The legal battle following the 2024 film It Ends With Us has escalated into a high-stakes financial showdown. Blake Lively has filed a court memorandum claiming a staggering $64 million in lost income, alleging that co-star and director Justin Baldoni orchestrated a “smear campaign” to sabotage her career.
According to Page Six, the 38-year-old actress argues that Baldoni’s team intentionally fueled negative public narratives to distract from harassment allegations she raised during the film’s production.
The Anatomy of a “Smear Campaign”
Lively’s legal team alleges that Baldoni’s PR strategy involved weaponizing specific digital labels to damage her reputation. The filing provides a detailed breakdown of the financial fallout:
Weaponized Keywords: Terms like “tone-deaf,” “bully,” and “mean girl” allegedly generated over 176 million negative impressions.
Media Valuation: Lively’s camp values the damage from this targeted narrative between $36.5 million and $40.5 million.
Retaliatory Statements: The filing further claims that public comments made by Baldoni’s attorney led to an additional loss of 116 million impressions, valued at $24.3 million.
A Significant Legal Hurdle
Despite the massive damages claim, Lively’s case recently faced a major setback. In early April 2026, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed 10 of Lively’s 13 claims, including sexual harassment, defamation, and conspiracy.
The court ruled that Lively was an independent contractor rather than an employee, a legal distinction that disqualified her from certain workplace harassment protections. The case will now proceed only on the grounds of retaliation, aiding and abetting retaliation, and breach of contract.
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The “Trial of the Year” Begins in May
The dispute has become one of Hollywood’s most scrutinized workplace misconduct cases since it began in December 2024. Settlement attempts have reportedly failed, including a tense six-hour session in February where the two stars refused to be in the same room.
The civil trial is scheduled to begin on May 18, 2026, in New York federal court. With a witness list that reportedly includes Taylor Swift, Ryan Reynolds, and Hugh Jackman, the trial is expected to be a massive media event.