Justin Baldoni‘s $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds and an additional suit against the New York Times have been dismissed by a judge in a major setback for the “It Ends with Us” director and star.
Judge Lewis J. Liman found that Lively’s sexual harassment claims were protected, and thus protected from a lawsuit. Baldoni’s suit also alleged extortion, which the judge ruled to not constitute civil extortion. The judge did, however, allow Baldoni to amend and re-file his complaint by June 23.
“The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged,” the decision reads.
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It continues: “The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and [publicist Leslie] Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign. But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane, or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law.”
In a statement shared with press, Lively’s lawyers declared “total victory” and called the lawsuit a “sham” from the beginning.
“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, Leslie Sloane, and The New York Times. 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 against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.”
Attorneys for Baldoni did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Baldoni filed his 179-page countersuit against Lively in January, claiming that messages presented in Lively’s initial complaint were taken out of context. It alleged that Lively’s publicist Sloane planted negative news stories about Baldoni, and that the legal move was designed to help rebuild Lively’s own reputation. He also claimed the New York Times “cherry picked” its details about Baldoni in its original story about the “It Ends with Us” drama, but the Times has stood by its reporting.
On December 20 of last year, Lively issued a legal complaint, followed by a formal lawsuit, accusing Baldoni of retaliation, negligence, breach of contract, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She also accused Baldoni of hiring a crisis PR firm to flood social media with negative comments about Lively after alleged issues of sexual harassment on the “It Ends with Us” set. Baldoni has denied all the claims.
The ugly back and forth since then has involved Baldoni’s team slamming Lively for seeking to withhold medical information, Taylor Swift nearly needing to be subpoenaed, and accusations that Reynolds based his “Nicepool” character in “Deadpool & Wolverine” on Baldoni in an effort to mock him.
