'It Ends With Us' dispute latest updates: Blake Lively and Jason Baldoni reject mediation, say settlement would be 'inappropriate' and 'premature.'

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have opted out of mediation in their ongoing legal battle, signaling that the case may head to trial.

In a Feb. 13 letter filed in New York federal court, attorneys for both parties stated that engaging in settlement talks at this stage would be “inappropriate” and “premature.” Both legal teams are preparing motions to dismiss each other’s claims.

Their decision follows weeks of escalating legal battles between the It Ends With Us co-stars.

Earlier this week, Lively's lawyers Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson issued subpoenas for Baldoni's phone records, arguing they would “expose the people, tactics and methods that have worked to ‘destroy’ and ‘bury’ [Lively’s] reputation and family over the past year.”

Baldoni's lawyers, meanwhile, called Lively’s claims “provably false” and stand by their $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicists.

Jed Wallace, the crisis management consultant accused of orchestrating an alleged smear campaign against Blake Lively, has been subpoenaed by Lively's legal team as part of her ongoing dispute with It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni.

Lively’s legal team previously claimed in her December civil rights complaint that Baldoni’s PR team hired Wallace and his firm, Street Relations, to create and spread negative online content about her. According to a spokesperson for Lively's legal team, the subpoena aims to uncover more details about Wallace’s role in the alleged retaliation.

Lively's team said in a statement to People that they're looking "forward to investigating more about Jed Wallace’s entire business model and what else he was doing to distract from the very real sexual harassment and retaliation claims made by Ms. Lively."

Earlier this month, Wallace countered by filing a $7 million defamation lawsuit against Lively.

In response to Blake Lively's legal team issuing subpoenas for his phone records, Justin Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, criticized the move as an overreach.

In a statement to People, Freedman said that while subpoenas are an "ordinary part of the litigation process," what Lively’s lawyers are seeking is "extraordinary."

"They are asking for every single call, text, data log and even real-time location information for the past two and a half years, regardless of the sender, recipient or subject matter," he said. "This massive fishing expedition demonstrates that they are desperately seeking any factual basis for their provably false claims. They will find none."

Lively's team subpoenaed AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for phone records belonging to Baldoni, publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis management expert Melissa Nathan — as well as to Cloudflare and AOL for internet records.

According to Lively's legal team, by requesting these records, they aim to "expose the full web of individuals who were involved in the smear campaign against" the actress, which is central to her lawsuit against Baldoni.

Blake Lively’s legal team has issued subpoenas for Justin Baldoni’s phone records, aiming to uncover what they describe as a coordinated effort to damage her reputation.

Lively’s lawyers, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, stated to People on Feb. 12 that the subpoenas are meant to “expose the people, tactics, and methods that have worked to ‘destroy’ and ‘bury’ her reputation and family over the past year.”

Subpoenas were sent to AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for Baldoni's phone records, as well as for publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis management expert Melissa Nathan. Subpoenas have also been sent to Cloudflare and AOL for internet records.

Lively’s legal team believes these records will reveal key evidence, including messages they say were omitted from the website Baldoni’s team launched on Feb. 1, which published selected legal documents.

The subpoenas come as part of Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni, in which she accuses him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign. Baldoni has denied the allegations and countersued Lively, Ryan Reynolds and their publicist for $400 million, alleging defamation and extortion.

A trial date for the case has been set for March 9, 2026.

Colleen Hoover has returned to Instagram three weeks after deactivating her account in January — this time, without any photos of It Ends With Us stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

The author's comeback follows a short social media break as the ongoing legal battle between Lively and Baldoni, who starred in and directed the film adaptation of her bestselling novel, intensifies.

Hoover had previously voiced support for Lively after the actress filed a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni on Dec. 20, sharing an Instagram Story that read, “@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met. … Never change. Never wilt.”

On the Gent’s Talk podcast, Justin Baldoni opened up about the emotional toll of the past year, calling it "intense" and filled with "a lot of material success and a lot of emotional stress."

"I realized that I just haven't given myself the time to heal from this year," Baldoni admitted on the episode, which dropped Monday. He spoke candidly about his mental health struggles and anxiety, recalling a vulnerable text he had sent to close friends that morning.

"I sent this text this morning, and I just said, 'I love you both. I just need you to know that I'm not in the best place,'" he said. "I told them that I was exhausted, that I haven’t given myself time to recover or time to heal."

His revelations come amid an ongoing legal battle with co-star Blake Lively, who has accused him of sexual harassment — a claim Baldoni strongly denies.

