As the legal battle tied to the production of It Ends with Us moves closer to a courtroom showdown scheduled for May 18, 2026, the dispute has once again surged back into headlines, with tensions continuing to rise between Blake Lively and her director-costar Justin Baldoni. What began in December 2024 as a lawsuit filed by Lively against Baldoni has since evolved into a high-profile legal battle, and the latest twist now sees the actress pushing back against Baldoni’s effort to have her claims dismissed before the case reaches a jury.

Here is what Blake Lively urged the judge to consider before dismissing her claims against Justin Baldoni.

Blake Lively, who previously filed a lawsuit against her It Ends with Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni alleging s***** harassment and retaliation while seeking more than $160 million in damages, is now pushing back against his attempt to dismiss the case. In a letter filed March 12, Thursday to Judge Lewis J. Liman in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Lively’s legal team pointed to a recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, arguing that her claims should proceed to trial rather than being thrown out early.

“Dismissing a complaint at that stage would hardly serve the efficient or just resolution of disputes if evidence gathered during the case may support the claims.” Pointing to a recent Second Circuit decision, Lively’s attorneys wrote as per People.

Further pressing their argument, Blake Lively’s legal team said the same principle should apply in her case. They argued that the court should evaluate the claims using the evidence already gathered through discovery, including documents and testimony, instead of focusing only on the written allegations in the complaint.

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However, after Justin Baldoni’s previously filed $400 million defamation suit against Lively which was later dismissed by the court, the courtroom drama has taken another turn, with attention once again shifting back to the romantic drama It Ends with Us, the project at the centre of their long-running dispute.

The romantic drama It Ends with Us follows Lily Bloom, a young woman who moves to Boston to start anew and soon finds herself in a complicated romance with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid. Directed by Justin Baldoni and starring Blake Lively alongside Brandon Sklenar, the film premiered in New York on August 6, 2024, opened in theatres on August 9, and later arrived on Netflix on December 9, 2024.

Based on the bestselling novel by Colleen Hoover, the romantic drama It Ends with Us received strong audience response upon release, earning an A– CinemaScore and with a 90% verified audience score and 4.5/5 rating on Rotten Tomatoes while a good majority remained skeptical about the entire ordeal. 

Even as the success and buzz surrounding It Ends with Us show little sign of slowing down, Blake Lively’s fight back against Justin Baldoni has added yet another layer to the ongoing dispute, keeping both their personal clash and the film tied to it firmly in the spotlight.

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What are your thoughts on Blake Lively fighting back against Justin Baldoni’s effort to avoid a jury trial? Let us know in the comments.