Blake Lively has settled her legal claims against Justin Baldoni’s production company, the actors announced in a joint statement on Monday, after she had accused him of unleashing an online retaliation campaign against her.
The settlement was announced as the actors’ legal teams were gearing up for a contentious and high-profile trial scheduled to start on May 18 in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
The actors have been warring for more than two years, since they co-starred on the 2024 movie “It Ends With Us,” which started as a friendly collaboration but devolved into accusations of sexual harassment and a viral Hollywood legal fight.
The joint statement, released by the actors’ lawyers, came abruptly, with no hint of settlement talks during a hearing last week. It did not disclose the terms of the settlement.
“We acknowledge the process presented challenges,” the statement said of the film’s development, “and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard.”
It went on: “We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments. It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online.”
Ms. Lively’s lawyers have argued that starting in 2023, individuals hired by Mr. Baldoni and his company used strategic interactions with the news media and manipulation on social media to impugn Ms. Lively’s character and discredit any allegations that might emerge about Mr. Baldoni’s behavior on the set of the movie.
Mr. Baldoni vehemently denied sexually harassing Ms. Lively, and his team has maintained throughout the dispute that there was never any smear campaign. Rather, his lawyers have said, the actor hired crisis public relations professionals to protect him as he increasingly began to fear that false allegations would be made public.
A judge had dismissed Ms. Lively’s sexual harassment claims but allowed her retaliation claim to be brought in front of a jury.