In a pretaped November 2024 interview with the Gent’s Talk podcast, Justin Baldoni explained why his mission to direct and star in It Ends With Us was to spark a conversation about masculinity, trauma and accountability.

"The real reason underneath it all was to effect change in men," Baldoni told host Samir Mourani. "I wanted men to see what happens when you do not resolve your trauma. I wanted men to see a guy like Ryle, who in his heart is a good man, be unable to control his insecurity, let his fears win and take over and harm the person he loves the most."

Based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, It Ends With Us follows Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a florist caught in an abusive relationship with Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), a neurosurgeon battling his own unresolved trauma. Baldoni emphasized that he intentionally avoided making Ryle a one-dimensional villain, aiming instead to reflect the complexities of abuse and accountability.

"The other way to make this movie, which I was really trying to avoid, is to demonize Ryle and to make him the villain — but I knew that I'd lose the men," he said.

Despite controversy, the film was a box office success, grossing $351 million globally and landing on Netflix’s global chart. But just months after its August 2024 release, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign. In response, Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist.

In the interview, which was filmed one month before Lively filed her initial complaint, Baldoni said he believes the film is already making a positive impact on men.

"I've had men reach out to me who have thanked me for the movie, and we've stopped those men from harming because they saw what could happen to them," he said. "And for that, it makes it all worth it."

In a newly released teaser for his Gent’s Talk podcast appearance, Justin Baldoni appears visibly emotional as he reflects on what he calls an “intense year” amid his legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively.

“I had anxiety,” Baldoni admits to host Samir Mourani before the preview jumps to him saying, “I haven’t talked about this yet.”

The episode was filmed in November 2024, one month before Lively filed a complaint accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her. That complaint later became the basis of her formal lawsuit.

Baldoni later sued the New York Times for defamation and filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicist. His attorney, Bryan Freedman, recently told the court that Baldoni has been “devastated financially and emotionally” by the legal proceedings.

The episode airs Monday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m.

Benjamin Chew, an attorney who represented Johnny Depp in his defamation trial against Amber Heard, is weighing in on Justin Baldoni’s legal strategy in his battle with Blake Lively.

Speaking this week on the Law&Crime Sidebar With Jesse Weber podcast, Chew described Baldoni’s decision to publish a website featuring his amended complaint and a timeline of events as “bold” and “aggressive.”

“I think it is very aggressive; usually you would not do something like that before a hearing," he said. "But I'm sure that they vetted it carefully, that they vetted the material carefully."

Commenting on Baldoni’s legal team’s pre-hearing actions, Chew added, “Whenever you're getting into work product or advocacy pieces, then I think it's getting closer to the line. So it's a novel approach. A bold approach.”

While he declined to say which side has the stronger case, Chew emphasized the power of recorded evidence — such as the recently leaked footage from Baldoni’s legal team, including a lengthy voice note to Lively and a behind-the-scenes clip of the two filming a dance scene. The footage appears to show a professional and friendly working relationship, which challenges Lively’s claims that Baldoni created a hostile workplace.

"Whenever you can hang someone with their own language and they're in a position of having to explain that they didn't really mean what they said," Chew noted, "you know the cliché: 'When you're explaining, you're losing.' So I think on both sides, whenever they have actually used videotape, audiotape or used the actual words of the other side, I think that's a good day for them."

During an appearance on TMZ's Two Angry Men podcast, Justin Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, said the possibility of deposing Taylor Swift in Baldoni's ongoing $400 million lawsuit against It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively isn't off the table.

"I don’t know that we’re going to depose Taylor Swift or not," Freedman told co-hosts Harvey Levin and Mark Geragos in the podcast's first episode, which premiered on Wednesday.

"I think that that’s gonna be probably a game-time decision," he added, "Anyone that reasonably has information that can provide evidence in this case is going to be deposed. I mean, for sure.”

Baldoni’s lawsuit, filed on Jan. 31, came after Lively’s December 2024 allegations that he sexually harassed her and created a hostile work environment while directing and co-starring in It Ends With Us.

Swift’s name has surfaced multiple times in Baldoni’s legal filings. He alleges that Swift and Lively's husband, co-defendant Ryan Reynolds, extorted him and the film's producers by pressuring him into using Lively's rewrite of the film's pivotal rooftop scene.

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, defamation attorney Jeff Lewis explained that in order for Swift to testify, a judge must first decide if the civil extortion claim is "really valid," which at this point seems up in the air.

