldoni alleged that Reynolds demanded that his WME agent drop him at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere. The agency denied the allegations shortly after.

December 31, 2024: Justin Baldoni files a lawsuit against The New York Times

Baldoni sued The New York Times on Dec. 31 for $250 million, claiming that the outlet used “‘cherry-picked’ and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead," per the lawsuit.

Baldoni also refuted some of the claims made in Lively's lawsuits, alleging that he was "invited" into her trailer. He included a screenshot of his alleged conversation with her in which she said, "I'm just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines." He responded, "Copy. Eating with crew and will head that way."

The Jane the Virgin actor also alleged that while Lively accused his PR team of planting stories about her, he felt she did so about him, claiming that her publicist, Sloane, "[planted] a false story alleging that there were 'multiple' HR complaints during production."

“It’s clear that Mr. Baldoni and his Wayfarer Associates are suggesting that I originated press stories about HR complaints on set, which is false,” Sloane told PEOPLE in a statement following the lawsuit.

December 31, 2024: Blake Lively files a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni

The same day, Lively officially filed a lawsuit in New York City against Baldoni, among others, after previously filing the Dec. 20 complaint in California.

January 16, 2025: Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and more, alleging defamation

In the third lawsuit to be filed in the legal saga, Baldoni directly sued Lively, as well as Reynolds, Sloane and her PR company.

In his complaint, Baldoni accused Lively of never having read the book upon which the movie is based and therefore making "wrongheaded creative decisions" that "reflected her fundamental lack of understanding of the book." Baldoni's complaint claims Lively began "asserting" control over the film, "inserting herself into the production process in intrusive ways."

He added that at one point, she joked that Baldoni "should get plastic surgery" on his nose while filming a scene for the movie.

Baldoni wasn't the only plaintiff in the lawsuit, which included his team, Abel and Nathan. The two publicists alleged in a statement to PEOPLE that they're "private individuals" who have now received death threats due to Lively's complaint.

Lively's lawyers responded by calling the lawsuit a "desperate" attack on a woman, saying that "it will fail" in a statement.

January 21, 2025: Justin Baldoni's team releases footage from the It Ends With Us set that they argued contradicts Blake Lively's claims

Baldoni's team released video footage to outlets including TMZ showcasing a behind-the-scenes moment on the set of It Ends With Us. In the clip, Lively is filming a scene with Baldoni in which the two are slow dancing for a montage.

In her lawsuit, Lively alleged that it was during this scene — which she said had no dialogue — that Baldoni “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘it smells so good’... When Ms. Lively later objected to this behavior, Mr. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you.’ ”

However, in audio captured during the scene, the two can be heard talking and joking out of character while they dance. Lively can be heard telling him, “I’m probably getting spray tan on you.” Laughing, Baldoni replies, “It smells good.”

In response, Lively's lawyers said in a statement to PEOPLE that the video showed Baldoni "attempting to kiss her" and shows Lively "leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk." They added, “every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter,” what Lively included in her lawsuit about that scene. 

January 27, 2025: A trial date is set for March 2026 the same day as audio of Justin Baldoni allegedly apologizing is leaked

Judge Lewis J. Liman outlined in an order filed on Jan. 27 that both cases have now been consolidated as Lively v. Baldoni et al. and is now scheduled for trial on March 9, 2026. In the meantime, a pre-trial hearing was set to hash out Lively's prospective request for a gag order.

The same day, a voice note that Baldoni allegedly sent to Lively was leaked of the actor apologizing for his response to Lively's tweaks to the scripts.

"I'm really sorry. I for sure fell short and you worked really hard on that," he is heard saying. PEOPLE cannot verify when the message was recorded.

February 1, 2025: Justin Baldoni launches a website where he plans to share evidence

A month after Baldoni's lawyer promised to launch a website with evidence of his client's accusations against Lively, Baldoni did just that on Feb. 1.

The website, which is simply titled "Lawsuit Info," contains a link to a PDF of Baldoni's amended complaint and a link to a "timeline of relevant events" which leads to a PDF detailing allegations of everything that led up to Lively's casting and all that has taken place since, including screenshots of alleged conversations between the two.

February 3, 2025: A judge warns Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's lawyers to rein in the PR war at the pre-trial meeting

During Lively and Baldoni's pre-trial, Judge Liman warned the actors' teams to not litigate their legal battle in the press, threatening to expedite the trial if they did so.

He also instructed both parties to comply with the New York Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibit attorneys from making comments that could have a "substantial likelihood" of biasing a jury.

February 4, 2025: Justin Baldoni reveals notes from an intimacy coordinator meeting that Blake Lively allegedly skipped

As part of an exhibit in Baldoni's amended complaint from Jan. 31, the actor included a photo of two pages of his notes allegedly from a meeting with an intimacy coordinator that he previously alleged Lively skipped.

Per the complaint, Baldoni met with the intimacy coordinator in April 2023 to "discuss how to shoot the sex scenes." He also provided screenshots of an alleged text conversation with Lively in which he told her he could set up a time for her to meet with the coordinator but she responded, "I feel good. I can meet her when we start :) thank you though!"

The same day, a source close to Lively told PEOPLE that the Gossip Girl alum was calm amid the lawsuit drama and was focusing on her family.

"Blake is surprisingly calm and just tries to focus on family life," the source said.

"She's in constant contact with her team. She sees the whole lawsuit drama as a necessary bump, but she's not letting it take away from her main focus, which is her children," they added.

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