Justin Baldoni’s $400M Lawsuit Against Blake Lively & ‘N.Y. Times’ Is Dismissed

Like Love Haha Wow Sad Angry

Baila Eve ZismanJune 10, 2025, 2:48 pmHomepage Slider, News >

Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively has been officially dismissed.

The legal battle between Baldoni and Lively stems from It Ends With Us, the 2024 movie on which the two collaborated, with Baldoni as director and co-star and Lively as the main character. Focused on a woman stuck in an abusive relationship, the movie was a commercial success despite the behind-the-scenes drama.

In December 2024, amid an adverse reaction targeting Lively, the actress filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment while on set and organizing a smear campaign against her.

Baldoni denied these allegations and swiftly filed a lawsuit, suing Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million for defamation. In addition to his claims that Lively created a false narrative saying he orchestrated the bad press she received, Baldoni claimed that Lively had threatened to “steal” the film from him by not doing promo. He also sued The New York Times for publishing a story about Lively’s accusations.

On Monday, Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer, “have not adequately alleged that Lively’s threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions.”

Liman also dismissed Baldoni’s defamation accusations against The Times, determining the outlet had not “acted with actual malice” when it published the story, which is the legal standard set by the Supreme Court.

The dismissal of Baldoni’s lawsuit comes a week after Lively asked to withdraw two claims in her suit against Baldoni – intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Baldoni has received the most public support, while Lively has experienced immense backlash for her accusations. When Lively filed her lawsuits, she was already the center of a controversy regarding the insensitive press for It Ends With Us, which painted the film as a rom-com rather than an emotional narrative about abuse.

While many fans believe Lively is lying to combat her poor reputation, a subset has pointed out that the incident is a perfect example of victim blaming.