Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's civil trial has been postponed. Judge Lewis J. Liman announced during a post-discovery hearing on Tuesday, December 9, that he has two criminal trials and "as important as this case is ... criminal trials take precedent." The civil trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York was slated to begin on March 9, 2026. The trial will now begin on May 18, 2026. The next scheduled hearing in the case is January 22. News broke in December 2024 that Lively, 38, sued Baldoni, 41, for sexual harassment, claiming that Baldoni's alleged behavior on the set of It Ends With Us had caused her "severe emotional distress." Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's Trial May Be Moved Up, Judge Warns at 1st Hearing In a statement to The New York Times, Lively said, "I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted." Baldoni's lawyer, meanwhile, claimed that the allegations were "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious" and further alleged that Lively filed the suit to "fix her negative reputation" and "rehash a narrative" about the film's production. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Getty Images (2) Freedman alleged that Lively made "multiple demands and threats" throughout production of It Ends With Us, including "threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met." Baldoni filed his own lawsuit against Lively in January, which was dismissed in June. Hours after Baldoni's countersuit was dismissed, Lively - who served as a producer on the movie - reacted to the ruling with an Instagram statement. Blake Lively's Deposition Date Revealed Amid Justin Baldoni Legal Battle "Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organizations united in defending women's rights to speak up for their safety," she wrote in June. "Like so many others, I've felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us." Lively continued: "While the suit against me was defeated, so many don't have the resources to fight back. I'm more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman's right to have a voice in protecting themselves, including their safety, their integrity, their dignity and their story." In the months that have followed, Baldoni and Lively's legal drama has continued to make headlines - and It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover went on to weigh in on the back-and-forth between the actors. "It feels like a circus," Hoover, 45, told Elle in an interview published in November. "When there are real people involved, with real feelings and emotions." Justin Baldoni Is 'Devastated Financially' After Blake Lively Battle Hoover explained that the drama has "impacted some of the actors' careers" in "huge" ways, adding, "I just find it all around sad." The outlet shared that Hoover was prepared to give a deposition within weeks of when the interview occurred. Hoover shared that she's "trying to stay removed from the negativity." "The book was inspired by [my mother's] story, and now it gives us PTSD to think about it," Hoover said. "I feel awful because I almost feel like she's gone through more with the aftermath of this film, more pain than she went through with my dad, just seeing the ugliness of it." She continued, "I can't even recommend it anymore. I feel like [the lawsuit] has overshadowed it. I'm almost embarrassed to say I wrote it. When people ask what I do, I'm just like, 'I'm a writer. Please don't ask me what I wrote.'"