Late in 2024, revelations came about through a nixed SNL hosting campaign for Lively, a disappointing Blake Brown Beauty product launch for the actress, lawsuits and more. For a complete timeline of moments, large and small, that make up the feud that bloomed between the stars, their publicists, lawyers and more, follow along below — and we will be updating:
Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Schumer, Paul Feig, Kaitlin Olson and Amber Heard voiced support for Lively, denouncing the campaign against her.
Sony, the studio that distributed the film, condemned “any reputational attacks” on Lively, supporting the actress, whose cut of the film was shown over Baldoni’s.
Justin Baldoni and his publicists received a defamation suit on Christmas Eve 2024 from the Wayfarer Studios co-founder and former PR company Jonesworks, and its owner Stephanie Jones. The filing also names Wayfarer Studios and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel for not only defamation but also breach of contract.
Nathan was hired by Baldoni following the film’s arrival in theaters. She and crisis PR guru Matthew Hiltzik worked with Johnny Depp during the Pirates star’s successful $50 million defamation action against ex-wife Amber Heard and the 2022 trial.
Lively then officially sued Baldoni and his PR team on the last day of 2024 for unspecified damages.
Dec. 31 – Baldoni Sues NYT for $250 Million
Baldoni and his publicists sued The New York Times for their story about Lively’s claims of sexual harassment.
Lively’s team quickly responded to the suit, denouncing the tactics behind it. On Feb. 3, Freedman told a NYC federal court the NYT suit would be dropped and the Gray Lady added as a defendant to Baldoni’s larger lawsuit.
These statements were made hours after Baldoni’s main attorney Bryan Freedman appeared on NewsNation taking swings at the New York Times.
Bryan Freedman accused Ryan Reynolds of making fun of Baldoni with the Deadpool & Wolverine character Nicepool, which fans have speculated references Baldoni’s apparent pseudo-nice guy persona. This was also said on The Megyn Kelly Show.
Jan. 8 – Baldoni’s Voice Message About Basement Viewing of IEWU Premiere Released
Bryan Freeman, Baldoni’s attorney, also played a voice message on The Megyn Kelly Show from Baldoni complaining about being sent to the basement during the It Ends With Us premiere in New York City.
Jan. 14 – Baldoni Letter to Disney About Deadpool & Wolverine Surfaces
Jan. 16 – Baldoni Directly Sues Lively and Reynolds for $400 Million
Baldoni’s complaint filed Jan. 16 demands $400,000,000 from Reynolds and Lively citing defamation, extortion and more.
Jan. 21 – Baldoni Releases BTS Footage from IEWU Film
Baldoni dropped behind-the-scenes footage from May 23, 2023 production on the movie to refute Lively’s sexual harassment claims.
Jan. 24 – Lively And Reynolds Double Down on Gag Order Request
Jan. 27 – Another Voice Message Surfaces, A Trial Looms
A federal judge had, at that time, selected March 9, 2026 as the trial start date for the bitter showdown between the pair of actors.
Jan. 30 – A Preliminary Hearing Is Set For Early February
A consolidation of some of the suits is looking possible as a February 12 pretrial conference was moved up by Judge Liman to February 3. This hearing had Lively and Reynolds teams working to get Baldoni’s $400 million suit dismissed, which has since occurred.
Feb. 1 – Team Baldoni Establishes Website
The documentation begins Jan. 1, 2019 with an email to Colleen Hoover, who executive produced the film, about her book on which the movie is based. It ends Jan. 29, 2024 examining the NYT expose article.
Feb. 3 – Trial Start Date of March 2026 Threatened To Move Up
Judge Liman imposed the Empire State rule on both parties, meaning that neither side in the complex battle is to say anything in the press that could influence a potential jury. Such has already been occurring with comments from both sides.
Deadline will continue to update this piece as more news comes out around the tense situation.
Feb. 5 – Jed Wallace Files $7 Million Defamation Suit Against Blake Lively And Team
Feb. 12 – Blake Lively & Ryen Reynolds Subpoena AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon
Lively and her husband sent out several subpoenas to cell carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon as well as alleged social media manipulator Jed Wallace on a hunt for real “receipts.”
Feb. 18 – Blake Lively Alleges Other Women Made Uncomfortable by Baldoni on IEWU Production
Blake Lively’s lawyers filed an amended complaint against Justin Baldoni citing that the It Ends With Us star and director made other women uncomfortable on set.
This amendment came just days after the couple attended the SNL50 anniversary three-hour special, where Reynolds alluded to their spotlighted legal affairs briefly when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler asked how he was doing.
