Attorneys for Blake Lively filed an amended complaint in her lawsuit against Justin Baldoni on Feb. 18, the latest development in the monthslong legal saga between the co-stars of “It Ends With Us.”
The amended complaint comes after a trial date was set for March 2026, capping off a bitter, public feud between Baldoni, the director and co-star of “It Ends With Us,” and Lively, who played the film’s main character.
Baldoni sued Lively and other defendants, including her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million in a U.S. district court on Jan. 16, accusing them of defamation and other contractual claims, according to court documents obtained by NBC News. This was after Lively sued Baldoni in federal court in New York on Dec. 31. She first filed a sexual harassment complaint against him with the California Civil Rights Department on Dec. 20, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.
On Dec. 31, Baldoni and his publicists also sued The New York Times for libel, according to the Times, after the news outlet published a Dec. 21 article about Lively’s allegations that she’d been the victim of a smear campaign after speaking up about sexual harassment on the set of “It Ends with Us.”
Here’s a full timeline of the behind-the-scenes drama of “It Ends with Us,” the film adaptation of the bestselling novel by Colleen Hoover.
Jan. 26, 2023: Colleen Hoover announces Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have been cast
Hoover, the author of bestselling books like “Verity” and “Reminders of Him,” revealed that Lively had been cast as Lily Bloom and Baldoni had been cast as Ryle Kincaid in a TikTok on Jan. 26, 2023. (Hoover’s account has since gone private.)
“Our Lily is going to be played by Blake Lively,” Hoover said. “Blake Lively, y’all. She’s my dream Lily. And then when I first met Justin Baldoni, who is directing the film for ‘It Ends with Us,’ I immediately wanted him to be Ryle. I just thought that he had what it takes to play that character, and the good news is he’s gonna be Ryle.”
Baldoni was also tapped to direct the film, and Lively was credited as a producer.
Hoover’s novel follows Lily as she opens a floral shop in Boston. She meets Ryle, a neurosurgeon, and has a chance encounter in which she reconnects with her high school sweetheart, Atlas Corrigan, while she’s falling for Ryle.
Lily has to confront the cycle of violence that began with her father and continued with her husband, facing domestic violence and other abuse. The book’s themes garnered controversy from readers before it was announced it would be adapted into a film.
May 5, 2023: ‘It Ends with Us’ filming begins
The movie began filming on May 5, 2023, and photos from the set immediately sparked debate amongst the book’s most devoted fans.
Lively was photographed with red hair for the part, and readers quickly pointed our that Lily’s outfits seen in the photos didn’t match scenes from the book. Fans also noted that Lively, then 35, didn’t match Lily’s age of 23 in the book.
Hoover addressed the ages of her characters during a panel with TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager in Texas in June 2023.
“Back when I wrote ‘It Ends with Us,’ the new adult (genre) was very popular. You were writing college-age characters. That’s what I was contracted to do. I made Lily very young. I didn’t know that neurosurgeons went to school for 50 years. There’s not a 20-something neurosurgeon,” Hoover said.
To correct her own mistake, Hoover said she met with the film’s production team to tell them she wanted to use the film to make the characters more age appropriate.
“As I started making this movie, I’m like, we need to age them out, because I messed up,” she said. “So that’s my fault.”
Hoover also spoke about the outfits seen in photos from the set during the interview.
“When I wrote the book, it wasn’t about the age of the characters. It wasn’t about what they were wearing. I don’t even think I described any clothing in the book,” Hoover said.
“Yeah, you’ve seen a few outfits that Lily has worn, but she looks so phenomenal on screen,” she added. “And some of the outfits that she’s worn indoors that no one’s gotten pictures of yet are phenomenal.”
Aug. 6, 2024: ‘It Ends With Us’ premieres in New York
At the film’s New York premiere, Lively posed on the red carpet with her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and his “Deadpool & Wolverine” co-star Hugh Jackman, as well as her “It Ends with Us” co-stars Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate.