"The civil extortion claim seemed kind of weak to me," Lewis explained. "If it survives a pleading battle, meaning by the time of trial, there's still a civil extortion claim on the table, then yeah, [Swift is] a witness to this civil extortion. She may be deposed."

In his amended complaint, Justin Baldoni alleges that Blake Lively’s wardrobe demands significantly inflated the budget for It Ends With Us.

The lawsuit includes an April 25, 2023, email from the film’s line producer expressing concerns about the “ballooning” wardrobe costs, which they attributed to Lively’s creative control.

According to the email, the original costume budget was set at $185,000, but spending had already surpassed $615,000. The producer noted that the wardrobe team had to “reshop everything for Blake after creative changes,” further stating, “This is way more than I’ve ever seen wardrobe go over budget with the initial spend.”

Baldoni’s legal team argues that wardrobe was just one area where Lively became “intrusive” in the production process, stating in the filing, “What may seem like an innocuous request can in fact have a monumental impact on a film production.”

Ironically, nearly a year later, Lively told People in an August 2024 interview that many of her own clothing pieces made it into the film — including boots, Louboutin heels and shirts belonging to her husband, Ryan Reynolds, who is also a co-defendant in Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit.

Although It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni's lawsuit against Blake Lively portrays the actress as difficult to work with, Lively's Another Simple Favor director, Paul Feig, made clear that he had a different experience.

The sequel to A Simple Favor, the 2018 black-comedy thriller starring Anna Kendrick, is set to premiere at the South by Southwest film and TV festival in Austin, Texas, on March 7. When the poster was shared on Instagram, users were quick to question whether the version screening was Feig's cut of the film or Lively's.

"It's my cut," Feig replied in the comments section. "There is no other cut. Blake has been nothing but supportive and a dream to work with. She is the best and an amazing collaborator and I'm her biggest fan. Just wanted to clear that up."

Feig's response comes amid Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicity team, in which he accused Lively of strong-arming him out of the editing process and using her influence to shape the final version of It Ends With Us.

Lively's lawyers have since called Baldoni's lawsuit "desperate" and "meritless."

Blake Lively is now facing another legal battle — this time from Jed Wallace, a crisis management consultant and founder of Street Relations, who has been linked to the ongoing dispute between Lively and It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni.

Wallace filed a lawsuit in a Texas federal court on Tuesday, seeking at least $7 million and a court order stating that he was not involved in any harassment or retaliation against Lively. His filing came the same day Lively withdrew a petition she originally submitted on Jan. 21, which sought to depose Wallace.

In that petition, Lively accused Wallace of orchestrating a social media smear campaign against her. Though Wallace is not currently listed as a co-defendant in her lawsuit against Baldoni, the Hollywood Reporter notes that the petition could indicate plans to add him as a defendant in the future.

Wallace’s name appears in Lively’s legal filings, which cite his communication with Baldoni’s public relations team — including a text from PR executive Melissa Nathan that read "Can I start a Signal thread with you, me, and Jed?"

Wallace denies all allegations. His attorney, Charles Babcock, states in the complaint, "Neither Wallace nor Street had anything to do with the alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, failure to investigate, or aiding and abetting the alleged harassment or alleged retaliation."

Lively's lawyer Michael Gottlieb, meanwhile, called Wallace's complaint a "transparent retaliation" for her sexual harassment and retaliation complaint.

Blake Lively’s latest film, Another Simple Favor, is set to premiere at the South by Southwest film and TV festival in Austin, Texas, on March 7, event organizers said on Tuesday.

The sequel to the 2018 black-comedy thriller starring Anna Kendrick began filming in April 2024 in Los Angeles and Italy. The film’s debut comes as Lively remains engaged in an ongoing legal dispute with Justin Baldoni.

The Associated Press notes the film will be Lively's first new movie since It Ends With Us premiered last summer. And according to Variety, if Lively attends the festival, it would mark her first public appearance since the start of her legal battle.

Justin Baldoni’s It Ends With Us legal battle with Blake Lively has crippled him professionally.

His attorney Bryan Freedman said in court on Feb. 3 that his clients — including Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios — "are devastated financially and emotionally” by the sexual harassment case brought by Lively, People reported.

Lively is seeking unspecified damages in her lawsuit, filed in December, for “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” Baldoni countersued Lively as well as her husband, Ryan Reynolds, in January for $400 million, alleging defamation.

Going into the first hearing in the case, Baldoni's legal team said in filing that the lawsuit had been "utterly calamitous" for Baldoni, who has been "exiled from polite society and suffered damages totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.”

