NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The bitter public feud between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni may outlive their court fight after all.
Three days after announcing a settlement of the lawsuit brought by Lively over the 2024 film 鈥淚t Ends With Us,鈥� her lawyers put out a statement Thursday calling the deal a 鈥渞esounding victory.鈥�
鈥淏y agreeing to this settlement, and waiving their right to appeal, Justin Baldoni and every individual defendant now face personal liability for abusing the legal system to silence and intimidate Ms. Lively,鈥� attorneys Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson said.
They were alluding to the tens of millions of dollars in legal fees and penalties that a judge could make the defendants pay for costs incurred by Lively when Baldoni filed a countersuit that was ultimately tossed out by U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman last June. That complaint accused Lively, her husband 鈥� 鈥淒eadpool鈥� actor Ryan Reynolds 鈥� and their publicist of defamation and extortion.
In newly filed legal papers, Lively鈥檚 lawyers said the law requires 鈥渟evere and mandatory penalties against any party who files unsuccessful retaliatory defamation actions against sexual harassment and retaliation complainants.鈥�
They also said that by recognizing in a statement issued by both sides Monday that Lively’s concerns 鈥渄eserved to be heard,鈥� Baldoni and the other defendants 鈥渉ave ended once and for all the fiction that Ms. Lively 鈥榝abricated鈥� claims of sexual harassment and retaliation.鈥�
Her aim was always to 鈥渆xpose and hold accountable those who weaponize smear campaigns and retaliatory lawsuits to intimidate and silence survivors,鈥� the attorneys said. 鈥淭hat mission continues.鈥�
Attorney Bryan Freedman countered that the Baldoni camp considers it 鈥渁 win and total victory.鈥�
Freedman said the court already threw out 10 of Lively’s 13 claims and she 鈥渧oluntarily dismissed the rest.鈥�
鈥淚n our view, they settled because they knew they were going to lose in court,鈥� Freedman said. 鈥淎ll that remains is a pending request for fees based on a very narrow issue that has been with the court since September 2025.鈥�
against Baldoni and his production company, filed in December 2024, alleged that she and other women were subjected to sexual harassment on the movie set when Baldoni commented on their bodies and discussed personal sexual experiences and pornography.
The sexual harassment claims were recently thrown out by Liman, but he left some retaliation claims intact for a trial. The judge concluded that Lively could not assert sexual harassment because she was an independent contractor rather than an employee during the filming.
The settlement of the remaining claims, announced Monday, was formally entered into the court record Thursday. The terms were not disclosed.
鈥淚t Ends With Us鈥� is an adaptation of that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence. It with a $50 million debut, but the release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.
Lively previously appeared in the 2005 film 鈥淭he Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants鈥� and the TV series 鈥淕ossip Girl鈥� from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including 鈥淭he Town鈥� and 鈥淭he Shallows.鈥�
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy 鈥� ,鈥� directed the 2019 film 鈥淔ive Feet Apart鈥� and wrote 鈥淢an Enough,鈥� a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.
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