A few hours before the Met Gala, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s lawyers released a joint statement, announcing that they had agreed to a settlement in the long-running lawsuit and countersuit. Then, soon after the joint statement was released, Blake walked the Met Gala carpet solo. TMZ reports that Blake had always planned to attend the gala and that she was invited personally by Anna Wintour. As in, regardless of the scheduled trial, regardless of the settlement, Blake was always going to the gala. Blake’s team also pushed an exclusive to People Magazine where “sources” claimed that Blake sat at Anna Wintour’s table and Blake talked to people “fearlessly.” Sure. Getting back to this settlement issue, sources told TMZ that no money exchanged hands, except for the millions in legal bills.
Blake Lively went in like a lion when she sued Justin Baldoni, but she went out like a lamb … because TMZ has learned she got no money in the settlement.
Sources with knowledge tell TMZ … there was a lot of behind-the-scenes drama in the Lively camp in the days before a settlement was reached. We’re told Blake brought in a new law firm — Sussman Godfrey. The firm is a litigation powerhouse … among their legal victories — a $425 million verdict against Google, a $1.6 billion judgment against the Baha Mar casino resort, and a $1.5 billion in an A.I. copyright settlement.
It would seem the point of bringing the firm in would be to litigate the case, but the opposite happened. The settlement statement did not even include an apology from Justin.
Things were not going Blake’s way, especially after the judge all but gutted the claims she was making against Justin.
The winners, as you know — lawyers on both sides, who clearly made MILLIONS from the protracted case. We predicted a settlement, because Blake and Justin would have been grilled like cheeseburgers on cross-examination and it could have been the end of their careers.
Yeah, no apology from Baldoni, but notably, no apology from Lively either. The fact that there was no financial settlement… well, I know why both sides just wanted to end the drama and try to salvage whatever is left of their careers. But I sort of wish some of these issues had been worked out in a trial. It would have been a watershed moment for Hollywood and a situation where some powerful people were challenged in a major way. But now it’s just an exercise in brand-management and salvaging reputations.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- Celebrities arrive at the 2026 Met Gala Celebrating ‘Costume Art’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City Featuring: Blake Lively Where: New York City, New York, United States When: 04 May 2026 Credit: TheStewartOfNY/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities arrive at the 2026 Met Gala Celebrating ‘Costume Art’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City Featuring: Blake Lively Where: New York City, New York, United States When: 04 May 2026 Credit: TheStewartOfNY/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities arrive at the 2026 Met Gala Celebrating ‘Costume Art’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City Featuring: Blake Lively Where: New York City, New York, United States When: 04 May 2026 Credit: TheStewartOfNY/INSTARimages
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- Blake Lively Arrives at the Met Gala in New York Today Featuring: Blake Lively Where: New York City, New York, United States When: 05 May 2026 Credit: Elder Ordonez/INSTARimages
Let’s just stop discussing this. If you believe Blake, go watch her stuff. If you believe Justin, support him. We are not in an era of getting justice, and you won’t get any closure or see someone get their comeuppance.
It’s going to be fun watching all those social media accounts that made their name and money off of this case figure out how to pivot now that it’s over.
So basically, they both agreed to STFU.
A good day to be their lawyers I guess.
Sounds like it worked out well for their lawyers.
I believe she was always supposed to be at the Met Gala since that is micromanaged months before (you don’t just toss on those clothes). But the optics were certainly interesting.
Whatever, I’ve really never watched either of their work, I don’t know why I’m commenting. Moving on! 🙄
Genuine question: what does it mean when a case is settled but there’s no financial settlement, no apologies exchanged etc? Because that sounds to me like a case being dropped. I don’t understand the distinction.
the distinction is that Blake did not withdraw her claims (I’m not sure if she could have at this point, there are some specific rules about it). If she had withdrawn her claims the case would have been dismissed or “dropped.” I think the case will still technically be a dismissal but that’s a nuance of civil procedure. By “settling” the lawyers were able to agree upon a statement to put out. Had she just withdrawn her claims, there would have been no leverage to force a joint statement. But again there’s some nuance there and some here may know the distinction in NY law.
Some on social media are saying that Wayfarer was the one begging for the settlement and that Blake had all the leverage, but I dont think that’s the case. If it were, she would have gotten a stronger statement. My guess is both sides decided that a trial would just be super messy for all involved and no one would come out the winner, and it would probably be very expensive.
I didn’t really pay attention to this, but this was probably the best case scenario for both of them. Because neither really come out looking great. And you can acknowledge that. It doesn’t discount real issues experienced by anyone in these situations, or power dynamics to admit that.
Reputational management is the best thing for both of them now, so I’m not mad at the People article. He is seen as a creep by some people and she seen as high risk and high maintenance by some, they both need to ( want to) work in the future, so it is what it is.
