Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's ongoing legal feud has been widely covered in recent months, as the two actors have launched legal cases against one another following the release of It Ends With Us. The actors have filed cases pertaining to their experiences both on set and in the aftermath of the release, and now New York Federal Judge Lewis J. Liman has set a trial date for them should their case get that far. According to Sky News, the date in question will be in March 2026.
It Ends With Us was the catalyst for the fallout. Fans noticed early signs of trouble between Blake, who starred as Lily Bloom, and Justin, who directed and also starred as her on-screen love interest Ryle Kincaid. When the press tour started last summer, they noticeably kept their distance and did not give any interviews together. During junket interviews, Justin remained alone while Blake was often paired with some of her other costars. Rumours of a feud escalated when Justin wasn't pictured with any other cast members at the film's premiere in August, as noted by Entertainment Weekly.
Blake faced an onslaught of criticism at the time, and in December 2024 she filed a legal complaint against Justin, accusing him - and other members of the film crew - of sexual harassment. She also accused him of trying to damage her reputation via a team of crisis publicists he had hired. Justin has refuted all claims against him.
Soon afterwards, The New York Times published an investigation into the film, which included snippets of text conversations between Justin and his publicists alluding to a strategic smear campaign against Blake. But Justin soon retaliated, filing his own lawsuit against Blake, accusing her of attempting to smear his reputation. Justin and his legal team have also released footage and other pieces of evidence they allege disproves some of the claims made by Blake.
In response to this, the Gossip Girl actress's lawyers said: "The endless stream of defamatory and extrajudicial media statements must end."
Justin's lawyer responded that their camp would 'respect the court' but added: "All we want is for people to see the actual text messages that directly contradict her allegations, video footage that clearly shows there was no sexual harassment and all the other powerful evidence that directly contradicts any false allegations."
More as this story develops.
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