Justin Baldoni is prepared to battle Blake Lively until the bitter end.
Last week, the Jane the Virgin actor’s lawyer Bryan Freedman appeared on an episode of The Town podcast with Puck newsletter founder Matthew Belloni. The Hollywood gossip hub, also a former attorney, has been convinced the It Ends With Us co-stars would eventually settle ahead of their March 2026 trial date, telling Freedman:
“I do not believe there will be a trial in this case. I just think that the potential for the circus and the damage to both sides here will ultimately win out and you guys will settle. So if that’s the case, why not just settle now? What is the number? What would it require for this to go away?”
It’s a fair point. It’s already been messy AF. If they’re gonna settle, better to do it earlier than later, right?
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But Bryan insisted this isn’t about money — it’s about justice. First, he hit back at the notion this case is a “circus,” remarking:
“You keep referring to it as a circus and I get it. You see a lot of cases. You see a lot of things, but the reality is this is not a circus when you go through an experience like this. I’ve represented a lot of people in the worst moments of their career, the worst moments of their life. Justin has been destroyed by this.”
Oof. Because the sexual harassment and smear campaign allegations are “a really serious thing,” Justin isn’t backing down:
“In this day and age, the only way that you can truly get back is to prove your innocence and that’s what we’re actively working to [do]. That may only be able to be done in a courtroom.”
He isn’t wrong. Just the allegations follow you around. When there are credible accusations — and in this case a movie star putting her name out in public is pretty strong stuff — the court of public opinion goes the opposite as the justice system. They tend to be guilty until proven innocent.
Justin is currently seeking $400 million in damages from Blake, Ryan Reynolds, and more of her team members. But what he really needs is to win. Meanwhile, she’s holding firm with allegations that he was the one who caused problems. In his effort to win back public opinion, Justin set up a website to make it easy for people to read his court filings. On the need for this, his lawyer mentioned in the podcast:
“The minute The New York Times story came out, Justin was done for all intents and purposes. The court of public opinion was against him. There was no side that he had in this. There were no facts that were on his side. … It was really important to come out with real, true facts.”
Sounds like they know they’re fighting an uphill battle in some ways, but they’re not going to back down no matter what! Let the drama continue then!
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[Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment/YouTube]
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