Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s It Ends with Us legal dispute ended on May 4, 2026, after a long legal battle. The issues date back to the time when Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, her co-star and the film’s director, in 2024. The case was supposed to go to trial on May 18, 2026. However, the matter was settled before the trial, and this was revealed through a joint statement by both parties’ legal teams.
While other details related to the settlement are yet to be made official, legal experts have now shared their opinions on the possible costs leading up to the end of the issue. Keep reading to know more!
Legal experts claim that Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s settlement has cost millions
Photo credit: The Hollywood Reporter
Richard Schoenstein, an attorney from New York, said that the expenses for Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal dispute settlement summed up to “multiple millions.” He addressed the fact that there are certain law firms involved in the dispute, and they charge almost USD 1,000 per hour. Furthermore, Richard stated that there is a big legal team for each individual, and there are almost 1,500 docket entries.
Notably, Richard is not associated with the legal matter in any manner. Apart from him, another attorney, Megan Thomas, opened up about the cost. However, Megan did not mention a particular figure and simply explained by saying:
“An obscene amount. I can’t give a number, but both sides had multiple lawyers.”
Legal experts elaborate on why the legal dispute possibly ended before the trial
Apart from sharing their opinion on the cost, the experts opened up on the reasons that possibly led to the end of the dispute. Megan Thomas said that it is not an uncommon thing to happen, adding that a case has a lot of value when the public is not aware of it. However, it does not remain the same once people learn about the ongoing matter. Megan mentioned that before a case goes for trial, both sides carefully consider the evidence and testimony that will be presented before the jury. Thomas referred to Blake Lively and said:
“Her team may have believed key evidence wouldn’t come in at trial, which is a big reason to settle. For Blake, that’s especially important because her retaliation claim depended on evidence of harassment being admitted. If that evidence comes in, it helps her case. If not, it makes it much harder.”
On the other hand, Richard Schoenstein said that the trial was also supposed to bring some bad publicity. This could have been followed by the details of the evidence being revealed everywhere alongside the names of a lot of people. Richard said that both sides were possibly not confident about the final results because the jury’s decision is unpredictable. Richard continued:
“I think they settled because the case wasn’t worth it at this point for either of them. The case had been reduced – his counterclaims were dismissed, and her claims were substantially narrowed. There wasn’t enough to gain from going to trial given the cost, which would have been extremely high, in the millions.”
Legal experts believe that reputation was a priority for both sides
Photo credit: IMDb
Megan Thomas claimed that reputation possibly played an important role in ending the dispute. Megan said that the joint statement of the legal teams is also hinting at the same. Richard Schoenstein made a similar claim, saying that there were no particular accusations left to be made against Justin Baldoni at one point. He mentioned that money might have had nothing to do with the end of the matter since the repercussions would not have changed.
Megan Thomas believes that there was a mutual non-disparagement clause, adding that it is common in such cases. Megan even claimed that Blake Lively might have had an advantage leading towards the settlement. Thomas referred to the reasons and said:
“His countersuit was dismissed, and although 10 of her 13 claims were dismissed, she still had three strong claims heading into trial. He was more in the hot seat.”
Photo credit: TAGMAG
What are your thoughts about the opinions shared by the legal experts on the end of the legal dispute? Let us know.
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