Baldoni took photos alone and with his wife, Emily Baldoni.
Around that time, fans also started to speculate about possible tension between members of the cast when they noticed that Lively and Hoover did not follow Baldoni on Instagram, though they followed each other and other members of the cast.
During the film’s press cycle before the release of the film, Lively appeared with other members of the cast, but not Baldoni, while Baldoni did many of his interviews for the film solo.
Aug. 8, 2024: Justin Baldoni appears on TODAY and comments on working with Blake Lively
Two days after the New York premiere, Baldoni spoke about working with Lively on TODAY.
“I don’t know if you know how smart and creative she really is,” he told TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones. “I think she’s best known as an actress, and of course, she’s a fashion icon, but she is so much more than that. She is a dynamic creative — she had her hands in every part of this production and everything she touched she made better.”
After his show segment, Baldoni continued to speak about Lively in an interview with TODAY.com.
“You can’t summarize Blake’s contribution in a sentence, because her energy and imprint is all over the movie and really, really made the film better, and from beginning to end,” he said. “Ryan (Reynolds) was so generous … he’s a creative genius, that guy. So, you know, his gift is levity, and her gift is levity.”
He added that he would work with Lively and Reynolds again “if they’d have me.”
Aug. 9, 2024: ‘It Ends with Us’ is released in theaters
“It Ends With Us” premiered in theaters on Aug. 9, 2024, grossing $50 million domestically and $80 million globally during its opening weekend, according to Variety. By Aug. 20, it had crossed $100 million at the domestic box office, according to Variety.
Aug. 10, 2024: Blake Lively begins to receive backlash
Fans started to criticize Lively for her approach to promoting the film in mid-August, in which she often talked about her hair care line, Blake Brown, that she launched in tandem with the film’s release, or her drink line, Betty Buzz, which she created in 2021.
In a promo clip for the film posted on social media, Lively says, “‘It Ends with Us’ is in theaters now, so grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it,” leading social media users to question the levity of her remarks in contrast with the film’s themes.
But it was on Aug. 10, when Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa uploaded an interview with Lively from 2016 titled “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job,” that criticism around the actor escalated.
The clip begins Flaa telling Lively, who was pregnant at the time, “Congrats on your little bump.” Lively then replies back with the same, “Congrats on your little bump.” (Flaa was not pregnant.)
When Flaa asked about the wardrobes in the film, Lively said, “Everyone wants to talk about the clothes, but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes?” Flaa replied that she would.
The YouTube video, which has been viewed over 5 million times, led some commenters to call Lively “rude” and “passive aggressive.” Lively did not comment on Flaa’s video.
Aug. 13, 2024: Lively posts on Instagram celebrating the movie’s release
On Aug. 13, 2024, Lively shared a video of an interview she did with the BBC to her Instagram story.
“Thank you to everyone who came out to show that people WANT to see films about women, and the multitudes we hold. It Ends With Us is a story of the female experience. All the highest highs, and lowest lows. And we are so proud of it. We have been in celebration of this film and of getting a message so important out there to the masses,” she wrote.
A second story post linked out to resources for domestic violence.
“1 in 4 women aged 18 and older in the US alone have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Intimate partner violence affects all genders, including more than 12 million people every year in the United States,” she said.
Aug. 20, 2024: Brandon Sklenar speaks out on ‘It Ends with Us’ drama
Sklenar, who plays Atlas in the film, weighed in on the drama in an Instagram post on Aug. 20, 2024.
“I wanted to take a minute and address all this stuff swirling online,” Sklenar wrote. “Colleen and the women of this cast stand for hope, perseverance, and for women choosing a better life for themselves. Vilifying the women who put so much of their heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and detracts from what this film is about. It is, in fact, the opposite of the point.”
He wrote that whatever “may or may not have happened behind the scenes” during shooting of the movie, “should not detract from what our intentions were in making this film.”
Read his full statement below.
