Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni’s legal battle gets a trial date

A court in the United States has set a trial date for the legal battle between ‘It Ends With Us’ costars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

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The Hollywood actress has filed a lawsuit against her costar, accusing him of sexual harassment and a smear campaign during the production of ‘It Ends With Us’ in 2024.

In his counterclaim, Justin Baldoni accused Blake Lively of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, among others.

Now, a New York court Judge Lewis J. Liman announced scheduling the trial date for March 9, 2026, according to US media outlets.

According to reports, the court will combine Blake Lively’s case with Baldoni’s counterclaim, in which he is seeking $400 million in damages.

The New York court will also hold a pre-trial conference on February 3, 2025, in which both legal teams will address the Hollywood actress’s earlier request for a gagging order against the ‘It Ends With US’ lead and director’s legal team.

The dispute between the two Hollywood stars began last year when Blake Lively first sued Justin Baldoni in the California Civil Rights Commission, accusing him of sexual harassment and a smear campaign.

In her second lawsuit with the New York federal court, the ‘Gossip Girl’ alum levelled allegations of ‘severe emotional distress and pain, humiliation, embarrassment, belittlement, frustration, and mental anguish’ against Baldoni, and demanded he pay punitive and compensatory damages.

In response, Baldoni filed a $250 million counter-lawsuit against the New York Times, for backing Lively’s sexual harassment allegations story.

He followed it with a $400 million second countersuit earlier this month, accusing Lively, Ryan Reynolds as well as her publicist Leslie Sloane, of ‘civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy’.