Does it end with this? Justin Baldoni's lawyer publishes settlement with Blake Lively
Justin Baldoni's lawyer is hoping both Baldoni and Blake Lively can "move on" from their contentious "It Ends With Us" legal battle.
Days after U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ordered that Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios must pay Lively's attorneys' fees, Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman said he decided to release the full settlement agreement with Lively to provide clarity.
According to the settlement agreement, it ends the parties' litigation, bars future claims related to the dispute and includes a joint public statement, while leaving Lively's request for attorneys' fees and damages under section 47.1 for the court to decide.
Freedman, who spoke with Megyn Kelly on "The Megyn Kelly Show" on Monday, said that he's publishing the settlement agreement "to allow people finality," he said.
He went on, "To allow them to have peace. To allow Justin to have time with his family, unmitigated time where his mind is elsewhere. To allow him to continue moving on with his career."
"And frankly and honestly, the same for Ms. Lively," Freedman continued. "To allow her the dignity to move on with her life and put this all behind everyone, and frankly you know, I don't know if people are getting tired of it -- I imagine that they are and it's time to move on and it's time to learn from it all and I'm sure people would have made other choices had they considered this in hindsight.
Freedman added, "But the truth is, when you settle, you should settle. Wish the other party the best and move on."
ABC News has reached out to representatives for Lively.
Lively and Baldoni's legal battle kicked off in December 2024, when Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department alleging "severe emotional distress" after she said Baldoni and key stakeholders in the film -- which Baldoni also directed -- sexually harassed her and attempted, along with Baldoni's production company, to orchestrate a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni followed up the action by filing a lawsuit against the New York Times for libel and false light invasion of privacy on Dec. 31 after it published the article about Lively's California complaint.
Lively subsequently formalized her complaint into a lawsuit against Baldoni in New York, also on Dec. 31.
Baldoni responded by filing a civil lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and others, for, among other things, extortion and defamation.
The suits were consolidated into one lawsuit in January 2025.
In June last year, Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, and the couple's publicist Leslie Sloane, as well as Baldoni's defamation suit against the Times, was dismissed by Liman.
A federal judge in New York gutted much of Lively's case against Baldoni in April of this year, including claims she was subjected to sexual harassment on set.
The judge determined in a ruling at the time that Lively would be allowed to pursue certain claims of retaliation against Baldoni's public relations team over alleged harm to her reputation.
In May, after reaching a settlement in their protracted legal dispute, the two actors issued a joint statement via their respective legal teams, saying, "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."