A movie about the arcade game Pac-Man, which Baldoni and his production company had been developing since 2022, is in doubt, according to the Hollywood Reporter. A Baldoni source told the outlet that he “lost three jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars” since the lawsuit was filed. He and his Wayfarer Studios were dropped by the agency WME.

It Ends With Us — which Baldoni directed, starred in and produced — grossed $351 million worldwide in 2024. However, he’s going up against one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors in Reynolds, who commands about $30 million a film, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and makes a lot more from his business dealings, like the $1 billion sale of Mint Mobile in 2023 and $610 million deal for Aviation gin in 2020.

Justin Baldoni has claimed that Blake Lively used her friendship with Taylor Swift as leverage during the production of It Ends With Us, according to an amended complaint filed on Jan. 31.

On May 2, 2024 — less than three months before the film’s premiere — Baldoni claims Lively made a “veiled threat” through a Sony marketing executive, implying she might reconsider asking Swift to approve the use of “My Tears Ricochet” for the film’s trailer if her creative demands weren’t met. These demands included “more time in the edit room with her personal editor.”

When co-producer Jamey Heath refused to comply, the Sony executive allegedly warned, “You guys don’t want to play ball — you are going to delay and greatly hurt the movie. Good luck.” According to Baldoni’s complaint, this response signaled that Sony was willing to hold his production company, Wayfarer, accountable for any negative fallout. Baldoni's team argues that this was directly caused by Lively.

By May 3, 2024, Wayfarer conceded to Lively’s demands, granting her extended control over the editing process. Despite the tensions, Baldoni claims the studio and production team hoped to maintain the film’s integrity while accommodating Lively’s creative input.

Lively’s legal team has said Baldoni’s allegations are "meritless" and "baseless" attempts to shift blame.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds sat out the first hearing in their legal battle against Justin Baldoni but put on a united front in a photo posted to Instagram.

Hours after the hearing — during which the lawyers went back and forth about media manipulation and Baldoni’s new lawsuit website — the Deadpool & Wolverine actor posted a rare selfie of him and his wife amid a snowy city backdrop.

They both smiled and Reynolds had his arm around his wife of 12 years. He selected the 1994 Hootie & the Blowfish hit "Only Wanna Be With You" to accompany the photo.

CNN reported ahead of the hearing that Lively, Reynolds and Baldoni were not expected to attend. For now, they have a March 2026 trial date, but the judge warned it could be moved up if their lawyers didn’t stop litigating the case in the press for fear it could taint the jury pool.

At the first major court hearing in the legal battle between It Ends With Us stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman warned both sides to stop litigating their case in the media.

During the 90-minute session on Monday, Liman cautioned that if pretrial publicity continues, he may move up the trial date, which is currently set for March 9, 2026, according to Deadline.

Lively’s legal team pushed for a protective order against Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, accusing him of trying to sway public opinion with media statements. Freedman, meanwhile, alleged that Lively and Ryan Reynolds worked with the New York Times on a Dec. 21 exposé that portrayed Baldoni negatively.

Baldoni’s amended complaint, filed on Jan. 31, added the Times as a defendant in his $400 million lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds. During the hearing Freedman said they were willing to drop the separate $250 million lawsuit against the Times altogether.

Lively's attorney, Michael Gottlieb, told the court he received no notice that the Times was being added to the main case before it hit the media. Gottlieb also indicated that his team may file its own amended complaint, possibly introducing new claims.

The next key deadline in the case is March 11, when Lively’s lawyers are expected to formally submit their proposed protective order to limit further media disclosures from Baldoni’s team.

Lively, Reynolds and Baldoni did not attend the hearing.

Justin Baldoni is suing Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for a number of things, one being civil extortion. The director alleges the couple launched a "campaign of extortion" to seize creative control of It Ends With Us. This is the claim that indirectly involves Taylor Swift.

In his 179-page lawsuit, Baldoni alleges Swift and Reynolds pressured him into using Lively's rewrite of the film's pivotal rooftop scene. The complaint includes texts in which Lively seemingly refers to the singer and her husband as her "dragons." It's important to note that Swift is not being sued, but she could get dragged to court if this legal battle continues.

First, a judge will decide if the civil extortion claim is "really valid," defamation attorney Jeff Lewis told Yahoo Entertainment.

"The civil extortion claim seemed kind of weak to me," Lewis said. "If it survives a pleading battle, meaning by the time of trial, there's still a civil extortion claim on the table, then yeah, [Swift is] a witness to this civil extortion. She may be deposed."