Feb. 19 – Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds’ PR Chief Wants Out Of Legal Battle with Baldoni
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds‘ publicist Leslie Sloane wants herself and her company Vision PR dropped from the ongoing feud between the celebrity couple and the IEWU director.
Feb. 28 – Blake Lively Hires Crisis PR Vet Nick Shapiro; Comes Out Victorious With Telecom Subpoenas
A federal judge partially denied a motion by the Bryan Freedman-repped Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, CEO, financier and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel to squash subpoenas that Lively’s lawyers wanted to serve on AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and others.
Feb. 28 – Blake Lively Agrees The New York Times Should Exit Justin Baldoni’s Legal War
March 4 – New York Times Granted Win In Clash
Judge Lewis J. Liman’s statement arrived ahead of protective order hearing Thursday, March 6. The hearing was conducted virtually with Baldoni, Reynolds and SXSW-bound Lively not in apparent attendance. The March 6 session mainly centered around how much invormation should be covered under the standard model protective order.
This compounded Baldoni’s loss of forward motion with the New York Times.
March 17 – Baldoni Doubles Down On Keeping NYT Involved
March 20 – Lively Brings California Law Into The Equation
Attorneys for Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds asserted that the Another Simple Favor star will appear in court.
It is so far unclear whether Reynolds will also testify.
May 9 – Taylor Swift Subpoenaed in Longstanding Legal Battle, Asked To Divulge What Exactly She Knows About What Happened Behind the Scenes of the Film
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman subpoenaed Taylor Swift, longtime friend of Blake Lively, May 9.
May 14 – Baldoni’s Team Claims Lively Blackmailed Taylor Swift
May 15 – Judge Grants Lively’s Request To Toss “Improper” Taylor Swift Bullying Claims
After Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman reiterated claims that Swift’s personal text messages would be outed if she didn’t publicly support Lively in the ongoing legal battle, the judge overseeing the case tossed the claims out.
May 19 – Blake Lively Decries Baldoni’s HR Probe Of Her Sexual Harassment Claims
Baldoni withdrew the paperwork seeking what info Taylor Swift knew about the behind-the-scenes It Ends With Us feud between the director and star Blake Lively.
June 2: Lively Holds Out On Dropping Emotional Distress Charges Against Baldoni
June kicked off with some wins on each side of the suit.
Lively made it seem like there was no way she would do this.
June 3: Lively’s Emotional Distress Claims Are DOA
June 10: Scooter Braun’s HYBE America Subpoenaed By Lively
Lively won big when she subpoenaed Taylor Swift’s long-time nemesis Scooter Braun’s HYBE America. Braun has been associated publicly with Baldoni for a while. Lively’s lawyers attempted to serve the subpoena Thursday, June 12.
June 13: Lively’s Lawyer Declares Convos With Taylor Swift “Irrelevant”
On Friday, June 13, Lively’s lawyers declared her texts with the songstress “irrelevant” to the ongoing legal battle between the It Ends With Us costars.
June 18: Lively’s Texts With Taylor Swift Not Going To Stay Private
A big blow came to Lively when, Wednesday, June 18, Judge Liman denied her lawyers’ motion for a protective order over Lively’s and Swift’s digital chats.
July 14: Judge Liman Rules Lively Can Choose Deposition Location
Mid-July, a New York federal judge sided with Lively in her choice of location for the deposition in the ongoing legal battle.
“Lively will make arrangements for opposing counsel to have a dedicated computer and the ability to print and copy documents in the space chosen by Lively,” wrote Judge Lewis Liman, granting Lively’s motion for a protective order.
July 16: Judge Dismisses Lively’s Claims Against Social Media PR Expert Jed Wallace
Judge Liman also removed social media PR expert Jed Wallace, who Lively alleged was part of a negative campaign against her, from the case. The judge cited lack of jurisdiction for this decision, noting that Wallace is located in Texas while Lively filed her lawsuit in New York.
July 21: Justin Baldoni’s Insurer Sues Him & Wayfarer
Harco National Insurance Company, the company providing liability insurance to Baldoni and his production company, filed a lawsuit against both parties Monday, July 21 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Harco National says its policies don’t cover the claims asserted by Blake Lively in her sexual harassment lawsuit stemming from the making of It Ends With Us.
August 1: Billionaire-Backed Baldoni Now Sues Other Insurance Companies For Denied Legal Fees
Justin Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios co-founder and billionaire buddy Steve Sarowitz, who founded Paylocity, filed a lawsuit alongside Baldoni and Wayfarer going after some of the biggest insurance companies in the world for denying them coverage to fight Lively.
