It doesn\u2019t end here. <\/p>\n
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni\u2019s dramatic court battle \u2014 which culminated in\u00a0an anticlimactic settlement<\/a>\u00a0this week \u2014 not only racked up millions in legal fees but left a costly stain on both of their reputations.<\/p>\n The pair had sued and countersued each other to the tune of hundreds of millions over movie \u201cIt Ends With Us<\/a>,\u201d in which Lively, 38, starred opposite Baldoni, 42, who also directed.<\/p>\n Hours after the settlement, Lively was seen smiling, seemingly without a care in the world as she ascended the Met steps in an ostentatious\u00a0archival Versace gown<\/a>, no longer shackled by the court case that branded her as\u00a0persona non grata<\/a> in Hollywood\u00a0for the past two years.<\/p>\n Justin Baldoni (seen here at court in February 2026) and Blake Lively settled their legal war this week. Getty Images<\/p>\n They made the announcement just hours before Lively attended the Met Gala 2026 (seen above). Getty Images for The Met Museum\/Vogue<\/p>\n Page Six reviewed publicly filed court documents and confirmed there is no gag order or NDA preventing the parties from publicly discussing the dispute \u2014 and Baldoni plans to do just that.<\/p>\n \u201cJustin plans to tell the whole story,\u201d a source with knowledge exclusively told Page Six Friday, adding, \u201cThis has been important to him from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n While Lively dubbed the settlement\u00a0a \u201cresounding victory,\u201d\u00a0<\/a>a second source with knowledge told Page Six she \u201chasn\u2019t won.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe claims were dismissed, she came to [Baldoni\u2019s team] for a settlement. She voluntarily dismissed the remaining claims. She asked for $300 million but got zero,\u201d the second insider said.<\/p>\n The actors feuded on set of their 2024 film \u201cIt Ends With Us\u201d (pictured above). GC Images<\/p>\n Lively (seen here with Baldoni on set of the movie in 2024) accused the director of sexual harassment in December 2025. \u00a9Sony Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n Page Six confirmed Tuesday that\u00a0neither party earned any money<\/a>\u00a0in the settlement, and sources told Page Six Hollywood that they\u00a0spent a combined $60 million<\/a>\u00a0to sue each other.<\/p>\n The exact legal fees are not public record, though attorney Nicole Brenecki, who does not represent Baldoni or Lively, told Page Six combined costs for both sides most likely reached several million dollars \u2014 even without a full trial.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a case like this, the breakdown is not just traditional litigation expenses,\u201d Brenecki explained. \u201cYou are looking at outside counsel billing hourly rates that can exceed $1,500 per hour for top litigators, plus costs tied to discovery, forensic review of communications, strategy consultants, reputation management firms, and internal compliance reviews.\u201d<\/p>\n The attorney believes their fees could easily be anywhere from the low seven figures into the multi-million-dollar range.<\/p>\n Legal expert Bryan M. Sullivan, who is partner at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP, agreed with those estimates, telling Page Six, \u201cOver the course of a few years of prolonged litigation, those costs accumulate quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, even without a financial settlement, the legal fees themselves represent the primary economic impact of the case,\u201d Sullivan said.<\/p>\n A judge signed the agreement on Friday, but their court battle is far from over, as Lively is still pursuing legal action against Baldoni in the hopes that he will cover her steep legal fees, according to court documents obtained by Page Six. The filing also states that both parties agree they will not appeal the judge\u2019s decision on that specific request.<\/p>\n Baldoni (seen here on set with Lively in 2024) hit back with a countersuit. Christopher Peterson \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n He sued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, (seen here in April 2025) for defamation, extortion and orchestrating a smear campaign. GC Images<\/p>\n \u201cA settlement without a check is just a mutual agreement to stop bleeding in public,\u201d strategic advisor Robbie Vorhaus, who has not worked with Baldoni or Lively, told Page Six. \u201cI can tell you exactly what this is: a tactical retreat before the fire consumed the remaining brand equity of everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n By shelling out a substantial amount of money to their respective legal teams only to wave their white flags, Baldoni and Lively attempted to salvage their influence in the industry. And in a high-stakes crisis, buying silence can be the most valuable asset.