However, Lewis believes naming Swift in the lawsuit was a bit of a "distraction tactic" by Baldoni's legal team.

"It almost felt like a giant dump of confusing and conflicting information, which kind of is working," he said. "A normal complaint says on X date, somebody said something false about me. You don't cut and paste text messages and name-drop [that] Taylor Swift happened to be coming by. The only reason to do that is that you hope the press runs with it and it changes the narrative."

Defamation attorney Jeff Lewis told Yahoo Entertainment that the attempt by Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds to get Justin Baldoni's lawsuit tossed out is "pretty common." If the motion is denied, the war wages on.

"I would expect the aggressive lawyers here to really try to get all the disputes heard in one forum: one court, one judge, one jury," he said, adding, "It would be crazy to take this case [to trial], but I would've said the same thing about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard."

Lewis pointed out that "over 90% of cases settle out of court," and he thinks that's ultimately the best option.

"Is this going to settle in the first 15 minutes of the lawsuit, or is it going to settle as many cases do, on the courthouse steps right before a jury is sworn in," he explained. "I think they're gonna have to go a few rounds here in court — in terms of motions to dismiss, procedural motions — before these parties get real in terms of settlement."

If the case does go to trial, "some judge or some jury is going to have to call somebody a liar," Lewis continued."These accounts — this is not like somebody is misremembering," he said. "These are black-and-white, opposite recollections of what happened. And someone's lying."

A newly released account from Justin Baldoni’s legal team challenges Blake Lively’s depiction of a brief interaction involving a post-birth video shown to her by producer Jamey Heath.

According to Baldoni's amended complaint, the incident took place on May 23, 2023, during a lunch break as part of an ongoing discussion about a hospital birthing scene in It Ends With Us.

In his lawsuit, Baldoni claims that he suggested that Heath show Lively a personal video of his wife cradling their newborn after a home birth, believing it captured the emotional tone they aimed to portray. The complaint states that Heath "proceeded to show her one second" of the video before she asked if he had "permission" to share it, which he confirmed he did.

Lively then stated she would watch it later but never did. "This entire interaction between Heath and Lively lasted less than 30 seconds," according to Baldoni's complaint.

Baldoni’s team claims that Lively mischaracterized the interaction in her complaint, likening the one-second clip she saw to "pornography" and claiming it depicted a "fully nude woman with her legs spread apart."

According to Baldoni's complaint, "Heath’s wife remains covered with a towel for the duration of the video, submerged in water and holding her newborn."

Previously released text messages revealed that Justin Baldoni attempted to schedule a meeting between Blake Lively and an intimacy coordinator on April 21, 2023 — a meeting she allegedly declined, opting instead to consult with the coordinator on set during filming.

In her absence, Baldoni met with the intimacy coordinator himself, took detailed notes and later shared them with Lively during a meeting at her New York City apartment.

According to documents posted on Baldoni’s website this weekend, the notes included explicit terms provided by the intimacy coordinator, such as "orgasm" and "foreplay."

Baldoni’s legal team argues that these notes were later misrepresented in Lively’s complaint, which accuses him of discussing his personal sex life and inserting gratuitous intimate scenes involving her character. His attorneys claim this evidence undermines Lively’s allegations and demonstrates that their conversations were strictly professional.

"Ideally, these conversations would have taken place directly between Lively and the intimacy coordinator directly, as Baldoni had requested," the complaint reads. "However, Lively declined to meet with her, leaving Baldoni in the less than ideal position of having to relay these notes to Lively in her penthouse."

In his amended complaint, Justin Baldoni accuses Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively of "mocking and bullying" him through a character named "Nicepool" featured in the film Deadpool & Wolverine.

The lawsuit claims that the "Nicepool" scenes were added to the movie and filmed in January 2024, shortly after what Baldoni describes as an “ambush” at Reynolds and Lively’s apartment, during which Reynolds allegedly berated him and demanded an apology for things Baldoni claims he did not do.

According to the amended complaint, "Nicepool," played by Reynolds, was portrayed as a "vicious caricature of a 'woke' feminist" before meeting a violent end at the hands of "Ladypool," a character voiced by Lively.