I found this case so uniquely depressing because it encapsulated *so many* of the crossed wires and countered narratives that gender politics thrives on. Where both sides believe they are the injured party, and both hit below the belt instead of insisting on boundaries that are acknowledged by all. It’s just what happens when people feel they’ve been treated with disrespect, so respond in kind. Was he amateurish? Yeah. Did he cross lines into unprofessional terrain? Yeah. Was the subject matter fraught? Yeah. Was she actively scheming to seize control of the editing / directing / writing? Yeah. Which muddies the waters. It’s a power move. But what bugs me is that *all* of the women who had issues with this production all agreed amongst themselves that it was just amateur hour, and they seem to have banded together to save the situation. But that gets labelled as power hungry.
Blake Lively was the plaintiff. She was suing the defendants for hundreds of millions of dollars. She spent millions upon millions to bring this lawsuit. The fact that she settled, i.e., dropped the case, means she lost the case. She brought on new big guns to her team just last week to try the case. There was another drop of documents last Friday. Also, important hearings were coming up later this week.
The fact that she walked away with zero means all of her legal counsel told her the likelihood of her losing. The cost-benefit to go to trial wasn’t there, and could damage her more. She didn’t even get a lowball settlement from the defendants. They were going to trial. She dropped the case for no money, and a very generic statement was crafted by counsel for both sides, careful wording they could all agree on, and it’s over. The defendants would have been fools not to accept the offer, as the outcome they wanted in trial was that she not be awarded the hundreds of millions she was asking. Also, the cost to try a month-long trial would have been astronomical for both sides.
Neither wins in the court of public opinion, as both of their careers are very damaged, but Blake is more famous with a rich husband who can fund some projects for her. Maybe Justin and Wayfarer can continue on with some minor projects, also. Maybe not. Time will tell.
The judge ruled that because she was an independent contractor and not an employee, she had no standing to sue on the harassment claims. That’s why her case “fell apart,” not because anyone ruled that the stuff he did was OK, just that she had to put up with it because not an employee. (That was my takeaway from a lawyer’s analysis I read.)
Which truly sucks. And no amount of “but Blake is terrible” changes the fact that he was awful to her on set.
The judge also went through extensively and said some of her claims had to merit or chance of success. It wasn’t just about jurisdiction. If you read his ruling that would be evident.
And we can say the same for Justin’s lawsuit against Ryan. It was dropped based on a “technicality.” He had the option to appeal but I think they all just want this done with.
But again since Blake was the one suing she realized her best bet was to settle. Sounds like her team went to Justin’s with an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Whomever advised Ryan and Blake that Baldoni would settle quickly and they’d end up with the rights to the property (the number of times I heard this myself—a particularly mercenary acquaintance in the industry described it as a “brilliant” move that would give Lively the moral highground, her own new cut of the film, and the rights to any sequel/related property in one fell swoop; foolproof because of Lively and Reynolds’s popularity and money, all while “ending” Baldoni in Hollywood) really did them a disservice. All they ended up with was legal fees and a spotlight on their lesser qualities.
They did succeed in exposing the lesser qualities of Baldoni (who had his own issues) but there was never a legal case at the level claimed and there was never meant to be (think of it like civil case equivalent of a prosecutor “overcharging” a defendant to force them into a plea deal to avoid the risks and costs of a trial). Baldoni didn’t cover himself in glory here, but because she was more powerful and took the bigger swing (and failed, not because of the settlement but because the judge reviewed and ended up having to throw out most of her claims for lack of evidence) she lost the most. But make no mistake, Baldoni will suffer, if that’s comforts those who think he should.
This is some bad lawyering. Really, really bad lawyering. Unless, which is possible, they told her the case wasn’t there the way she wanted to bring it If she and Reynolds (who must be included since the evidence shows he had involvement along the way and is the only one who could afford to write the checks for the legal fees) insisted they knew better, then I can’t blame the lawyers for taking the check. It is one more thing we’ll never know the truth about, I guess.
I didn’t particularly like her, but after allegations first dropped I supported her speaking out. Only, over time, so many of her claims fell apart IMO. The claim that he walked in on her nursing was in question when the text messages came out with her saying she’d be nursing and to just come on in. The birth scene where she was supposedly not fully covered and the actor hired to be the doctor was just a buddy of Baldoni’s was countered by the actual actor coming forward and saying that wasn’t what he remembered, and he IS actually a professional working actor in NYC with other film credits to his name. And then her flirting with Justin on text about “never with teeth” and he responds “sorry, was just bawling my eyes out bc I have to be away from my wife and kids for several weeks.” Her inviting him on a private plane with her fam, after some of the SH events she alleged would have already taken place. And so much more. Just didn’t add up for me.