The Courthouse Door Is Open, But the Settlement Door Is Shut: Lively vs. Baldoni Heads for War

 

They arrived separately. They sat in separate rooms. They left with separate smiles—one frozen, one defiant.

And after six hours of closed-door negotiations inside a Manhattan federal courthouse, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni accomplished exactly one thing: proving that some wounds won't heal before trial.

Wednesday, February 11, 2026, was supposed to be the day the brakes were pumped. Mandatory settlement conferences exist to catch lawsuits before they plunge off the cliff. Lawyers talk. Judges mediate. Egos are temporarily shelved. Deals are cut.

Not this time.

The Faces at Federal Plaza

Lively emerged first, her face carved from granite, coat buttoned to the chin, eyes fixed on the waiting SUV. She did not pause. She did not speak. She simply vanished into the backseat like a witness being extracted from hostile territory.

Minutes later, Baldoni appeared. He was smiling.

Not a smirk. Not a defensive grin. An actual, genuine, teeth-visible smile. He waved briefly at no one in particular, then slid into his own car and disappeared into Manhattan traffic.

The contrast was so stark, so cinematically perfect, it could have been staged. Except this isn't a movie. It's the very real, very ugly aftermath of one.

The Film That Refuses to End

Let's rewind, because the timeline matters.

In 2024, *It Ends With Us* arrived in theaters—a glossy, wrenching adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestseller about love, trauma, and hard choices. Lively starred. Baldoni directed and co-starred. On paper, it was a dream collaboration.

Off paper, it was a nightmare.

Lively's lawsuit alleges sexual harassment on set and a coordinated campaign to destroy her reputation after she complained. Baldoni and his production company countersued for defamation and extortion. Last June, a judge dismissed that countersuit, but the damage was already done.

Now, with a trial date locked in for May 18, both sides are boxed into a corner. Wednesday's conference was the legal equivalent of a referee asking, *Are you SURE you want to do this?*

The answer, apparently, is yes.

The Witness List From Central Casting

Here's where this case stops being a legal dispute and starts being a cultural event.

Lively's legal team has already floated a witness list that reads like a Vanity Fair Oscar party guest list. Taylor Swift. Gigi Hadid. Emily Blunt. Alexis Bledel. America Ferrera. Hugh Jackman.

Yes, that Hugh Jackman.

Also on the docket: conservative commentator Candace Owens, perennial gossip Perez Hilton, and designer Ashley Avignone.

If this actually goes to trial, the jury won't just be hearing testimony—they'll be playing six degrees of Hollywood separation. And somewhere, a television executive is already drafting the limited series pitch.

What Taylor Swift Might Actually Say

The Swift connection is particularly juicy. Court documents have previously indicated that Lively's legal team believes the pop superstar has information relevant to the case. Exactly what information remains under seal, but speculation is running wild.

Did Taylor witness something on set? Was she looped into text chains? Did she advise her friend on how to handle a hostile work environment?

Swift, famously, does not do things by accident. If she's on that witness list, there's a reason. And the prospect of the world's biggest pop star taking the stand in a sexual harassment trial is the kind of gravitational event that pulls all other news into its orbit.

The Reynolds Factor

Let's not ignore the elephant in the courtroom—or rather, the Deadpool.

Ryan Reynolds, Lively's husband of over a decade, has been dragged into this mess whether he likes it or not. Baldoni's now-dismissed countersuit specifically named him, alleging extortion and defamation. Reynolds has stayed publicly silent throughout, but his name lingers in the legal margins.

It's one thing to go to war with Blake Lively. It's quite another to go to war with *Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds*—a couple whose combined star power, business acumen, and audience goodwill is practically its own sovereign nation.

What Happens Now?

The May 18 trial date is now the only landmark on the horizon. No settlement. No last-minute rescue. Just depositions, discovery, and the very real possibility of both parties walking into a courtroom and letting a jury decide who gets eviscerated.

Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, confirmed the obvious in a terse email: the talks did not result in a settlement. Translation: *We tried. It didn't work. See you in court.*

Lively's camp has said nothing publicly. Her stern exit said everything.

The Bigger Picture

This case has never been just about one movie or one set of allegations. It's about power—who has it, who wields it, and what happens when the person accusing is also the person who headlines the franchise.

Hollywood has spent the last decade learning to believe women. It has spent considerably less time figuring out what to do when the accused refuses to quietly fade away.

Baldoni, for his part, isn't fading. He's smiling outside courthouses and letting his lawyers fight. Lively isn't blinking. And a trial—messy, public, unpredictable—is now the only remaining act.

The cameras will be back in May. The witness list will be filed. The deposition transcripts will leak.

And somewhere, in a Nashville recording studio or a London green screen stage or a Tribeca townhouse, Taylor Swift, Hugh Jackman, and Gigi Hadid are waiting for their subpoenas.

This story is far from over. In fact, it hasn't really begun.