Justin Baldoni ‘Ecstatic’ After Blake Lively Settlement

Justin Baldoni is walking away from his legal war with Blake Lively with a smile on his face — literally. The It Ends With Us director and his wife Emily were spotted hand-in-hand at the Little Rad Market in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday, just two days after the surprise settlement was announced — Baldoni’s first public appearance since the news broke. He was grinning, wearing a tan cardigan over a white tank top, matching baseball caps and light-wash jeans with his wife. The couple, who bought a $3.4 million Nashville property last summer after listing their Ojai, California home for $8.9 million, looked relaxed. Unbothered, even.

His lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has been even less subtle about how Team Baldoni feels. “I can’t talk about the terms of the settlement, but what I can tell you is that he is ecstatic,” Freedman told Extra. “Both Jamie and Justin are ecstatic at the results of this and the settlement itself. They are very pleased with where this ended up.”

On TMZ Live, Freedman went further, calling the outcome “a huge victory” and insisting his client technically never lost a thing. “Justin Baldoni didn’t settle a case, technically, if you think about it,” he said. “Justin Baldoni won the case on summary judgment. He was accused of sexual harassment. Those were claims that you cannot settle, that you have to go all the way, or his career is over. So you want to talk about if this is a victory or not — it’s a huge victory.”

How It All Fell Apart — and Came Together

The saga started in December 2024 when Lively filed a lawsuit accusing Baldoni — her co-star and director on the 2024 romantic drama — of sexual harassment on set and orchestrating a smear campaign against her through his Wayfarer Studios production company. She alleged the campaign had cost her up to $300 million in lost earnings and damaged her reputation, including her alcohol brand Betty Booze. Internal emails later unsealed as part of the case showed real consequences: a Kroger VP reportedly told Betty Booze reps there was “a negative taste in Kroger’s mouth” following Lively’s press tour, and a Princess Cruises executive texted that their “legal ethics and compliance committee” was “spooked” by the headlines.

Baldoni denied every allegation and countersued in January 2025, filing a $400 million defamation suit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloane. He also separately sued the New York Times for defamation over its initial reporting. Both of those suits were dismissed — the countersuit against Lively in June 2025, the NYT case not long after.

Then, in April, the case against Baldoni took a major turn. Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of Lively’s 13 claims — including all allegations of sexual harassment, defamation, and conspiracy. The judge ruled that Lively had been working as an independent contractor rather than an employee, which meant she couldn’t bring harassment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Only three claims survived to trial: breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retaliation. Lively posted on Instagram at the time that she was “grateful” the remaining claims would go before a jury. Two weeks later, there was no jury. There was a settlement.

“Ten of the 13 claims were gone as a result of the summary judgment motion. Five individuals were out of the case,” Freedman explained to Extra. “You were left with a case that was really Blake Lively versus It Ends with Us, the movie LLC, the agency group and Wayfarer Studios — so it was a very different case at the point in time that we had those settlement discussions than ever was before.”

He also made clear that by the time settlement talks began, Baldoni himself wasn’t even technically a party to the case anymore. “Justin Baldoni is not a party, and that’s what gets forgotten a lot,” Freedman said. “If you’re looking at this settlement as a win or a loss or anything else, I think he just looks at it as a logical ending to a case that he was already out of.”

No Money, No Apology — and $60 Million in Legal Bills

According to multiple sources, Lively received zero compensation in the settlement. No money changed hands. And the joint statement released by both sides’ attorneys — Bryan Freedman, Ellyn Garofalo, Michael Gottlieb, and Esra Hudson — contained no apology from Baldoni whatsoever.

“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,” the statement read. “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.”

Carefully worded. Notably free of any admission of wrongdoing.

Lively had reportedly brought in powerhouse litigation firm Susman Godfrey — known for securing a $425 million verdict against Google — in a final push before trial. It didn’t change the outcome. According to Page Six, both parties spent a combined $60 million on legal fees throughout the entire battle. The only people who clearly came out ahead financially were the lawyers themselves.

Legal experts who spoke to People didn’t mince words about the cost. “Millions,” said New York-based attorney Richard Schoenstein. “The combined legal expense is in the multiple millions. There are around 1,500 docket entries, countless lawyers on both sides, and these are high-priced firms billing well over $1,000 an hour.” Attorney Megan Thomas, founder of Megan Thomas Law, called it “an obscene amount.”

Both experts agreed the math simply didn’t add up for going to trial. “The case had been reduced — his counterclaims were dismissed, and her claims were substantially narrowed,” Schoenstein told People. “There wasn’t enough to gain from going to trial given the cost, which would have been extremely high, in the millions. There’s also the potential adverse PR impact of a trial, and all the evidence that would come out.” Thomas added that for two wealthy public figures, reputation likely mattered far more than any financial payout anyway.

One source close to the settlement told Page Six it was ultimately a last-minute push from the court itself: “The magistrate and the judge wanted to avoid this going to trial as it was going to be a long, drawn-out case, so they were encouraged to reach an agreement.” Mediation had actually begun as far back as February, but both sides left that session without a deal. This time, it stuck.

Reports from Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice Substack also claimed that Ryan Reynolds had been quietly pushing Lively to settle for some time, seeing the reputational toll before she did. According to those sources, “the realization hit her all at once. She had already lost too much — professionally, personally, publicly. The one thing she refused to lose was her marriage.” Lively’s team has not commented on those claims.

Blake Showed Up to the Met Gala Hours Later

Whatever her feelings about the outcome, Lively wasn’t hiding. Just hours after the settlement was announced, she walked the 2026 Met Gala red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in an archival Atelier Versace gown from the Spring 2006 collection — pastel, structured, and unmistakably intentional. It was her first Met appearance since 2022.

She told Vogue the dress choice was deeply personal. “The gown is the color of both a sunrise and a sunset, representing so much beauty, warmth and the many layers and nuances in the closing of one day and the beginning of another,” she said. “Honoring the cycles of life and time in the most beautiful way.” Donatella Versace called her “stunning.” A source confirmed to Us Weekly that Lively was formally invited to the gala as a guest of Anna Wintour — not, as some social media rumors suggested, a paying attendee.

It’s Not Completely Over Yet

Despite the settlement, there’s still one loose thread. Lively has a pending motion seeking attorney’s fees and damages connected to Baldoni’s now-dismissed $400 million countersuit against her. She filed the motion under California’s Protecting Survivors from Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits Act — a 2023 law designed to shield sexual abuse accusers from retaliatory legal claims. Judge Liman dismissed Baldoni’s countersuit but didn’t rule on whether the California law applied, and invited Lively to renew the motion, which she did in September 2025. Baldoni’s team opposed it in October, arguing both that it violated his constitutional right to petition the courts and that the California law shouldn’t apply since most of the alleged conduct occurred in New York and New Jersey. A judge has yet to rule.

“Anyone purporting to confirm the terms of the confidential settlement at this point is misleading you,” a source told Variety. “More information about this confidential settlement will be on the court’s docket in the coming days.”

As for what comes next for Baldoni personally, Freedman offered a glimpse of his client’s mindset. “Justin wants to help people who have suffered similar experiences — when they felt like they were accused of something they did not do, and went and fought all the way and won in summary judgment,” he said. “I think what Justin wants to do is to help other people and to be a leader for helping other people in that way.”

One Hollywood insider offered a blunter read of where both stars stand in the industry right now. “I would struggle to hire both of them, but I would gamble on her,” the source told Page Six. “There’s a pretty big downside for both of them, but the upside is bigger for her.”

It Ends With Us is currently streaming on Netflix. If you or someone you know needs support, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233.