Baldoni argues in the complaint that the character's dialogue — including inappropriate comments about a female character's postpartum body — along with references to an "intimacy coordinator" and a hairstyle resembling Baldoni's, were intentional jabs designed to ridicule him.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Justin Baldoni's lawyer claims Ryan Reynolds mocked actor in 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' vows to name him in lawsuit

Blake Lively's and Justin Baldoni’s legal teams will face off in a pretrial hearing on Monday, where a judge will weigh arguments over pretrial publicity and attorney conduct in their escalating legal battle.

Lively’s lawyers filed for a gag order on Jan. 23, accusing Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, of trying to sway public opinion by selectively leaking private texts and legal documents. The dispute escalated over the weekend when Baldoni’s team launched a website publishing messages and exchanges with Lively — before, during and after filming It Ends With Us — which they claim prove the working relationship was professional and amicable.

Baldoni’s legal team maintains that sharing the texts is necessary to challenge what they call a one-sided narrative from Lively.

A trial is currently set for March 2026.

Justin Baldoni's legal team has followed through on its plan to release private messages amid his legal battle with Blake Lively.

Over the weekend, a website was launched featuring alleged text exchanges between Baldoni, Lively and her husband, co-defendant Ryan Reynolds, aiming to refute Lively’s claims. The site links to a 168-page document, filed in court as part of Baldoni’s amended complaint, which outlines a “timeline of relevant events” before and after the filming of It Ends With Us.

Baldoni’s team insists the release is intended to provide transparency, arguing that the messages prove his interactions with Lively were professional and collaborative — contradicting her claims that he fostered a hostile work environment.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds will seek to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against them.

Ahead of a Feb. 3 hearing, Judge Lewis Liman asked for a letter indicating in one sentence if they intend to make a motion to dismiss the case, Variety reports. The couple’s attorney, Michael J. Gottlieb, said in a response filed on Jan. 30 that “the Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint.”

Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, a defendant in Baldoni’s lawsuit, also indicated plans to file a motion to dismiss.

Both sides also agreed to consolidate the two federal lawsuits. Lively sued her It Ends With Us director and co-star in December, alleging sexual harassment on the set and a retaliatory press campaign against her when she reported it. Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios countersued for defamation in December. Baldoni also claimed Lively and Reynolds pressured their mutual talent agency, WME, to drop him as a client, which WME has denied.

Baldoni’s side also told the judge on Jan. 30 that they want to depose Lively as soon as possible but said Lively’s team indicated she’ll refuse to let his lead attorney, Bryan Freedman, conduct the deposition due to “unspecified statements” he made. One of Baldoni's attorneys, Kevin Fritz, said in a filing that Lively does “not have the right to dictate which of their opponents’ attorneys may or may not take their deposition.”

That issue is expected to be addressed on Feb. 3, along with arguments around whether Freedman made prejudicial comments in the press that could taint a jury pool, which Lively is claiming.

The trial is scheduled to take place in March 2026.

Blake Lively filed a petition in a Texas state court on Jan. 21 seeking to depose Jed Wallace, a public relations consultant linked to her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni, so he can provide testimony in the case.

Although Wallace is named in Lively’s initial Dec. 20 complaint to the California Civil Rights Department, he is not a defendant in her federal case, filed Dec. 31. In that lawsuit, Lively accuses Wallace, who described himself as a “hired gun” with a “proprietary formula for defining artists and trends,” of orchestrating a social media smear campaign against her, per the Hollywood Reporter.

Reportedly retained by Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios, Lively claims that Wallace used digital platforms like Reddit to seed content undermining Lively, while defending Baldoni. She further claims this content was strategically fed to reporters to create viral narratives, ultimately influencing public opinion and encouraging online attacks.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal teams filed back-to-back letters on Monday.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lively’s lawyers accused Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, of planning to launch a website releasing selectively curated texts, emails and video evidence, arguing that it could mislead the public and taint the jury pool.

In response, Freedman fired back by defending the website as a transparent way to counter “provably false information” allegedly shared with the New York Times by Lively’s team. (Baldoni is suing the newspaper for $250 million in a separate libel lawsuit.)

"We will not be selective, we will not cherry-pick and we will not doctor text messages," Freedman's letter said. "If they want to unethically gag the truth by threatening to wield their power in Hollywood, we will fight it every step of the way. We are not scared of them, we will not be silenced by them. Defending ourselves is not retaliation, it is a human right."

A pretrial hearing is set for Feb. 3, where both sides can address the issue. A trial is set for March 2026.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Justin Baldoni sues New York Times for $250M over Blake Lively story

Leaked text messages and a lengthy voice note published by the Daily Mail on Monday offer new insight into the behind-the-scenes tensions between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

The exchanges centered on a pivotal rooftop scene rewritten by Lively, who last year credited her husband, Ryan Reynolds, as the writer. Reports suggest Baldoni initially gave a lukewarm response to the changes, leaving Lively disappointed and prompting her to go silent for several days.

