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The
talks between lawyers went on over a six-hour period before
Lively and Baldoni left the Manhattan federal courthouse
separately and went straight to their waiting cars without
saying anything. Lively looked stern as she walked out while
Baldoni was smiling.
Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman said in an email that the
talks did not result in a settlement.
Mandatory settlement talks are generally required before a civil
case proceeds to trial. They are not held in public.
Their acrimonious yearlong litigation has cast a wide net across
the entertainment world, drawing into the headlines other
actors, musicians and celebrities and raising questions about
the power, influence and gender dynamics in Hollywood.
Lively sued Baldoni and his hired crisis communications expert
alleging harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack her
reputation after she complained about his treatment of her on
the movie set.
Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios production company countersued
Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, accusing
them of defamation and extortion. Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed
that suit last June.
The trial, scheduled for May 18, was expected to be
star-studded. Lively’s legal team had indicated in court papers
that people likely to have information about the case included
singer Taylor Swift, model Gigi Hadid, actors Emily Blunt,
Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera and Hugh Jackman, influencer
Candace Owens, media personality Perez Hilton and designer
Ashley Avignone.
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