<\/p>\n \u201cBy settling two weeks before the May 18 trial, they didn\u2019t save money; they saved their depositions from becoming public record,\u201d Vorhaus said. \u201cLively\u2019s appearance at the Met Gala the same day the news broke wasn\u2019t a coincidence; it was a choreographed signal that the national nightmare was over.\u201d<\/p>\n The controversy had begun when the \u201cGossip Girl\u201d actress and Baldoni co-starred in the 2024 film adaptation \u201cIt Ends With Us,\u201d Colleen Hoover\u2019s best-selling novel, which centers on themes of domestic violence.<\/p>\n Despite the gravity of the subject matter, a PR circus erupted during the film\u2019s 2024 summer premiere amid rumors Baldoni \u2014 who also directed the project \u2014 and Lively\u00a0had clashed on set.<\/a><\/p>\n Lively then\u00a0sued Baldoni<\/a>\u00a0in December 2024 for sexual harassment and retaliation, among other claims. The \u201cJane the Virgin\u201d star hit back with a\u00a0$400 million countersuit<\/a>, accusing Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of defamation, extortion and orchestrating a smear campaign to destroy his reputation.<\/p>\n Lively attended the Met Gala on Monday (pictured) after she and Baldoni confirmed they settled their court battle. Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for The Met Museum\/Vogue<\/p>\n The actress (seen here at the Met Gala 2026) walked the red carpet in a Versace gown. GC Images<\/p>\n The heated legal feud exposed private texts \u2014 with some messages showing Lively allegedly\u00a0leveraging her friendship with Taylor Swift\u00a0<\/a>as a power play \u2014 and continued to rage on for more than a year before\u00a0Baldoni\u2019s countersuit was tossed\u00a0<\/a>in June 2025.<\/p>\n However, the director did win a victory last month when the judge\u00a0threw out 10 of Lively\u2019s 13 allegations<\/a>\u00a0against him, including sexual harassment, conspiracy and defamation.<\/p>\n Vorhaus believes Lively traded her chances at a courtroom victory for being \u201cthe girl in the gold dress again\u201d with the settlement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lesson here is cold \u2014 you don\u2019t win a crisis by proving you\u2019re right; you win by making the alternative too expensive for everyone to keep talking,\u201d Vorhaus said. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t a resolution of truth. It was a successful extraction.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are betting that the public\u2019s memory is shorter than their legal bills,\u201d he continued, adding, \u201cUsually, they\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n As for whether Baldoni can bounce back from Lively\u2019s accusations, Vorhaus believes he\u2019ll have hope pursuing producing and directing.<\/p>\n Lively faced backlash for hawking her haircare line while promoting their movie (pictured), which centers on themes of domestic violence. @blakebrownbeauty\/Instagram<\/p>\n Her brands like Betty Buzz (seen in a promotional photo above) have struggled since she took on Baldoni in court. Betty Buzz<\/p>\n \u201cBaldoni has always had more leverage behind the camera than in front of it. He can continue developing and producing through Wayfarer, where he controls both equity and creative,\u201d Vorhaus said, adding, \u201cThe question for him isn\u2019t survival \u2014 it\u2019s relevance.\u201d<\/p>\n The brand expert believes a respectable project could put him back on the map.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he gets ahead of this with a credible project, a measured public reentry, and some restraint, there\u2019s a version of this story where he becomes the filmmaker who fought back and survived it,\u201d he said. \u201cHollywood loves a second act when the protagonist shows some grace.\u201d<\/p>\n Crisis communications maven John Kwatakye-Atiko told Page Six that Baldoni\u2019s career will \u201cabsolutely\u201d recover.<\/p>\n \u201cOutside of the financial outcome, Baldoni is the real winner of this lawsuit,\u201d Kwatakye-Atiko said. \u201cDue to excessive and over-defending by one of the largest PR and legal Hollywood power couples, Baldoni ended a slow-burn PR stunt.