The legal fight between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni looked like it was finished. The two stars reached a settlement in early May 2026. But the courtroom drama is not over yet.
On Monday, June 1, 2026, Lively’s lawyers were back in front of a New York federal judge. They are asking the court to make Baldoni pay her legal bills and additional damages. This comes just weeks after both sides said they had resolved their differences related to their movie, It Ends With Us.
Trigger Warning: This article discusses allegations of workplace s*xual harassment.
Why They Are Back in Court After the Settlement
Lively’s legal team argues that she deserves money under a specific California law. This law is designed to protect people who report s*xual harassment. It allows judges to punish those who file unsuccessful retaliatory lawsuits against the accuser.
The actress claims that Baldoni’s countersuit—which accused her of defamation and extortion—was exactly that type of revenge tactic. A judge already threw out Baldoni’s countersuit last year. Because that case failed, Lively wants Baldoni to cover the costs she spent fighting it.
“Reopening this for basically what is an alternative trial would involve reopening discovery, new experts, new expert depositions,” said Ellyn Garofalo, Baldoni’s lawyer.
Baldoni’s legal team is fighting back hard. They called Lively’s request “an end run” around the jury trial that was canceled when they settled. Garofalo told U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman that Baldoni did not pay “a cent of the $300 million in damages she was demanding” in the settlement.
A Quick Recap of the It Ends With Us Legal War
The conflict started in 2024, right before the movie came out. Lively accused Baldoni, who was both her co-star and the director, of inappropriate behavior. She claimed he made comments about her appearance, violated physical boundaries during a love scene, and pushed for nudity against her wishes.
Baldoni denied everything. He said Lively made up the complaints to take creative control of the film. He then sued her, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist for defamation and extortion.
The case had many ups and downs. A judge dismissed Lively’s s*xual harassment claims, ruling she was an independent contractor, not an employee. However, the judge kept her retaliation claims alive. Just days before a trial was set to start on May 18, the two sides agreed to settle.
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What Happens Next in the Court Battle
Neither Blake Lively nor Justin Baldoni were in the courtroom on Monday. Judge Liman listened to arguments for more than an hour but did not make an immediate decision.
We do not know exactly how much money Lively is asking for. However, legal experts say the amount could be very high given the long and expensive legal fight. Reports suggest the two sides spent a combined $60 million on lawyers over 18 months.
Despite the settlement, the judge must now decide if the California law applies to this case. If he says yes, Baldoni could face heavy financial penalties.
It Ends With Us, based on Colleen Hoover’s novel, was a massive hit. It made over $350 million at the box office worldwide. But the fight between its two stars continues to make news, long after the movie left theaters.
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