Dec. 9, 2024: ‘It Ends with Us’ is released on Netflix
“It Ends with Us” made its streaming debut on Netflix on Dec. 9, 2024, quickly rising to one of the top films on the platform.
Dec. 20, 2024: Blake Lively files sexual harassment complaint against Justin Baldoni
Attorneys for Lively alleged that Baldoni repeatedly harassed her on set and crossed boundaries during intimate scenes, according to the complaint filed Dec. 20, 2024.
The complaint stated that Baldoni allegedly improvised physical intimacy that had not been previously rehearsed or discussed, including improvising kisses during one scene.
The complaint also alleged Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath pressured Lively to “simulate full nudity” during a scene in which her character is giving birth.
At one point during filming, Lively called a meeting to address issues “that had nearly derailed production of the film,” according to the complaint. Lively’s husband was in attendance, per the complaint.
A full-time intimacy coordinator and other protections were then established to allow the film to finish shooting, the complaint stated.
Once the film’s press tour kicked off, Baldoni allegedly hired a crisis communications team to launch a “retaliatory social manipulation campaign” against Lively to destroy her reputation, according to the complaint.
Freedman, the attorney representing Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and all its representatives, issued a statement to TODAY.com on Dec. 21. The statement reads in full:
“It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions. These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media. Wayfarer Studios made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film, to work alongside their own representative with Jonesworks employed by Stephanie Jones, due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production which included her threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met. It was also discovered that Ms. Lively enlisted her own representative, Leslie Sloane with Vision PR, who also represents Mr. Reynolds, to plant negative and completely fabricated and false stories with media, even prior to any marketing had commenced for the film, which was another reason why Wayfarer Studios made the decision to hire a crisis professional to commence internal scenario planning in the case they needed to address. The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity. What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals.”
Lively said in a statement, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
Dec. 21, 2024: Baldoni reportedly dropped by talent agency
On Dec. 21, The New York Times published an investigative report about Baldoni’s alleged PR campaign against Lively. After the article was published, talent agency William Morris Endeavor stopped representing Baldoni, Ari Emanuel, chief executive of the agency’s parent company Endeavor, told the Times.
TODAY.com reached out to WME for comment and did not immediately hear back.
Dec. 21, 2024: Colleen Hoover reacts to Lively’s complaint
Hoover responded to the complaint on her Instagram story on Dec. 21, posting a photo of her and Lively in an embrace with a link to the Times article.
“@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” she wrote. “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
Dec. 23, 2024: ‘It Ends with Us’ cast members Jenny Slate and Brandon Sklenar react to Lively’s complaint
Slate, who portrays the sister of Baldoni’s character in the movie and the sister-in-law of Lively’s, shared an exclusive statement Dec. 23 with TODAY.com in support of Lively.
“As Blake Lively’s castmate and friend, I voice my support as she takes action against those reported to have planned and carried out an attack on her reputation,” Slate said. “Blake is a leader, loyal friend and a trusted source of emotional support for me and so many who know and love her. What has been revealed about the attack on Blake is terribly dark, disturbing, and wholly threatening. I commend my friend, I admire her bravery, and I stand by her side.”
Sklenar reacted with a post on his Instagram story the same day. He shared a link to the complaint published on The New York Times’ website and wrote, “For the love of God read this. @blakelively <3”
Dec. 24, 2024: Baldoni’s ex-publicist sues him and his PR team
Baldoni’s former publicist Stephanie Jones and her agency Jonesworks filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court on Tuesday, Dec. 24, against the actor and his publicity team.
The lawsuit alleges that his current PR team conspired to harm her and steal her clients, in conjunction with their efforts to allegedly launch a “smear campaign” against Lively, according to NBC News.
According to a copy of the suit, Jones and her agency Jonesworks accuse the actor’s publicist Jennifer Abel of breach of contract, claiming she violated her employment terms by setting up a competing firm and stealing documents and clients out from under Jones. It also accuses Abel of defamation, as well as names crisis communications representative Melissa Nathan as a defendant, along with Baldoni and his company, Wayfarer Studios.
