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Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freeman is speaking out about the settling of the “It Ends with Us” lawsuit.
“Extra’s” Melissa McCarty spoke with Bryan a day after Justin and his former co-star Blake Lively settled out of court.
Lively and Baldoni have been in a legal dispute since just before Christmas 2024. It began when she filed a civil rights complaint in California, followed by a lawsuit in New York, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of their film — an adaptation of “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover. She also alleged that Baldoni launched a retaliatory smear campaign against her.
Last month, Judge Lewis Liman tossed 10 of Lively’s claims, including sexual harassment, defamation, and conspiracy.
However, three of the claims, including breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation, had remained.
Months ago, Liman dismissed Baldoni’s $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times over its coverage of Lively’s claims, as well as his $400 million defamation suit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane.
While both sides didn’t seem to be backing down, who came to the table with the settlement first?
Bryan answered, “You know, I wouldn’t say which side kind of came to the table first. I think there was an urgency to try and get it done as quickly as possible. I think that Justin and the other individuals felt pretty comfortable where they were at the time…
“Ten of the 13 claims were gone as a result of the summary judgment motion. Five individuals were out of the case. You were left with a case that was really Blake Lively versus ‘It Ends with Us,’ the movie LLC, the agency group and Wayfarer Studios, so it was a very different case at the point in time that we had those settlement discussions than ever was before.”
According to Bryan, Justin is happy with how things played out. He said, “This is not his settlement. He’s already out of the case by the time this settlement discussion even starts. Justin Baldoni is not a party, and that’s what gets forgotten a lot. I mean, everybody will always refer to it as Baldoni, Lively, or Lively Baldoni…
“When these settlement discussions started this weekend or this past weekend, he was not a party to the case.. So, you’re looking at this settlement as a win or a loss or anything else. I think he just looks at it as a logical ending to, you know, a case that he’s already out of, frankly.”
There are reports today that no money was awarded.
Bryan noted, “I can’t talk about the terms of the settlement, but what I can tell you is that he is ecstatic, that both Jamie and Justin are ecstatic at the results of this and the settlement itself, they are very pleased with where this ended up.”
And what about Justin and what is next for him?
Freedman answered, “Justin wants to help people who have suffered similar experiences, when they felt like they were accused of something they did not do, and went and fought all the way and won in summary judgment and got that. I think what Justin wants to do is to help other people and to be a leader for helping other people in that way. I think that’s one of the many things he wants to do.”
Bryan went on, “I know that he will help people that have experienced similar trauma, and I know that he will continue to advocate for women and advocate for women’s rights and advocate for the domestic violence survivor community, which has been unfortunately overlooked by this battle that went on of epic proportions, and I know that you will continue to work for the domestic violence survivors.”
Bryan cautioned that the case is not over yet since there are details that still need to be dealt with.