According to Baldoni's lawsuit, Baldoni felt obligated to send Lively a text, followed by a voice note, apologizing and praising her revisions, calling them "really good" and saying they would "make the movie sing."

Their exchanges are now part of Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against Lively.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are set to face off in court on March 9, 2026, following a court order issued by a New York federal judge, Lewis J. Liman, on Jan. 27.

Additionally, a pretrial conference originally scheduled for Feb. 12 has been moved to Feb. 3. It will address escalating tensions between both sides, including allegations from Lively’s legal team that Baldoni’s attorney is attempting to sway public opinion by threatening to release private texts between the two.

Lively’s team responded to Baldoni's threats by requesting a gag order, which would prevent Baldoni’s camp from using media tactics to influence the case.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were spotted with Lively's A Simple Favor 2 co-star Michele Morrone, marking the couple’s first public appearance since the news of their legal battle with Justin Baldoni broke in December.

In a post shared to Morrone's Instagram Stories on Sunday, the trio was seen sharing laughs during their New York City outing.

"Missed you guys! Love you!!" Morrone wrote alongside the image, which was later shared by Reynolds on his own Instagram.

Read more from People: Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds hang with Michele Morrone in their first joint sighting since Justin Baldoni legal battle

Attorneys for Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are pushing back against Justin Baldoni's legal team, who last week described their gag order request as "inflammatory" and "calamitous."

According to USA Today, the Lively-Reynolds legal team criticized Baldoni’s attorneys for engaging in what they called "extrajudicial conduct" by attacking Lively and Reynolds in the media.

"Making a complaint about sexual harassment and retaliation in a lawsuit, which is also a protected activity, is covered by the litigation privilege," the letter read. "On the other hand, relentlessly publicly attacking a plaintiff in a sexual harassment and retaliation case in the media and on social media is not a protected activity."

Lively's attorneys also denied that they'd ask for a gag order in the first place. "Requiring counsel to heed the ethical rules that bind them is not a gag order," they wrote. "It is a mechanism that would ensure the proceedings in this Court are not prejudiced by counsel’s conduct outside of the courtroom."

Justin Baldoni’s wife, Emily, made her first public statement about the It Ends With Us director since the legal battle with Blake Lively started in December.

“Happy birthday my love,” she posted to Instagram on Saturday, alongside a photo of the two kissing by the ocean while hugging and carrying their two kids Maiya, 9, and Maxwell, 7. “Celebrating the man, husband, and father that you are. I’d choose you again and again.”

Justin Baldoni called the request by Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for a gag order last week an "intimidation tactic."

In a letter filed on Jan. 23, Baldoni’s legal team called the request “inflammatory” and argued that their evidence, including leaked footage, is critical in its defense against Lively’s allegations of harassment and retaliation.

Baldoni’s team further stated in the letter that Lively's legal actions have been "calamitous" for Baldoni's public reputation.

Justin Baldoni’s legal team announced on Jan. 21 plans to launch a website to counter Lively’s allegations of behind-the-scenes misconduct.

Following the release of a video showing on-set interactions between Baldoni and Blake Lively — intended to refute claims made in Lively’s Dec. 20 sexual harassment complaint — Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman stated to People, “Justin Baldoni and team has nothing to hide, and this once more proves this.”

The statement also said, “This is what we will be continuing to show with the upcoming website containing all correspondence as well as relevant videos that quash her claims.”

Baldoni's attorneys did not say when they planned to launch the website.

Hollywood attorney and mediator Angela Reddock-Wright told Yahoo Entertainment that she was surprised there was no intimacy coordinator on set after seeing the raw footage that was released earlier this week.

"What is interesting is that no intimacy coordinators were present during this intimate dance scene — and according to Lively's lawyers — and should have been. They could have stepped in to see if Lively were comfortable and whether the scene followed the script," she told Yahoo.

The role of an intimacy coordinator on It Ends With Us is one of the many disputed allegations in Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively's dueling lawsuits. Baldoni claimed that the actress "refused to meet" with one ahead of production. However, Lively specifically requested an intimacy coordinator be involved for all intimate scenes as one of her "protections" for returning to the set after a contentious January 2024 meeting. Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios signed off on that request.

