Blake Lively went into 2024 riding high. After sidelining her acting career for her “brands,” she starred in and produced It Ends With Us, a drama adapted from Colleen Hoover’s novel. This was a property Justin Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer, acquired from the author with designs of turning all books to films.
The film cost $25 million and grossed over $351 million worldwide, hitting $100 million domestically in just 11 days. It looked like a career triumph and potential launchpad for a sequel. Instead, it became the flashpoint for one of the messiest public feuds and legal battles in recent Hollywood memory.
When Promotion and On-Set Tensions Exploded
The promotion campaign for the movie quickly soured. Lively faced backlash for a tone-deaf marketing approach which was pushing her Blake Brown haircare line. She was encouraging fans to “bring their florals,” and appearing to sidestep the film’s heavy domestic violence themes.
Behind the scenes, tensions with director and co-star Justin Baldoni boiled over. In December 2024, Lively sued Baldoni and his production team, alleging sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, and a coordinated smear campaign against her. Ten of her 13 claims were recently dismissed by the presiding judge. More on that in a moment.
Baldoni fired back in early 2025 with a $400 million countersuit. This accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her PR rep of extortion, defamation, and breach of contract. Many claims came with alleged supporting evidence.
In fact, court documents revealed ugly details on both sides, including studio execs privately blasting Lively—one calling her a “f—ing terrorist” over a long list of demands. Another labeling Blake’s actions as, “epic-level stupid”, for timing a product launch amid the controversy.
The Legal Blow That Changed Everything
As mentioned before, the turning point came in early April 2026. A federal judge in New York dismissed 10 of Lively’s 13 claims against Baldoni, including all sexual harassment allegations and most defamation charges. This relit the fires to bring in the “dragons” like Taylor Swift, who is being dragged back into Legal the legal case against Baldoni.
Only three narrower claims-related to retaliation and breach of contract will proceed to trial in May 2026. The ruling gutted the core of Lively’s narrative and left her exposed to ongoing scrutiny. Perhaps even to additional lawsuits from Baldoni and his production company.
Blake Lively in a Wedding Dress in Another Simple Favor – YouTube, Amazon Prime Video
Public perception has absolutely cratered. Reports pegged her approval rating as low as the single digits in some polls. This includes a reported 70-point drop in roughly a year.
Social media backlash intensified, with critics accusing her of weaponizing serious allegations and engaging in her own form of “digital violence” against perceived detractors. Her agency WME publicly backed her, framing the situation as resistance to “covert digital takedown campaigns,” but the damage was already done.
The Beauty Brand Blake Built
Lively had built side businesses – Betty Buzz, Betty Booze, and Blake Brown Beauty, so naturally, acting took a backseat. Yet, she claimed over $56 million in lost acting earnings and $71 million in lost business profits tied to the fallout. Studio emails suggested some executives believed she had brought the negative attention on herself and might “never work again.” In other words, she “Streisand Effected” herself.
The dislike ratio for Blake Lively’s film Another Simple Favor as of March 4, 2025 – YouTube, Amazon Prime Video
Her upcoming projects look shaky. Several titles listed on IMDb (The Survival List, Proxy, and others) have lingered in development for years with limited movement. Some speculate that securing insurance, financing, or co-star commitments has become far harder in the current climate. The once-reliable rom-com star has fallen victim to significant baggage. Her own bad press parade.
What a Year’s Worth of Bad Press Left Behind
This isn’t a temporary PR hiccup. It’s a PR nightmare with structural damage from a very public meltdown that combined on-set power struggles, marketing missteps, and aggressive legal warfare. This is so far reaching that a Disney exec alleged in a Daily Mail story her career is “ruined.
Blake Lively in the film It Ends With Us – YouTube, Sony Pictures Entertainment
This not a first in entertainment. Hollywood has seen plenty of stars survive scandals, but the speed and scale of Lively’s image collapse—amplified by social media and leaked documents—make recovery tougher. The article further quoted the same exec as saying she, “made her bed and she can lie in it,” claiming that “people in Hollywood” aren’t “shedding tears” over her.
The Final Set of Blows
Baldoni’s legal team responded to New York Posts’ Page Six with the following statement. “We’re very pleased the Court dismissed all sexual harassment claims and every claim brought against the individual defendants.” Further adding, “These were very serious allegations, and we are grateful to the Court for its careful review of the facts, law and voluminous evidence that was provided.”
What are your thoughts on this massive PR hit and the effects it may have on “Blake as a Brand” and will this spill over on Ryan Reynolds and his Van City efforts?
Feminism has destroyed many a lovely woman. They should be housewives, not making trouble for everyone.
Good. Throwing her husband’s weight around to bully people was a shit tactic. She needs to lose.
On the other hand, Baldoni is the epitomizes the performative “male feminist” to the point he even did some sort of TED talk about it. I hate to see him win.
At the end of the day I think both of their careers are over thanks to this. Even though Baldoni was cleared of all the sexual assault charges, that is a stench that lingers and probably ruined his career.
After the success of this movie he might have been on his way to becoming a very powerful and rich director. I imagine $400m is low-balling the lifetime earnings he’ll miss out on because this actress figured she could push this sissy around.