Awkward! Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively arrive in near matching outfits as they begin their blockbuster court showdown

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively arrived at a New York City courthouse in near matching outfits for their blockbuster It Ends With Us showdown.

Wearing a khaki double-breasted suit, a tan vest over a pink button-up shirt, a green suede purse and a five-leaf clover pin for good luck, she walked in alongside her lawyers to face Baldoni for her first time since their legal battle began in December 2024.

Smiling Baldoni similarly wore an olive teddy coat with a pink scarf as he walked in alongside his lawyer Bryan Freedman.

Ryan Reynolds was conspicuously absent when Lively arrived at court this morning, but Baldoni had his wife Emily firmly by his side for support. 

More than a year after filing a complaint accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation on the film's set, the parties will make a final attempt to resolve the dispute at a court-ordered settlement conference Wednesday in US District Court in Manhattan — their last chance to avoid a May 18 trial.

The closed-door hearing, overseen by Judge Sarah L. Cave, will be closed to the media and public as she presses both sides toward a potential settlement.

At their previous hearing on January 22 - which neither attended - the pair also took part in a settlement conference, just days after a trove of legal filings spilled Lively's private, and often explosive, text messages with A-list friends.

The messages, released on January 19, included one sent the day after she filed her complaint, in which Lively celebrated Baldoni being dropped by his powerhouse agency, WME - with Taylor Swift by her side.

The victory lap texts, exchanged on December 21, 2024, according to court papers, began with Swift telling Lively: 'You won. You did it.'

'You f***ing helped so many people who won't have to go through this ever again,' Swift later added.

After all the negative publicity Blake had received about her 'insensitivity' to the domestic abuse theme of the film during its promotion, Swift said: 'Never has a cancellation been reversed so fast.

'You guys don't understand how rare this is. To have proof and to take the perfect steps to bring that truth to light.

Lively replied: 'Like. My. God.'

Then: 'I love you so much. I would not be ok through any of this if it weren't for you.'

The texts were revealed in a lengthy court document filed in the federal court in New York in which Lively responded to dozens of claims made by Baldoni.

In the file, Baldoni's lawyers wrote: 'On April 12, 2023, Lively asked her friend, the world-famous musician Taylor Swift, for help.

'Referring to Baldoni as "this doofus director of my movie," she went on to describe him as "a clown" who "thinks he's a writer now".

'She asked Swift to endorse the revised script she was proposing even without having read it.'

One text to the singer from Lively read: 'You don't have to read of course.'

In another part, the court document states: 'Swift agreed to do Lively's bidding, texting Lively: "I'll do anything for you !!"'

Lively's side disputed that she asked Swift to endorse the script without reading it, only that she 'hoped she would'. 

Lively has alleged that the erosion of her public image is due, in part, to a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated by Baldoni’s team after she spoke out about sexual harassment - claims his attorneys have vehemently denied.

She says she suffered at least $161million in lost earnings and damages after Baldoni allegedly harassed her and then unleashed a social-media-driven campaign against her as the film was released in summer 2024.

A judge also already dismissed a $400million defamation lawsuit filed by Baldoni.

The actor's legal team previously sought to have Lively's allegations of sexual harassment thrown out before their May trial at the last settlement hearing, but the judge did not rule on Baldoni's motion for dismissal and said he would do so later.