Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s lawyers in heated exchange as they go head-to-head in court for first time

Legal proceedings between It Ends with Us stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have begun as their lawyers came face to face in court yesterday (3 February).

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal teams made their first appearances in court after their trial date was confirmed for 9 March 2026, and the hearing quickly turned heated.

The legal battle began in December 2024 when Lively filed a lawsuit against her co-star, alleging sexual harassment and claiming Baldoni started a smear campaign against her.

Baldoni hit back in January, filing a countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicist.

While both stars have denied the allegations against each other, Baldoni's team made the move to publish a 168-page document setting out the alleged timeline of events between the two before and after filming the romance-drama film.

The document includes a number of alleged texts between the co-stars and others involved in the making of the title.

It's an updated version of the 41-year-old's $400 million lawsuit against Lively's team, as her and Reynolds asked a judge to dismiss the countersuit.

Yesterday (3 February), both legal teams appeared in court for the first time.

The teams aimed multiple jabs at each other as a New York judge listened on, and though the co-stars were not required to be in attendance at the pretrial meeting, both sides fought their cases for the duration of the 90-minute hearing.

Lively's attorney, Michael Gottilieb, told Judge Lewis Liman that 'it's not supposed to be resolved in the press', alleging that Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, had made 'inflammatory extrajudicial comments' with regards to Lively's character and her motives while on news channels.

Freedman replied, accusing Gottilieb of trying to set up a 'gag order' that would stop him from talking to the press, alleging that Baldoni was the one who had his reputation negatively impacted.

He claimed: "My client is devastated financially and emotionally."

Lively accused Baldoni of starting a smear campaign against her (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

Despite the film's success, the relationship between the stars had soured long before its release.

The federal court judge stepped in to point out that both sides had 'given the public plenty to feast upon', warning that if the case would continue to be 'litigated in the press', he would have to move the trial date forward so that the jury wouldn't become biased to either side.

He also added that he would adopt a New York Bar Association measure under Rule 3.6, preventing lawyers from making public statements that could alter the outcome of a trial.

Speaking about Baldoni's new website, Gottilieb asked: "Who created the website?"

"Who funded it?"

Lively's team has now pledged to file a new complaint, which would amend the old one and involve even more people.

Baldoni has already sued the New York Times for libel after they published Lively's lawsuit, claiming the outlet had advance access to the complaint, which the news outlet has denied.

Baldoni's team published an amended lawsuit online (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Vital Voices Global Partnership)

Judge Liman stated that these matters will be handled in a different trial.

The judge added that the legal teams would have to agree to a protective order, which is a legal document protecting those involved in the case from another person accused of abusing or harassing them.

Judge Liman highlighted the importance as the case involves a 'significant number of high-profile individuals', and because of the 'nature of the allegations'.