Hollywood actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are still locked in a major legal battle tied to their work on the film It Ends With Us. Lively is now fighting a request from Baldoni’s legal team to dismiss her $160 million lawsuit before the case reaches trial.
Baldoni recently asked a court to grant summary judgment. This means he wants the judge to end the case early without a jury trial. His lawyers argue that Lively cannot prove that the alleged behavior happened because of her gender, which is required for sexual harassment claims.
Lively’s legal team strongly disagrees. In a new filing, her lawyers said the case should be decided by a jury after reviewing all the evidence gathered during discovery. They argue that the full record shows enough information for the lawsuit to move forward.
The dispute comes from their time working together on the 2024 film adaptation of the popular novel It Ends With Us. Lively claims Baldoni behaved in ways she describes as invasive and unprofessional while they were filming.
Her lawsuit includes allegations of unwanted physical contact and claims that Baldoni entered her makeup trailer without permission while she was undressed. Lively also alleges that he later hired crisis PR experts to damage her public reputation.
The complaint also accuses Baldoni and his company, Wayfarer Studios, of retaliating against her after she raised concerns about safety and workplace conduct on set.
The case has already seen several major developments. In June 2025, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and The New York Times.
Both sides also attended a six-hour court-ordered mediation session in February with Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave, but they failed to reach a settlement. If the case is not dismissed, a jury trial is currently scheduled to begin on May 18, 2026, in federal court in New York.