Read more from the Hollywood Reporter: An intimacy coordinator’s take on that awkward ‘It Ends With Us’ video

Taylor Swift was indirectly mentioned in Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and their PR team. Baldoni alleges that Reynolds, along with a “megacelebrity friend” believed to be Swift, pressured him to rewrite a pivotal rooftop scene in It Ends With Us.

The lawsuit further claims that Lively publicly credited Reynolds for the rewrite, sidelining Baldoni’s creative input. While Swift has not been named as a defendant, her possible involvement as a key influencer in the incident has drawn more attention to the case.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Taylor Swift dragged into Justin Baldoni's lawsuit against Blake Lively. Here's why.

One day after Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds filed a letter in court asking a judge to put a gag order in place to stop Baldoni’s lawyers from leaking damaging information to the press, legal experts are urging both parties to settle out of court.

“This entire episode is a case of he said, she said, and both actor and director stand to lose if things continue to escalate,” Hollywood attorney and mediator Angela Reddock-Wright told Yahoo Entertainment. “This entire matter needs to be settled instead of further getting out of hand.”

Meanwhile, defamation attorney Jeff Lewis expects them to go “a few rounds here in court” before they come close to a settlement.

“Is this going to settle in the first 15 minutes of the lawsuit or is it going to settle as many cases do on the courthouse steps right before a jury is sworn in,” he told Yahoo. “I think they're going to have to go a few rounds here in court — in terms of motions to dismiss, procedural motions — before these parties get real in terms of settlement.”

In response to leaked footage and threats of a website aimed at disproving Lively’s allegations, she and Reynolds filed a joint court letter on Jan. 21 requesting a gag order to prevent Baldoni’s legal team from engaging in what they called “improper conduct.”

According to E! News, the couple accused Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, of making “inflammatory written statements” and leaking “information” to the media.

Ryan Reynolds has been accused by Justin Baldoni of playing a central role in a campaign to damage the director’s reputation. In his lawsuit, Baldoni alleges that Reynolds acted as Lively’s representative during meetings with him and the film’s producers to negotiate production safeguards.

Additionally, Baldoni claims Reynolds exerted creative influence over the film, including rewriting a pivotal rooftop scene, which Lively later publicly credited to him. Baldoni argues that these actions, along with Reynolds’s involvement in alleged smear tactics orchestrated by Lively’s PR team, intentionally undermined his position and reputation.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Why is Justin Baldoni suing Ryan Reynolds along with Blake Lively?

An unedited clip, leaked by Justin Baldoni’s lawyers and published by the Daily Mail on Jan. 21, added a surprising twist to Blake Lively’s harassment allegations.

In her civil rights complaint, Lively claimed Baldoni dragged his lips down her neck during a silent dance scene. However, the leaked footage includes audio that seemingly challenges her account.

In the video, Baldoni is seen asking, “Am I getting beard on you?” and Lively jokingly replies, “I’m probably getting spray tan on you,” prompting laughter from both actors.

Baldoni then says, “It smells good,” prompting laughter. The clip also shows behind-the-scenes banter about lighting, choreography and their personal lives, painting a new picture of the interaction.

It's unclear when, but the book’s author deactivated her Instagram account amid the ongoing legal drama (though her X account still seems to be activated, for now).

The movie, based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel, was directed by Baldoni and hit theaters in August 2024. Hoover had previously shared a supportive Instagram Story after Blake Lively filed her complaint in December.

August 2024: Rumors of tension surface during the press tour for It Ends With Us, with Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni notably absent from joint promotional events. Critics call out Lively for her tone during interviews, while Baldoni faces allegations of creating an uncomfortable work environment.

Dec. 20, 2024: Lively files a sexual harassment complaint, alleging misconduct by Baldoni on the set and retaliation by his production company.

Dec. 21, 2024: The New York Times publishes an exposé detailing Lively's claims, prompting Baldoni to deny the allegations.

Dec. 31, 2024: Baldoni files a $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times, accusing the publication of biased reporting. Lively counters with a federal lawsuit, claiming Baldoni’s team engaged in smear tactics.

Jan. 16, 2025: Baldoni files a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Ryan Reynolds and their public relations team, alleging defamation, civil extortion and a coordinated campaign to damage Baldoni's reputation.

Jan. 21, 2025: Lively and Reynolds file a letter to a judge requesting a gag order against Baldoni's lawyer that would prevent Baldoni’s legal team from engaging in what the couple called “improper conduct” and leaking information to the press.

Feb. 3: Pretrial conference date for both sides to address the gag order in front of a judge.

March 9, 2026: Trial date.