Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are to ask a federal court to dismiss a $400 million lawsuit filed by It Ends with Us director Justin Baldoni, as their escalating legal battle intensifies ahead of a key hearing next week.
Attorney Michael Gottlieb, representing the couple, confirmed their intention to file a motion to dismiss in a letter to Judge Lewis Liman.
"The Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint," he stated, according to court documents reviewed by Variety. The judge has asked for a deadline to be set for the couple’s legal team to formally submit the paperwork.
Lively and Reynolds' publicist Leslie Sloane, who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, filed a similar request to the court this week.
The legal request comes as the first hearing in a spate of lawsuits between the collaborators on the summer hit is set to commence on Monday, February 3 with a pretrial conference.
Lawyers for both sides have reportedly agreed to consolidate the federal cases as proceedings ramp up ahead of a trial scheduled for March 2026.
Lively and Reynolds' legal team has also asked the court to sanction Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman, accusing him of violating ethical standards by speaking publicly about the case on multiple media platforms, including Megyn Kelly, Chris Cuomo, and a Hulu documentary.
Freedman allegedly set up a website to display evidence, including text messages and footage, which Lively’s legal team claims could "taint the jury pool."
Freedman hit back, claiming Lively and Reynolds are trying to "hide and delay the discovery of hundreds of pages of well-documented information."
The lawsuit, filed by Baldoni earlier this month, accuses Lively of orchestrating a "scorched-earth" smear campaign.
Lively claimed Baldoni engaged in retaliatory tactics and filed an 80-page civil rights complaint in December, accusing him of body-shaming and professional misconduct during the production of It Ends with Us.
Baldoni has denied the claims, alleging Lively misrepresented their interactions. Lively has also denied any wrongdoing.
The trial continues to spark high-profile fallout, with Baldoni facing additional legal issues and being dropped by WME, which also represents Lively and Reynolds.
Despite the legal drama, It Ends with Us, based on Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel, was a box office hit, earning $350 million globally after its release in August.