Dec. 31, 2024: Baldoni sues The New York Times
Baldoni and his publicists filed a lawsuit against The New York Times on Dec. 31, the Times reported the next day.
The lawsuit seeks $250 million in damages and accuses the news organization of defaming Baldoni and his publicists in the Dec. 21 article that detailed Lively’s allegations of being retaliated against after speaking up about sexual harassment on set, according to the Times.
Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni, provided the following statement to TODAY.com about the lawsuit against the Times.
“In this vicious smear campaign fully orchestrated by Blake Lively and her team, the New York Times cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative.
“In doing so, they pre-determined the outcome of their story, and aided and abetted their own devastating PR smear campaign designed to revitalize Lively’s self-induced floundering public image and counter the organic groundswell of criticism amongst the online public. The irony is rich.
“Make no mistake however, as we all unite to take down The NY Times by no longer allowing them to deceive the public, we will continue this campaign of authenticity by also suing those individuals who have abused their power to try and destroy the lives of my clients. While their side embraces partial truths, we embrace the full truth — and have all of the communications to back it. The public will decide for themselves as they did when this first began.”
The New York Times shared a statement in response to Baldoni’s lawsuit, stating, “We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” the statement continued. “Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.”
Dec. 31, 2024: Lively files lawsuit against Baldoni
The same day that Baldoni sued The New York Times, Lively initiated litigation against Baldoni in federal court in New York.
The lawsuit, obtained by NBC News on Dec. 31, names Baldoni as well as Wayfarer Studios, Heath, Nathan and Abel.
“Earlier today, Ms. Lively filed a federal complaint against Wayfarer Studios and others in the Southern District of New York,” attorneys for Lively said in a statement to NBC News.
“Ms. Lively previously sent her California Civil Rights Department Complaint in response to the retaliatory campaign Wayfarer launched against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns. Unfortunately, Ms. Lively’s decision to speak out has resulted in further retaliation and attacks. As alleged in Ms. Lively’s federal Complaint, Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns.
“Now, the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court. Ms. Lively has brought this litigation in New York, where much of the relevant activities described in the Complaint took place, but we reserve the right to pursue further action in other venues and jurisdictions as appropriate under the law.”
Lively’s attorneys also sent the following comment to NBC News in response to Baldoni’s lawsuit against The New York Times.
“Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today,” the statement reads. “This lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse based on a choice ‘not to file a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer,’ and that ‘litigation was never her ultimate goal.’ As demonstrated by the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is false. While we will not litigate this matter in the press, we do encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s complaint in its entirety. We look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer’s allegations in court.”
Jan. 3, 2025: Baldoni’s attorney says they plan to sue Lively
Freedman, Baldoni’s attorney, said that his client’s legal action against The New York Times “will not be the last lawsuit” in his legal battle against Lively during an interview on TODAY aired on Jan. 3.
When asked if his client planned to file a lawsuit against Lively, Freedman replied, “Absolutely.”
“We plan to release every single text message between the two of them,” Freedman said. “There is nothing that in any way is a concern about this entire situation from our perspective, and we want the truth to be out there.”
Representatives for Lively did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News on Freedman’s interview.
Jan. 16, 2025: Baldoni sues Lively for defamation
Baldoni filed a lawsuit in a U.S. district court on Jan. 16, accusing Lively, Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and Sloane’s PR firm of defamation and other contractual claims.
The 179-page complaint accuses Lively of taking creative control over her character, refusing to promote the film unless she got to produce her own edits of the movie and more.
Attorneys for Baldoni also allege in the suit that Lively’s team worked to smear Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.
Lively’s legal team said in a statement to NBC News on Jan. 16 that the lawsuit was “another chapter in the abuser playbook.”
“This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim,” the statement said.
Lively’s legal team said Baldoni and Wayfarer “are trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni. The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer. The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sony’s cut of the film, which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success.”
