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Justin Baldoni‘s legal battle with former It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively has hit the actor’s money hard, according to his lawyer.
Justin’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told the court that his “clients are devastated financially and emotionally” as a result of the litigation during a pretrial hearing on Monday, February 3.
As In Touch previously reported, Bryan is also representing producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, their production company Wayfarer Studios and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, in the highly publicized legal battle.
“Not to sound like a 4-year-old fighting a 4-year-old with ‘they started it,’ but in these kinds of cases, once someone says something it becomes fact: There’s no way to fight against it,” Bryan further explained during the hearing this week, People reported. Sources close to Justin, 41, recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he has “lost three jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The two parties are set for trial on March 9, 2026, and it’s unclear if they will reach a settlement before their court date.
Justin previously filed a $400 million countersuit against Blake, 37, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, as well as publicist Leslie Sloane and her PR firm Vision PR, Inc., with claims of civil extortion, defamation and more on January 16.
It was nearly a month after the Gossip Girl actress made headlines when she sued Justin, who acted in and directed the film, in December 2024 for allegedly sexually harassing her and launching a retaliatory smear campaign on the set of the movie. Blake claimed he showed up uninvited in her trailer, spoke inappropriately about sex and improvised unwanted contact, all of which Justin disputed.
“Their response to sexual harassment allegations: she wanted it, it’s her fault. Their justification for why this happened to her: look what she was wearing. In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail,” Blake’s team said.
Justin’s team denied wrongdoing after being accused of alleged inappropriate behavior both while making the movie and during its promotion.
Justin, meanwhile, alleged that Blake utilized her powerful connections in Hollywood to try to take over control of the film. He said Sony agreed to release her cut despite his edits testing higher among audiences before its release.
In Touch exclusively learned that Justin accused Blake of demanding he be removed from all film posters and stripped of his “a film by” credit after production.
Amid his legal battle with Blake, he also sued The New York Times for $250 million over an article reporting on the bombshell lawsuit filed by the actress, which Justin felt was one-sided.
A spokesperson for the publication said that the outlet is planning to “vigorously defend against the lawsuit” and its reporting.
It’s been an ongoing saga that continued after Justin launched a website which featured documents related to his lawsuit on February 1. The development came after Blake and Ryan, 48, wrote a letter to the judge presiding over the case to stop the launch, as In Touch exclusively reported.
The site features links to two files including Justin’s amended complaint filed on January 31 in a New York district court, as well as a “timeline of relevant events” spanning from January 2019 to January 2025.
After Monday’s hearing, both legal teams expressed their satisfaction.
“We are pleased with the result of today’s hearing and eager to move forward immediately with discovery in this case,” reps for Blake said. “The Court granted our request that all attorneys in the matter actually follow the rule of law and not make any statements that could prejudice a jury. This case deals with serious allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation. We will hold the defendants accountable, and we are confident that once all the evidence is submitted in this matter, Ms. Lively will prevail.”
Justin’s team issued their own statement, reading, “Our clients are devastated and want to move the case along as quickly as possible. We just couldn’t be more pleased with how the case was handled today, how it was managed. We’re going to move as quickly as we possibly can and prove our innocence, in a world where sometimes people judge you before they give you a chance. And we’re going to change that.”
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