Baldoni, Sarowitz, It Ends With Us Movie LLC, Wayfarer itself and CEO Jamey Heath are trying to force New York Marine and General Insurance Company, QBE Insurance Corporation, some underwriters at Lloyd’s and others to pay out polices that they insist they deserve, or pay up.
August 4: Blake Lively Slams & Shames Justin Baldoni’s Lawyers Over Making Her Deposition Public
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni came face-to-face at the end of July as the It Ends With Us actress gave a deposition in the fight over what happened behind the scenes of the film. Lively’s attorney’s filed a letter in federal court summarized the sit-down in a negative manner.
Livley and her team wanted everything sealed back up.
August 8: Blake Lively Gets Deposition Cut From Court Docket
By order of a federal judge, Lively’s deposition was struck from court record Aug. 8.
August 19: Baldoni And Isabela Ferrer’s Spar Over Subpoena
“Baldoni made no effort to tailor the subpoena towards the production of new or different materials, demonstrating that the real aim of the Baldoni Subpoena, as well as the pending Motion, is to harass Ms. Ferrer,” they added.
August 28: Megyn Kelly Brings Up A Subpoena That Lively’s Team Denies Ever Sending
Megyn Kelly hinted that Lively and her team “tried to get the confidential and proprietary materials my team and I used for any and all stories about her” on her podcast, to which a spokesperson responded that there was never a subpoena sent to the former Fox News host.
September 12: Justin Baldoni Tries To Get Deposition From Taylor Swift, Judge Rules No
In a September 11 letter to the court, Baldoni and team claimed that singer songwriter Taylor Swift had agreed to sit for a deposition between Oct 20-25, but the singer, whose upcoming album The Life of a Showgirl releases Oct. 3, insisted that this agreement was never made.
A little more than 24 hours later, Judge Lewis Liman ruled out any deposition from the Eras Tour performer. He also granted Lively a 10-day extension on depositions for Baldoni, Steve Sarowitz and Jamey Heath.
October 1: The New York Times Sues Justin Baldoni And Wayfarer
The New York Times filed a suit against Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer for nearly $150,000 in attorney’s fees, damages and more.
October 22: Auto-Deleted Messages Around Alleged Smear Campaign Surface
The reveal about Signal usage come out of depositions with ex-Nathan staffers like Breanna Butler and Katherine Case.
November 5: Judge Lewis Liman Dismisses Jed Wallace Again
For the second time in the last six months, Judge Lewis Liman saw no relevance to Texas-based Jed Wallace’s involvement in the ongoing case. Thus, he granted the motion to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint due to lack of personal jurisdiction.
November 6: Livley Names Potential Witnesses; Wants Triple The Money She Lost In Smear Campaign
November 13: Baldoni Files To Have Lively’s Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Him Thrown Out
Baldoni and Wayfarer’s newish lead lawyer Alexandra Shapiro filed a motion for summary judgement before the East Coast deadline on Thursday, November 13. He has not specified a reason.
November 20, 2025: Colleen Hoover Weighs in on Legal Battle
Author Colleen Hoover, who wrote It Ends With Us based on her mother’s story, expressed that she’s “almost embarrassed” to have her name attached the book and film because the lawsuit has overshadowed the work itself. The author had since had the Regretting You film adaptation arrive, and in 2026, will have Reminders of Him and Verity hit the big screens as well.
December 4, 2025: Lively Rejects Baldoni’s Move To Dismiss Lawsuit
December 9, 2025: Lively’s March Date in Court Delayed, Baldoni Trial Pushed And Judge Recommends Settlement
December 11, 2025: Taylor Swift Overlap Suggested
December 19, 2025: Settlement Talks Planned Between Lively & Baldoni
Lawyers for both celebrities discussed coming to a settlement mid-December 2025, but they were also preparing to go to trial in May 2026 as hopes were not high that the two parties cold reach an agreement.
January 20, 2026: Lively Divulges Details of Film Shoot Days Before Pivotal Hearing
Newly-unsealed filings of text messages between Lively and various costars and other friends like Jenny Slate and Taylor Swift unveil more of what was going on behind the scenes of the Sony film.
Feb 11, 2026 – Settlement Talks Flounder
April 2 – Case Still Headed to Trial
In early April, a federal judge axed Lively’s legal action against Baldoni, tossing out her allegations of sexual harassment and a 162-page ruling. The trial remains set for May.
April 3 – Lively Vows To Keep Fighting
The Friday after her action and ruling were dismissed, Lively took to social media to proclaim that she would continue her fight.
April 6 – Last-Minute Meeting Does Not Yield Anything Different
On May 4 2026, the It Ends With Us director and star settled their battle, just two weeks before the lawsuit was set to go to court in New York.
Source: deadline.com