For years after its release, It Ends With Us was synonymous with the legal battle between its stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. The book-to-screen adaptation (which is streaming with a Netflix subscription) has made countless headlines due to this drama, although things finally came to an end when Lively and Baldoni settled and released a joint statement. And now the director/actor's lawyer revealed how he's doing.
The legal battle began when Blake Lively filed a complaint back in 2024, kickstarting an epic saga that fans have been following for years. Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, recently explained why they won the case, and in an interview with Extra, he offered an update about how the Jane the Virgin star is holding up post-settlement. In the attorney's words:
When these settlement discussions started this weekend or this past weekend, he was not a party to the case. So, you’re looking at this settlement as a win or a loss or anything else. I think he just looks at it as a logical ending to, you know, a case that he’s already out of, frankly.
It sounds like Justin Baldoni was expecting this outcome, and is feeling some sense of freedom now that the It Ends With Us brouhaha has reached a conclusion. This does track, as back in April, 10 out of Blake Lively's 13 claims were tossed out. The movie's director has also been denying any wrongdoing, and now his and Lively's legal teams have reached an agreement.
Of course, that doesn't mean there hasn't been a big financial cost to the saga. The real winner of the case was Lively and Baldoni's lawyers, who reportedly made $60 million collectively from their years battling each other. Later in that same interview, Freedman shared more about how Justin Baldoni is feeling after the case was settled, saying:
I can’t talk about the terms of the settlement, but what I can tell you is that he is ecstatic, that both Jamey and Justin are ecstatic at the results of this and the settlement itself, they are very pleased with where this ended up.
In addition to Baldoni, this quote references Jamey Heath, who is a partner at Wayfarer Studios. Both the individuals and the production company were named in Blake Lively's original complaint, and their careers were seemingly in jeopardy. And it should be fascinating to see where things go for both the individuals and the production company as a whole now that the legal saga is in the rear view.
It Ends With Us is streaming on Netflix now. While Justin Baldoni isn't currently attached to any new TV or film projects, Blake Lively has a few upcoming titles coming down the line. We'll just have to wait and see if the discourse surrounding them quiets down.
