Judge dismisses Justin Baldoni's $400M lawsuit against 'It Ends With Us'
costar Blake Lively
[June 10, 2025]
By MICHAEL HILL
A judge on Monday dismissed the lawsuit filed by actor and director
Justin Baldoni against his “It Ends With Us” costar Blake Lively after
she sued him for sexual harassment and retaliation.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman's decision is the latest
development in the bitter legal battle surrounding the dark romantic
drama that includes Lively suing Baldoni in late December.
Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios countersued in January
for $400 million, accusing Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan
Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.
The New York judge ruled that Baldoni can’t sue Lively for defamation
over claims she made in her lawsuit, because allegations made in a
lawsuit are exempt from libel claims. Liman also ruled that Baldoni's
claims that Lively stole creative control of the film didn't count as
extortion under California law.
While Lively was accused in the lawsuit of threatening to refuse to
promote the film, Wayfarer does “not allege facts showing that Lively
had an obligation to promote the film or to approve marketing
materials,” Liman wrote.
Baldoni's legal team can revise the lawsuit if they want to pursue
different claims related to whether Lively breached a contract, the
judge said.
“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016
novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic
violence, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with
a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation
over discord between Lively and Baldoni.
The judge also dismissed Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against The New
York Times, which had reported on Lively's sexual harassment
allegations.
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Blake Lively appears at the SNL50: The Anniversary Special at
Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Feb. 16, 2025, left, and Justin
Baldoni appears at a special screening of "The Boys in the Boat" in
New York on Dec. 13, 2023. (Photos by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP,
File)
 “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, (publicist) Leslie
Sloane and The New York Times," Lively's attorneys, Esra Hudson and
Mike Gottlieb, said in a prepared statement.
The lawyers said they “look forward to the next round” of seeking
attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages.
A spokesperson for The New York Times said they were “grateful to
the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: 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,” Charlie
Stadtlander said in an emailed statement.
The Associated Press sent emails seeking comment to Baldoni's
attorneys.
Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling
Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before
starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the
2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book
challenging traditional notions of masculinity.
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