.webp)
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman’s decision is the latest development in the bitter legal battle surrounding the dark romantic drama that includes Lively suing Baldoni in late December.
Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios countersued in January for $400 million, accusing Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.
The New York judge ruled that Baldoni can’t sue Lively for defamation over claims she made in her lawsuit, because allegations made in a lawsuit are exempt from libel claims. Liman also ruled that Baldoni’s claims that Lively stole creative control of the film didn’t count as extortion under California law.
While Lively was accused in the lawsuit of threatening to refuse to promote the film, Wayfarer does “not allege facts showing that Lively had an obligation to promote the film or to approve marketing materials,” Liman wrote.
Baldoni’s legal team can revise the lawsuit if they want to pursue different claims related to whether Lively breached a contract, the judge said.
The judge also dismissed Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which had reported on Lively’s sexual harassment allegations.
“Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, (publicist) Leslie Sloane and The New York Times,” Lively’s attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a prepared statement.
The lawyers said they “look forward to the next round” of seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages, and punitive damages.
A spokesperson for The New York Times said they were “grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting.”
“Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognized that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism,” Charlie Stadtlander said in an emailed statement.
The Associated Press sent emails seeking comment to Baldoni’s attorneys.
Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart,” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.
On Monday, June 9, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios’ countersuit against Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, in which he accused them of defamation and extortion. He also dismissed the defamation suit against The New York Times, which reported on Lively’s original complaint against Baldoni (here’s a longer recap of the various allegations between the It Ends With Us costars).
To say this is a win for Blake Lively is an understatement. It doesn’t mean that she will necessarily win her suit against Baldoni—the trial is still set for March 2026—but it’s gotta feel good to no longer have the specter of a $400 million lawsuit hanging over your head. On Instagram, Lively released a statement thanking the many organizations that voiced their support for her motion to dismiss his case against her.
“Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us. 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,” she wrote.
The day the news of the dismissal broke, an insider revealed to People that Lively had “cried with relief” after hearing of the dismissal. “She’s obviously relieved. They both are,” said another source, referring to Lively and Reynolds, adding, “She feels vindicated” and that “everyone [on the legal team] is happy.”
In a statement, Lively’s lawyers said, “Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication…as we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it. We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages, and punitive damages.”