Lawyers for Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s production studio are tangling over whether remarks Baldoni allegedly made about Lively’s weight will be revealed to the jury in the trial surrounding the production of their 2024 film It Ends With Us.
Attorneys for Wayfarer Studios in an April 10 motion asked Judge Lewis J. Liman to strike the purported remarks from going before jurors, ahead of a May 18 start date to the trial.
The inclusion of the purported weight-related remarks would ‘serve only to inflame the jury and cause unfair prejudice,’ attorneys for the actor-director said in the court filing.
Wayfarer’s lawyers said in the motion, reviewed by the Daily Mail, that after the judge narrowed down the case to certain claims, the alleged comments Baldoni, 42, made about Lively (who shares four children with husband Ryan Reynolds, 49) were ‘irrelevant’ to the streamlined case.
The requests came after the judge on April 2 tossed 10 of 13 claims the Gossip Girl alum had made, including the sexual harassment claim and all of the claims against Baldoni personally.
Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Wayfarer, Baldoni and Lively for further comment on the story.
Lawyers for Blake Lively, 38, and Justin Baldoni’s production studio are tangling over whether or not remarks Baldoni made about Lively’s weight will be revealed to jurors in the It Ends With Us trial
Baldoni, 42, pictured in February at the United States District Court in NYC
Baldoni attorneys Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach told the Daily Mail earlier this month that they were ‘very pleased the court dismissed all sexual harassment claims and every claim brought against the individual defendants.
‘These were very serious allegations, and we are grateful to the court for its careful review of the facts, law and voluminous evidence that was provided.’
Shapiro and Bach said that ‘what’s left is a significantly narrowed case, and we look forward to presenting our defense to the remaining claims in court.’
The legal team for Wayfarer said that with the focus now on a smear campaign Lively claimed Baldoni and his collaborators orchestrated, the accusations wouldn’t be germane to the issues at hand.
Inclusion of the remarks would ‘distract from the issues the jury must decide,’ Wayfarer’s lawyers told the court.
Lawyers for Lively filed a response on April 17, saying that the alleged weight comments were essential to giving ‘necessary context’ to the issues still before the court.
The purported remarks illustrate ‘the same course of conduct’ Lively accuses Baldoni of, her legal team said in the filing reviewed by the Daily Mail.
‘The weight‑related comments form part of the context in which Lively experienced and assessed Baldoni’s conduct and therefore bear directly on the reasonableness of her belief that she was opposing unlawful behavior,’ Lively’s lawyers said.
Baldoni and wife Emily pictured leaving court in NYC on February 11
Lively and Baldoni seen on the set of It Ends with Us on January 12, 2024 in New Jersey
The comments ‘bear directly on the reasonableness of [Lively’s] belief’ that she was correctly reading the situation as one of her rejecting inappropriate conduct.
The contentious legal battle has gone on more than a year: In December of 2024, Lively named Baldoni in a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliatory conduct, and intentional infliction of emotional stress. She also named in the suit his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel.
In her lawsuit, the actress accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.
Lively said in her initial filing that Baldoni used ‘back-channel ways of criticizing her body and weight,’ such as asking her to drop pounds and going over her head to talk to her trainer.
Baldoni’s attorneys countered in saying that the reason he made contact with her trainer was to ensure he would be able to lift her up for a scene, as he had problems with his back.
Baldoni told the court that Reynolds chastised him for allegedly ‘fat-shaming’ Lively when he met with the couple at their New York City home on April 25, 2023.
Baldoni had initially asked for $250 million in damages from The New York Times, mentioning a report it published on the topic that he claimed was defamatory, then added it to the $400 million lawsuit he filed in January of 2025.
In the suit, Baldoni named Lively, Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, citing the aforementioned report in legal documents. It was thrown out of court in June of 2025. All parties have denied all of the allegations against them.
Lively and spouse Ryan Reynolds seen on April 29, 2025 in New York City
It Ends with Us earned $148 million in domestic box office and $350 million globally – but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars
It Ends with Us earned $148 million in domestic box office and $350 million globally – but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars.
The motion picture, which also starred Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, was based on the 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover. The storyline of the film centered around a toxic relationship between Lily Bloom (played by Lively) and Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni).
According to a logline for the film, Lily ‘overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life,’ as ‘a chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents’ relationship.’
Lively broke out with the 2005 movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants opposite Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel and America Ferrera.
That led to her high-profile role on the TV show Gossip Girl, which she starred on from 2007-2012, playing lead character Serena van der Woodsen.
She has also appeared in movies such as 2010’s The Town, 2016’s The Shallows, 2018’s A Simple Favor and 2020’s The Rhythm Section.
Prior to It Ends with Us, Baldoni was best known for playing the role of Rafael Solano on the TV show Jane the Virgin from 2014–2019.
He also has directed films including 2019’s Five Feet Apart and 2020’s Clouds, and penned the 2021 book Man Enough, which tackled misconceptions of contemporary masculinity.
