Blake Lively and Ryan Reynold’s team are claiming “total victory” after a federal judge just tossed out Justin Baldoni‘s $400 million defamation and extortion suit over what went on during the making of It Ends With Us and the subsequent alleged preemptive astroturfing smear campaign against the Another Simple Favor actress last year.
While Judge Lewis Liman has permitted Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, executives and PR team of Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel to submitted another amended complaint by June 23 against Lively, Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloan and the New York Times, his exhaustive 132-page order leaves little wiggle room.
“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 judge said of the defamation claims by Team Baldoni, with reference to the sexual harassment and retaliation complaint Lively filed with California’s Civil Rights Department against Baldoni, Nathan, Abel, billionaire Steve Sarowitz and CEO Jamey Heath zwith California’s Civil Rights Department back in late December. “The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and 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.”
Baldoni’s main lawyer Bryan Freedman did not respond to request for comment on the ruling, but Lively’s reps could barely contain their glee Monday.
“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,” proclaimed lawyers Esra Hudson & Mike Gottlieb to Deadline this morning. “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.”
With all that, and Deadpool star Reynolds, the Grey Lady and Sloane’s efforts to be let out the matter still unresolved, the high-profiled case is set to go to trial on March 9, 2026.
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