Getty Image
Audio By Carbonatix
In late 2024, actress Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni, alleging that he engaged in inappropriate on-set behavior, harassment, and an ongoing smear campaign against her.
Justin Baldoni then responded by filing a $400 million countersuit against Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, Lively’s PR representative Leslie Sloane, and the New York Times alleging extortion, defamation, breach of contract, and more.
That lawsuit, however, has now been thrown out by a judge who found that the 37-year-old former Gossip Girl star’s accusations were legally protected and therefore immune from suit.
“The judge — Judge Lewis J. Liman in New York City — has allowed Baldoni to amend his lawsuit and refile a handful of the allegations the related to interference with contracts. Judge Liman said that Lively’s allegations were were protected by the litigation privilege, thus barring the legal claims from defamation actions.”
“The New York Times’ reporting on the claims was also protected under the “fair report” privilege, which allows media outlets to cover legal proceedings without incurring defamation liability. Reynolds, Lively’s husband, was accused in the suit of defaming Baldoni by calling him a ‘sexual predator.’ The judge found that Reynolds was relying on Lively’s version of events, which he had no reason to doubt.” [via Variety]
At this time, Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios is set to go to trial in March 2026.
In a statement made following Judge Liman’s decision, Lively’s lawyers called it a “complete vindication” for their client.
“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,” an attorney for Lively said in a statement on Monday, June 9
“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.”
It Ends With Us — which is based on the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name and follows a woman who is in an abusive relationship — was released in movie theaters in August 2024 and grossed $351 million at the box office against just a $25 million budget.