\u201d<\/p>\n With Baldoni\u2019s Wayfarer Studios still in operation, the actor is free to continue working behind the scenes in film.<\/p>\n Last year, Baldoni\u2019s studio notably produced the Scarlett Johansson-directed movie \u201cEleanor the Great,\u201d starring June Squibb\u00a0\u2014 proving he still has the backing of some in Hollywood, despite the legal feud.<\/p>\n Baldoni (seen here at court in February 2026) is planning on telling his story, a source told Page Six. Getty Images<\/p>\n The \u201cJane the Virgin\u201d star (seen here at court in February 2026) will most likely continue to produce movies behind the scenes, a brand expert shared. Getty Images<\/p>\n Lively\u2019s path to a Hollywood revival is far less straightforward.<\/p>\n \u201cHer situation is more complicated \u2014 and potentially more damaging \u2014 because her value was never just acting,\u201d Vorhaus said. \u201cIt was the entire ecosystem: relatability, wit, the aspirational marriage, the brands, the image. That ecosystem depends on audience affinity, and affinity is precisely what eroded here.\u201d<\/p>\n Lively\u2019s beverage brand, Betty Buzz, and haircare line already suffered massive losses from her poorly conducted press tour, Kwatakye-Atiko claimed, causing Lively to \u201csuffer from a massive loss of consumer confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRebuilding her charm will take a multi-year, massive, and highly sanitized PR cleanse,\u201d he believes.<\/p>\n A male executive previously told Page Six Hollywood that Lively may be able to return to her television roots.<\/p>\n \u201cI think she can be in some TV show,\u201d the exec said. \u201cBut she\u2019s hurt the worst since he can finance his own movies.\u201d<\/p>\n Though a high-power female studio exec believes Lively is \u201cstill a movie star,\u201d she added, \u201cBlake will have to take a break and take a cut on her first paycheck.<\/p>\n While the settlement took the fight out of a public forum, their careers still linger in the court of public opinion.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Hollywood may want to continue to work with [Lively], it\u2019s the fans who will make that decision,\u201d a source exclusively told Page Six.<\/p>\n Lively (seen here at court in February 2026) claimed that she saw the settlement as a \u201cvictory.\u201d Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n Neither the \u201cGossip Girl\u201d star (seen here at court in February 2026) or Baldoni earned any money in the settlement. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tWant more celebrity and pop culture news?\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with Page Six Daily.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cHollywood forgives controversy all the time. What it struggles to forgive is complication. And what lingers from this isn\u2019t the lawsuit itself \u2014 it\u2019s the impression each of them left while fighting it,\u201d Vorhaus said.<\/p>\n The legal dispute not only came at a financial and reputational cost but also took a toll on their personal relationships.<\/p>\n Lively is rumored to have had a falling out with Swift after the singer was dragged into the lawsuit.<\/p>\n As Page Six previously reported, Baldoni\u2019s legal team sought access to\u00a0private communications between Lively and Swift,\u00a0<\/a>and the 14-time Grammy winner was even\u00a0subpoenaed as a witness.<\/a><\/p>\n A source exclusively told Page Six last year that Swift\u00a0felt \u201cused\u201d<\/a>\u00a0by Lively throughout the drama, with another source claiming their friendship\u00a0is beyond repair.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cShe will forever be furious at how Blake quite clearly was using her for clout and leverage in her dealings with Justin. She really hates that Blake would even think like that, let alone write the things she did in that text,\u201d the source told us at the time.<\/p>\n Last October, a third source claimed that the former friends have\u00a0had \u201cno contact\u201d\u00a0<\/a>since the dispute began a year prior.<\/p>\n Sources previously told Page Six that Lively and Taylor Swift (pictured here in 2024) have grown distant due to the legal feud. GC Images<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear if Lively and Swift (seen here in 2024) are still close friends due to the litigation. GC Images<\/p>\n