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He Finish with us The cast and crew have been embroiled in a feud since last year. It all started when TikTok users noticed that movie star. animated blake and his co-star and director, Justin BaldoniThey did not pose for photos together at the August 6, 2024 premiere in New York City. Rumors surfaced that the cast had distanced themselves from Justin, and fuel was added to the fire when Justin hired a crisis PR manager. In late 2024, Blake filed a lawsuit against Justin for alleged sexual harassment on the set of his film. In early 2025, Justin responded by suing both Blake and her husband. ryan reynoldsbut a judge dismissed his countersuit in November 2025.
hollywood life He’s breaking down the timeline between the drama and the legal battle between Blake and Justin, below.
Rumors of tension circulate
On August 14, 2024, TMZ reported that there was discomfort between Blake and Justin while filming a kissing scene. Insiders told the outlet that the a simple favor The actress felt that the director “took too long” while kissing her on camera.
Sources also told the outlet that Blake was “embarrassed” by Justin while working on a scene in which his character, Ryle, lifts his character, Lilly, into the air. Justin reportedly has a history of back problems, and after he allegedly asked a trainer on set how much Blake weighed, she felt like he was embarrassing her, according to the outlet.
Page six reported that a witness recalled the “tension” visible in Blake on the set of Finish with us.
“The tension was so obvious,” the source told the outlet. “Once [Blake] When the scene ended, she was very impatient and said, ‘Am I done? Can I go? And as soon as they said, “Yes,” there was like a Blake-sized hole in the wall. [sic]. “It was so out of character.”
Fans were asking whether or not Blake and Justin would work on the sequel. Start with us. However, a source said Variety on August 27, 2024, that “there is no world in which these two will work together again.”
“This is uncharted territory and no one has any idea what a sequel could be like,” the source added.
How did the feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni escalate?
According The Hollywood ReporterThe filmmakers’ working relationship was affected during post-production. The publication reported that two different cuts of the film were created, leading to an alleged split over creative differences.
As Internet sleuths have noted, Blake and Finish with us author of the book Carolina Hoover Don’t follow Justin on Instagram even if he follows you. And social media activity isn’t the only area where the cast’s relationship reportedly went downhill.
PEOPLE reported on August 13, 2024 that the rumored tension with Justin involves the “main cast” and Colleen.
“Not everything is as it seems,” a source from the set told the publication. “There is much more to this story. The main cast and Elisabeth McGowan Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him.”
Blake Lively sues Justin Baldoni
On December 21, 2024, TMZ It reported that Blake filed a lawsuit against Justin for alleged sexual harassment. The lawsuit claimed that an all-hands meeting was held on the set of Finish with us to address the alleged toxic work environment. According to the outlet, the meeting addressed the following demands: no longer showing nude videos or images of other women to Blake; no more comments about Justin’s alleged “porn addiction”; no more conversations about sexual experiences in front of Blake and other people; no more mentions of cast and crew’s genitals; and no more questions about Blake’s weight.
Another demand that was mentioned was “no more adding sex scenes, oral sex or on-camera climaxes by BL outside the scope of the script that BL approved when signing the project,” according to TMZ.
TMZ further reported that Finish with us It failed at the box office because Blake and Justin disagreed on how to market the film. According to the outlet, Blake supposedly wanted her character’s resilience to be the focus, while Justin supposedly wanted the focus to be more serious because the film addresses domestic violence.
In response to his lawsuit, Justin’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, issued a statement to The Hollywood Reportercalling Blake’s lawsuit “shameful” because she and her representatives would “make such serious and categorically false allegations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and their representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation that was garnered from her own comments and actions during the film’s campaign; interviews and press activities that were publicly observed, in real time and unedited, allowing the Internet to generate its own views and opinions.”
Justin Baldoni sues ‘The New York Times’
December 31 Variety reported that Justin filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times about his published article titled “We Can Bury Anyone”: Inside a Hollywood Defamation Machine.” On behalf of Justin and several other plaintiffs, Bryan filed a complaint alleging that the publication committed fraud of promise and breach of implied-in-fact contract.
In response, a NYT The spokesperson said: “The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was reported meticulously and responsibly. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed out a single error. We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well. We plan to defend ourselves vigorously. against the claim.”
Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
On January 16, 2025, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds, accusing them of hijacking It Ends With Us and destroying his reputation with false accusations of sexual harassment. According VarietyThe lawsuit said: “This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire movie from the hands of its director and production studio… When the plaintiffs have their day in court, the jury will recognize that not even the most powerful celebrity can bend the truth to their will.”
On January 27, 2025, TMZ posted a voicemail that Justin shared with Blake, which appears to reference an alleged meeting where a new script was written for a scene with her husband and friend. Taylor Swift present. In the voice note, Justin is heard saying, “I’m so sorry. I screwed up. I will admit and apologize when I fail. I am a very flawed man, as my wife will attest.” He also refers to their presence, saying, “We should all have friends like that, aside from the fact that they are two of the most creative people on the planet.” Justin added: “You three together, it’s amazing.”
“I just wanted you to know that I didn’t need that,” he continued. “Because it’s really good.” The actor concluded by saying, “I’m excited to watch the whole movie with you.”
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds ask to dismiss lawsuits
According VarietyBlake and Ryan filed to dismiss Justin’s defamation lawsuit on January 30, 2025.
Blake Lively overturns judge’s grant to protect confidential information
On March 13, 2025, a federal judge granted Blake’s request to safeguard certain information in the case. According to several media outlets, the motion will only allow confidential information about the case to be seen “solely through the eyes of the lawyers.”
Justin Baldoni sues his former publicist
On March 21, 2025, Justin Baldoni filed a lawsuit against his former publicist, Stephanie Jonesafter reports emerged that she was involved in the feud and drama surrounding the Finish with us castincluding Blake Lively and Baldoni himself.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freemandeclared to Variety“It is undeniable that Stephanie Jones initiated this catastrophic sequence of events by violating the most basic privacy rights as well as any remaining trust her clients had.” He added: “No stranger to provoking crisis scenarios for departing clients, Ms Jones maliciously handed over communications from the phone she wrongfully took from her own partner to her cohort. [Lively’s personal publicist] Leslie Sloane, immediately after Wayfarer fired Jones for cause due to his own unlawful behavior.”
Blake Lively Emotional Distress Claims Dismissed
In June 2025, a judge overseeing Lively and Baldoni’s case dropped their allegations of emotional distress. According VarietyJudge Lewis Liman ruled that Baldoni’s motion to compel was denied “based on plaintiff’s representation that the relevant claims will be withdrawn. Lively’s request that ‘because the parties have agreed to dismiss Ms. Lively’s tenth and eleventh causes of action… the Court exercises its inherent authority and its authority under Rule 15 to dismiss them without prejudice’ is denied without prejudice to the renewal. The parties will have to stipulate whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice, or Lively will renew her request by formal motion. For the avoidance of doubt, if the claims are not dismissed, the Court will prevent Lively from offering any evidence of emotional distress.
Judge dismisses Justin Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit
On June 9, 2025, Judge Lewis J. Liman in New York dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband, Reynolds, the couple’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, and Baldoni’s defamation allegations against The New York Times. In November 2025, the countersuit was officially dropped when Baldoni failed to file an amended complaint.
