Highlights
- Lively and Baldoni attend mandatory settlement conference in New York
- Social media users note both wore pastel pink and green
- No settlement reached ahead of planned May trial
Court appearance sparks online chatter
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni arrived at a Manhattan federal courthouse on Wednesday for mandatory settlement talks in their ongoing legal dispute linked to the 2024 film It Ends With Us.
Observers online quickly pointed out that the co-stars appeared unintentionally colour-coordinated. Both wore soft pastel pink tops paired with green-toned coats and trousers, prompting speculation on social media about whether the matching palette was deliberate.
Posts circulating online highlighted the similarity in their outfits, with some users joking about the coincidence. Others shifted focus to who accompanied each party to court.
Six hours behind closed doors
The closed-door conference, a required step before a civil case proceeds to trial, lasted around six hours. Lively and Baldoni left the courthouse separately and did not speak to reporters.
Photographs showed Baldoni smiling as he exited, while Lively appeared serious. Baldoni was accompanied by his wife, Emily, whereas Lively arrived and departed alone. Ryan Reynolds, her husband, was not present — a detail that prompted discussion across social media platforms.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, later confirmed by email that the talks did not result in a settlement. The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in May.
Background to the dispute
Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni and a crisis communications specialist he hired, alleging sexual harassment on set and claiming there was a coordinated effort to damage her reputation after she raised concerns about his conduct during filming.
Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, countersued Lively and Reynolds, accusing them of defamation and extortion. That countersuit was dismissed last June by Judge Lewis J Liman.
The year-long legal battle has drawn wider attention within the entertainment industry, bringing other high-profile names into the headlines and prompting debate about influence, power and gender dynamics in Hollywood.
With no agreement reached at this stage, the dispute appears set to continue towards trial.
