Blake Lively's legal team returned to a New York court on Monday to demand legal fees and damages from her It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni, reigniting a legal battle that appeared to have been settled last month.
The 38-year-old actress's lawyers argued that the defamation lawsuit filed against her by Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, was a retaliatory move prohibited by California law. The exact amount being sought by Lively has not been disclosed.
Lively filed her first complaint against Baldoni in December 2024, alleging that he spoke inappropriately about his sex life and sought to alter the film to include sex scenes not in the script. She also claimed Baldoni orchestrated a PR and social media campaign to ruin her reputation.
Baldoni and Wayfarer countersued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for extortion and defamation, but a judge dismissed those claims last year. Federal judge Lewis Liman also dismissed some of Lively's claims but upheld her allegations of retaliation.
The full terms of the out-of-court settlement reached between the two parties have not been publicly disclosed. It Ends with Us, based on Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel, earned over $350 million at the box office in 2024.
