The "It Ends With Us" feud refuses to end quietly.
On Monday, a federal judge set a trial date of March 2026 for the dueling lawsuits between Blake Lively and her co-star-turned-adversary Justin Baldoni — meaning Hollywood gets two full years of depositions, leaks, and very expensive statement jewelry before anyone testifies under oath.
For those who somehow missed the mess: Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment on set and of orchestrating a smear campaign against her, claims he has denied.
Baldoni fired back with a $400 million defamation suit against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, arguing the allegations torched his career and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.
Both sides now get to spend the next 24 months proving it.
The judge also ruled on a handful of pretrial motions, letting several of Lively's claims move forward while trimming parts of Baldoni's countersuit.
Translation: neither side scored a knockout, and both legal teams are already spinning the split decision as a win.
Courtroom fashion is officially back on the calendar.
What makes this one different from the usual celebrity legal spat is the receipts.
Baldoni's team has leaned hard on text messages between Lively and her publicist, while Lively's side has pointed to crisis-PR tactics that read like a masterclass in reputation warfare.
It's less "he said, she said" and more "screenshot, screenshot, screenshot" — and the internet has been doing its own forensics the entire time.
Meanwhile, the industry is watching nervously. "It Ends With Us" pulled in over $350 million worldwide despite the chaos, proving audiences will show up for a scandal.
Still in limbo, which is a polite way of saying nobody wants to be in a room with these two again.
Reynolds, for his part, has stayed mostly silent publicly while getting dragged into the suit by name.
That's a notable choice for a man who normally treats press tours like a comedy special.
His lawyers, presumably, are thrilled he's keeping his mouth shut for once.
Add in the ongoing fight over whether Baldoni's team leaked documents to the press, and you've got the kind of case that generates a new headline every time someone's phone buzzes.
The March 2026 date is far enough away to feel abstract, but close enough that depositions will start landing in tabloids before your next beach vacation.
Our take: this is a reputational war dressed up as a lawsuit, and the real verdict has already started rendering in the court of public opinion.
Two years of discovery means two years of drip-fed drama, and neither star walks away with their image fully intact.
Final Thoughts
Grab the popcorn — just don't expect a tidy ending.