Blake Lively And Justin Baldoni Unable To Reach Settlement As May Trial Date Moves Forward

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni will continue their ferocious legal battle, as the two have been unable to reach a settlement during their recent court appearance.

The ongoing saga between the two "It Ends With Us" stars will officially head to trial in May, as both sides are standing firm in their recollections of what happened during production of the 2024 film.

According to Deadline, the sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit at the center of the bitter legal saga between former co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni will head to trial after settlement discussions failed.

Per Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, attempts to reach a settlement during the February 11 court appearance were "unsuccessful." Despite the settlement no longer being an option, Freedman said that he and Baldoni are "looking forward to" the May 18 trial.

Freedman also shared that while a settlement before the trial begins is always a possibility, he doesn't "know that we will."

Lively and Baldoni arrived at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Manhattan earlier on Wednesday following a scandalous batch of text messages and emails from Lively that were revealed as part of a deposition.

The February 11 court appearance was the first time the embattled former co-stars had been in court since Lively filed the $550 million lawsuit, in which she claims that she faced repeated harassment from Baldoni during the production of "It Ends With Us," and that he launched a smear campaign against her.

Baldoni had vehemently denied Lively's claims and filed a multi-million-dollar countersuit of his own.

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood were included in the 181 pages of unsealed documents as part of Lively and Baldoni's deposition.

Taylor Swift, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, and Matt Damon were all included in the documents, the most shocking of which featured Swift and Lively discussing Baldoni in very harsh terms.

Per Us Weekly, an insider close to Affleck and Damon told the outlet that the famous Hollywood besties have thoughts about the messy legal battle and "the feeling is frustration."

The source continued, adding, "There's a sense of, 'Why am I being dragged into this?' It's created unnecessary stress and irritation, and people feel like it's become a black hole."

"Even those who have nothing to do with it are worried about getting mentioned or dragged into public speculation," the source said.

"People in Hollywood have been distancing themselves from Blake and Ryan," an additional source said. "Even close friends of theirs have been keeping their heads down and staying neutral."

In a recent YouGov poll, per NewsNation, the singer's popularity rating stood at 46.7% as of January 5, which is a 9% drop from 55.4%  a year ago.

Additionally, the percentage of those who view Swift unfavorably rose from 23.5% to 29.2% over the same period. This is the highest level of disapproval for Swift since October 2020.

The relationship between Lively and Swift is reportedly so fractured that the actress is no longer invited to the Grammy winner's wedding.

"They are not invited. Period," one insider said of Lively and Reynolds, according to the #ShutterScoop. "Taylor wants a drama-free day, and she no longer trusts Blake or Ryan."

"There's no 'will she or won't she,'" another insider said, adding, "She won't."

In a statement from attorney Bryan Freedman, per PEOPLE, he spoke on Baldoni's behalf as the messages circulated online and in the media.

"As stated all along, and reflected in our clients' motions, as well as in messages from Sony discussing Ms. Lively's behaviors, the evidence does not support [Lively's] claims as a matter of law," Freedman said on January 21.

"A simple read of the newly released message exchanges make the truth abundantly clear. We remain confident in the legal process and clearing the names of all the Justin Baldoni parties," he said.