The statement concluded: “The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”
Jan. 21, 2025: Attorney for Baldoni releases raw video footage from ‘It Ends With Us’
Freedman released nearly 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage, which is only shown in the film in a slow-motion montage, on Jan. 21.
Baldoni’s attorneys said that the three takes shown in the video don’t match Lively’s allegations of sexual harassment filed in a legal complaint in December 2024.
Lively’s legal team said in a statement to NBC News on Jan. 21 that the footage corroborates her account of what happened.
“The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character,” Lively’s legal team said. “Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss.”
“The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk. Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort,” her legal team continued. “They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent.”
Attorneys for Lively said releasing the video to the media, rather than presenting it as evidence in court, was “another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public” and was “a continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign.”
Jan. 27, 2025: Trial date set for March 2026
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis J. Liman wrote in an order on Jan. 27 that Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios will be joined with Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively, and that both cases will go to trial on March 9, 2026, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.
Liman also rescheduled a pretrial conference to Feb. 3, 2025, in which the parties will discuss a motion regarding pretrial publicity and attorney conduct, according to the order.
Attorneys for Lively wrote a letter to the judge on Jan. 27 asking for a gag order to be put in place after Baldoni’s attorney Freedman allegedly made false statements about Lively in the media.
“The endless stream of defamatory and extrajudicial media statements must end. It will not stop without this Court’s intervention,” attorneys for Lively wrote in the letter.
Freedman responded to the letter in a lengthy statement to NBC News on Jan. 27.
“We will always respect the court; however, we will never be bullied by those suggesting we cannot defend our clients with pure, unedited facts,” he said in the statement. “All we want is for people to see the actual text messages that directly contradict her allegations, video footage that clearly shows there was no sexual harassment and all the other powerful evidence that directly contradicts any false allegations of sexual harassment and subsequent smear campaign.”
Attorneys for Lively did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on the trial date.
Feb. 2, 2025: Baldoni launches website about lawsuit against Lively
Baldoni created a website with information about his lawsuit against Lively on Feb. 2. The site is titled “Lawsuit Info” and links out to two documents: Baldoni’s amended complaint, filed on Jan. 31, and a timeline of events, which he said summarizes “relevant events” from January 2019 to January 2025 in relation to “It Ends With Us.”
Feb. 3, 2025: Judge warns Baldoni and Lively’s lawyers about public comments
Attorneys for Baldoni and Lively came face to face in a courtroom for the first time on Feb. 3, and the judge presiding over their legal case told the attorneys that he may have to move up the trial date if they continue to talk about the case publicly.
Liman, the judge, didn’t go as far to restrict what the attorneys can say publicly, but he did issue a warning about spars traded publicly, NBC News reported.
“You’ve got a lot in front of the court that gives, I think, the public plenty to feast upon,” Liman said.
Baldoni and Lively were not present for the hearing.
Feb. 18, 2025: Lively files an amended complaint
Attorneys for Lively filed an amended complaint in U.S. District Court on Feb. 18, alleging that Lively wasn’t alone in her complaints of on set misconduct against Baldoni and that other women had complained.
The amended complaint also includes new evidence and corroboration of her previous allegations, including communications between Lively and representatives of Sony and Wayfarer.
Lively also added a new claim for defamation in the amended complaint, her attorneys said in a statement to NBC News.
“Over the next several weeks, we will move to dismiss the utterly meritless lawsuits brought against Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds, and we will move full speed ahead with discovery that we expect will reveal shocking details about the depth to which the Defendants have sunk in their unending efforts to ‘bury,’ ‘ruin,’ and ‘destroy’ Ms. Lively and her family,” Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said.
Attorneys for Baldoni did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News about Lively’s amended complaint.
CORRECTION: (Jan. 2, 2024, 3:12 p.m.): An earlier version of this story misstated when The New York Times published an article about Blake Lively’s claims. It was on Dec. 21, not Dec. 20.