How the Lively-Baldoni settlement came together

Behind the scenes, talks to resolve the Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively case began in earnest last month, after a judge dismissed most of Lively’s claims, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.

With two weeks to go before a scheduled trial, “It Ends With Us” co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni announced a surprise settlement Monday, ending a dispute that had played out in court hearings and headlines for almost a year and a half.

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Publicly, lawyers for the former co-stars continued to hash out key pretrial issues before a federal judge.

But behind the scenes, talks to resolve the case began in earnest last month, after a judge dismissed most of Lively’s claims, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News. The teams held meetings over the weekend and finalized the deal Monday, the source said. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.