February 26, 2025
Written by: Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor
Content warning: This article contains mentions of sexual harassment
Hollywood is no stranger to lawsuits that take media coverage by storm. Just two years ago, the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial was at the forefront of everyone’s minds after both parties named each other in lawsuits following their 2017 divorce. While the lawsuit between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni will not see a courtroom until March 2026, that does not stop fans and celebrities alike from taking sides.
With all the attention the lawsuit has received on social media and the news, it can be confusing and overwhelming to filter through all of what’s going on.
From the movie’s release date in August to the most recent news, here is the full timeline of the drama surrounding “It Ends with Us.”
Aug. 6, 2024 — Baldoni walks the “It Ends With Us” premiere red carpet separately from the rest of the cast. Rumors of a feud between the director and the rest of the cast begin to surface, especially when Baldoni remains absent from movie press tours.
Aug. 9, 2024 — “It Ends With Us” makes its theatrical debut, earning $50 million on its opening weekend.
Aug. 13, 2024 — Baldoni hires Melissa Nathan as a crisis PR manager. Nathan previously worked with Johnny Depp in 2022.
Dec. 20, 2024 — Lively files a formal complaint against Baldoni, accusing him of “disturbing and unprofessional behavior on set that led to a hostile work environment.” Lively makes allegations that Baldoni entered her trailer uninvited while she was breastfeeding her child and making inappropriate comments about sex and porn while on set. Baldoni and his PR team are also accused of creating a smear campaign against Lively.
Dec. 21, 2024 — Baldoni is dropped by his talent agency, the same day The New York Times published an investigative story on the situation. Baldoni and Lively shared the same talent agency, and in Baldoni’s later lawsuit against The New York Times, he alleges that Ryan Reynolds, Lively’s husband, demanded that the agency drop Baldoni as a client at the premiere of “Deadpool and Wolverine.”
Dec. 31, 2024 — Baldoni files a lawsuit against The New York Times, claiming the outlet used “cherry-picked and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead.” He also refuted some of Lively’s claims, stating that his co-star invited him into her trailer and included a screenshot of their conversation. The same day, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni in the state of New York after previously filing her complaint against Baldoni in California.
Jan. 16, 2025 — Baldoni files to directly sue Lively, Reynolds and Lively’s PR company. In this lawsuit, Baldoni accused Lively of never reading the book that their film was based on, thus making decisions that “reflected her fundamental lack of understanding of the book.” He also claims that Lively began to take control of the film, at one point going as far as to joke that Baldoni should get plastic surgery on his nose while filming a scene. Lively’s lawyers called the lawsuit a desperate attack on a woman, saying that it would fail in a press release.
Jan. 21, 2025 — Baldoni’s PR and legal teams release behind-the-scenes footage that they say contradicts Lively’s claims. The footage shows Lively and Baldoni slow dancing for a montage, and it is during this portion of filming that Lively alleges that Baldoni “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘it smells so good’ … When Lively later objected to this behavior, Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you.’” However, in the audio that was captured, Baldoni and Lively can be heard talking and joking out of character while filming the scene. Lively can be heard telling him, “I’m probably getting spray tan on you,” with Baldoni replying, “It smells good.”
Jan. 27, 2025 — A trial date is set for March of 2026 the same day an audio of Baldoni allegedly apologizing is released. Both Baldoni and Lively’s cases have been consolidated into Lively v. Baldoni et al and are scheduled to enter the courtroom March 9, 2026. A pre-trial begins, following Lively’s request for a gag order. This same day, a voice note that Baldoni allegedly sent was leaked of him apologizing for how he responded to Lively’s script changes: “I’m really sorry. I for sure fell short and you worked really hard on that.”
Feb. 1, 2025 — Baldoni launches a website where he plans to share evidence. The website, titled “Lawsuit Info,” contains the link to two PDFs of Baldoni’s complaint and a timeline of events, including allegations of everything that happened up to Lively’s casting and everything that has happened since, along with screenshots of alleged conversations.
Feb. 3, 2025 — Judge warns Baldoni and Lively’s lawyers to rein in their press war at the pre-trial.
Feb. 4, 2025 — Baldoni shares notes from a meeting with an intimacy coordinator, alleging that Lively skipped said meeting.
Feb. 19, 2025 — Lively files an amended complaint against Baldoni. Her lawyers claim that the amendment contains additional evidence, new communications and testimony from additional witnesses that they believe strengthen her argument.
Amidst all of this, Colleen Hoover, author of “It Ends With Us,” has removed all posts from her social media accounts about the film and deactivated her Instagram account. Fans speculate that she is quietly making her exit from writing due to the controversy.
Additionally, fans are also pointing out the similarities between Nicepool, a variant of Deadpool in “Deadpool and Wolverine,” and Baldoni, suggesting that Reynolds used the character to get back at Baldoni in support of his wife.
With accusations flying from both sides, it’s difficult to tell who is in the right or wrong in this case, and, like the Depp and Heard lawsuit, it seems like the aisle will remain divided in support of the actors.
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu
