Settlement talks break down in Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni

Settlement talks break down in Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni

Court-ordered settlement talks in Blake Lively's sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against Justin Baldoni have floundered.

The It Ends With Us co-stars are now almost certainly going to trial, as attempts to reach a deal have proven "unsuccessful," Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman said today.

Speaking outside the Manhattan courthouse as the first - and maybe last - day of a settlement conference between the parties concluded, Freedman was asked if a jury trial was back at the top of the agenda, to which he exclaimed he was "looking forward to it".

Both Lively and Wayfarer Studios co-founder Baldoni exited the courthouse around 1 pm on Wednesday local time after a closed-door session with their respective legal teams.

This was the first occasion they have been in the same court at the same time since the Glee actor filed her $550 million (£404 million) suit against her co-star director.

Besides claims that Baldoni repeatedly harassed her on the It Ends With Us set, Lively also alleges Baldoni had a vicious online smear campaign orchestrated against her in mid-2024. Lively's accusation is that Baldoni brought together a crisis PR crew to sully her reputation before the premiere of the hit movie.

In January, a mass document unsealing revealed a multitude of emails over the matter. Among the more dramatic discoveries were a Sony exec calling Lively "a terrorist" over threats to quit the film, and co-star Jenny Slate calling Baldoni "the biggest clown and the most intense narcissist".