After 18 months of bare-knuckle brawling, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal saga ended with a whimper. The two sides settled their claims on Monday afternoon, exactly two weeks before Lively’s $400 million lawsuit against Baldoni was poised to hit a New York courtroom.
To be clear, there were no winners at the end of this fight unless you count the four high-priced attorneys — Bryan Freedman, Ellyn Garofalo, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson — who signed the joint statement released after the high-profile parties settled. And Lively and Baldoni certainly are leaving the fray with significantly lighter wallets. Sources tell Page Six Hollywood that the pair spent $60 million combined to sue and countersue one another. That’s a lot of money for what ended in a stalemate and potential career immolation. Reps for Lively and Baldoni did not respond to a request for comment.
Across the industry Monday, some top executives and producers with ties to the dispute were breathing a sigh of relief as they would no longer be required to testify in the case that was shaping up to be an even bigger media circus than the 2022 Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard defamation trial. “I was very scared of the backlash,” said one source who was scheduled to testify.
To put that $60 million figure into context, that could finance two additional sequels of the hit movie. In fact, “It Ends With Us” cost about $25 million and earned $351 million. Baldoni, who financed the domestic violence-themed film, held the rights to a prequel, also based on a best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover. But that film will likely never be made after the legal war between Baldoni and Lively.
Sources say neither side can discuss the terms of the settlement, but both are free to speak to the press about anything else involving the drama that tarnished the careers of both Lively and Baldoni.
The sheer volume of embarrassing exchanges and footage released since Lively filed the first complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department — which alleged she was sexually harassed on set by her director/co-star, and was then the victim of an alleged smear campaign — could fill a lower-rent Smithsonian. But that complaint, which morphed into a federal lawsuit against Baldoni, lost momentum over the ensuing 18 months, culminating with Judge Lewis Liman throwing out the sexual harassment claim in April.
Lively’s only path to victory in a courtroom rested on a smear campaign allegation that her side had dubbed “untraceable,” and Judge Liman was pressuring both sides to settle the matter and not waste the court’s time.
Now that the case is over, Lively and Baldoni will look to pick up the pieces of their respective careers. (Lively seemed unfazed as she posed for photos on the Met Gala red carpet hours after the settlement was announced). Folks across the industry, including top executives and agents, were weighing in with their opinions on who had done more damage to their career, and opinions were split this week.
“Justin doesn’t have enough value in the market to overcome the suspicion that he may have created an unsafe set. I’m not sure he could cast a movie right now,” one high-level female studio exec told us.
“Blake will have to take a break and take a cut on her first paycheck, but she’s still a movie star.”
Added another female executive: “They both did major damage, but because she’s so established I think she stands a chance of re-emerging better than he does. I would struggle to hire both of them, but I would gamble on her. There’s a pretty big downside for both of them, but the upside is bigger for her.”
Baldoni, who recently sold his house in Ojai and has since moved to Nashville with his family, has several advantages according to sources. He is now considered more of a director than an actor, and most people don’t pay attention or even care who’s the person behind the camera. His Wayfarer Studios can finance its own projects, and backed Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut “Eleanor the Great,” which was released last year without any circus surrounding his involvement as an executive producer (Johansson was previously married to Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, who also got hit in the Baldoni legal crossfire. Hollywood reporters had a field day once they got their hands on text messages in discovery showing the A-lister allegedly putting pressure on execs at Sony, which released “It Ends With Us.”)
Lively faces some challenges moving ahead: As a leading actor who has proven that she can open a film, her return might be more fraught as she’ll need to win support of a director, studio or financier. “I think she can be in some TV show,” said a male executive. “But she’s hurt the worst since he can finance his own movies.”
Another male manager said, “Most of Hollywood knows what’s up. Yeah, maybe he’s a weirdo, but he didn’t commit any crime. Blake did this to herself whether they will admit it or not.”
Hoover, for one, emerges from the drama unscathed — and not having to testify. Amazon MGM has extremely high hopes for the psychological thriller “Verity,” which opens on Oct. 2. That film, top-lined by Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, is based on another Hoover best seller.
Lively and Baldoni’s joint statement that ended the case read: “The end product — the movie ‘It Ends With Us’ — is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life. Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind. We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard. 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.”
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