Blake Livelyand Justin Baldoni quietly ended theiracrimonious legal battlethis week, reaching a confidential settlement over Lively's claims that she was targeted with a retaliatory smear campaign after raising concerns about alleged sexual harassment on the set ofIt Ends With Us.
The case, which pitted two of Hollywood's most bankable names against each other, was resolvedwithout any money changing hands, according to court records and statements from both sides,Ok!Magazinereports.
Thesettlement closes a disputethat had been building around Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni since production onIt Ends With Us, the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel.
Lively had alleged that after she raised issues about alleged sexual harassment during the shoot, Baldoni, who stars opposite her and also directed and produced the film, orchestrated a behind-the-scenes effort to damage her reputation.
Baldoni firmly denied the accusations. The lawsuit put not only their working relationship under a microscope, but also the economics of celebrity, reputation, and modern studio filmmaking.
The news came after both camps issued ajoint statement, an increasingly familiar Hollywood mechanism for drawing a line under damaging public disputes.
One line in particular stood out. The statement acknowledged that 'concerns raised by Ms Lively deserved to be heard,' wording that did not come out of nowhere.
Megan Thomas, a sexual harassment attorney and founder of Megan Thomas Law, who is not involved in the case, told reporters that such language is rarely accidental.
She sees it as part of a negotiated outcome in which neither Blake Lively nor Justin Baldoni walks away with a formal legal victory, but both attempt to salvage what matters most in their world: perception.
'After a settlement involving celebrities, the public often thinks one party received a large sum of money or a party settled because they had a weak case. This is often not the reality,' Thomas said.
Source: International Business Times UK
