Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against his “It Ends With Us” co-star, Blake Lively, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, was dismissed by a federal judge on Monday, according to court documents.
Baldoni accused the couple, along with Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, of civil extortion and defamation after Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation in a complaint filed in December. Baldoni has denied the accusations.
Baldoni also filed a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which was the first to report Lively’s sexual harassment complaint. That lawsuit was also dismissed Monday.
Lawyers for Lively called the judge’s decision “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,” attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said in a statement.
The New York Times said it was “grateful to the court,” calling Baldoni’s lawsuit against the paper “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,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We will continue to stand up in court for our journalism and for our journalists when their work comes under attack.”
Representatives for Baldoni did not respond to a request for comment.
CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson said that the basis of Baldoni’s defamation claims did not hold up in court.
“What the judge is saying is that Blake Lively’s accusations were part of legal filings and therefore they were protected, that they can’t form the basis of a defamation suit,” Levinson told “CBS Mornings.”
Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, which was a plaintiff in his suit, are able to amend claims related to Lively allegedly breaking her contract by June 23, the judge ruled.
The legal fight between Lively and Baldoni came months after the August 2024 release of “It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel about a relationship that becomes abusive.
But rumors of their feud swirled during the promotion of the film, as Baldoni did most of his press separately from Lively and other cast members.
Lively’s complaint alleged that following a meeting to address “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni, who also directed the film, and Jamey Heath, the CEO of Wayfarer and a producer of the film, they began “a multi-tiered plan” to ruin the actress’ reputation.
Her complaint included screenshots of alleged texts between Baldoni’s publicist, Jennifer Abel, and crisis PR specialist Melissa Nathan, in which Abel says Baldoni “wants to feel like she can be buried.” Nathan’s alleged replies include “we can’t write we will destroy her” and “you know we can bury anyone.”
In the now-dismissed countersuit, Baldoni alleged Lively “stole Wayfarer’s movie, hijacked Wayfarer’s premiere, destroyed Plaintiffs’ personal and professional reputations and livelihood, and aimed to drive Plaintiffs out of business entirely.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justin-baldoni-lawsuit-blake-lively-ryan-reynolds-dismissed/
