Judge throws out Justin Baldoni’s $400m defamation claim against former co-star Blake Lively

A JUDGE has dismissed actor Justin Baldoni's $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively.

The actress had accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her while filming the 2024 movie "It Ends With Us."

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Wayfarer Studios produced the romantic drama that Baldoni wrote and directed.

The film's behind-the-scenes tension sparked months of speculation about drama between the two leading stars until Lively filed her lawsuit in December last year.

Today's opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively

Lively's lawyers Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson

Lively also accused Baldoni and his team of orchestrating a smear campaign to ruin her reputation - but Baldoni flipped the tables in a new federal lawsuit.

Baldoni then accused Lively and Sloane of creating negative publicity to drag his name, according to court documents obtained by The U.S. Sun.

He went on to counter-sue for $400m the following month alleging he had been defamed and that the damage to his reputation had cost him lucrative working opportunities.

The docs claimed Lively set out to make Baldoni the "real-life villain in her story."

Baldoni accused Lively and Sloane of scheming against him to deflect from the actress being seen as "tone-deaf" during the press tour for the movie.

The actor said his co-star promoted her hair care and alcohol lines while doing press for the movie, which is about domestic violence.

In the suit, Baldoni said he and Lively started battling for creative control over the movie once they started shooting in May 2023. He included emails from the time to prove his point.

He also called out Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds and close friend Taylor Swift for getting involved in the project.

Meanwhile, Lively claimed in a lawsuit that Baldoni fat-shamed her, showed her nude videos and pictures, and spoke about a previous alleged porn addiction while on set.

She also claimed to have asked for "no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing outside the scope of the script approved when signing onto the project."

The actress said Baldoni's actions caused her and her family “severe emotional distress."

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman today dismissed Baldoni's multi-million dollar lawsuit.

He said Lively's harassment allegations were kept privileged after being made to a California state agency.

This meant they were shielded from the defamation claim by Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios, ruled the judge.

In a 132-page document, Liman also rejected Baldoni's related $250 million lawsuit against the New York Times.

Liman said how Baldoni alleged Lively shared the privileged CRD complaint to the Times, while her husband Ryan Reynolds and her publicist made sexual harassment claims they believed to be true.

He wrote: "The Wayfarer Parties' conclusory allegations that the Lively, Reynolds, and Sloane engaged in a conspiracy to defame the Wayfarer Parties by disseminating knowingly false statements cannot substitute for factual allegations supporting a plausible inference that this occurred."

Liman added that the Times would never have been aware if the Wayfarer parties had planned a negative publicity campaign, even if it was never carried out.

"Freedoms of expression require breathing space, and a publisher must be permitted to publish the story that it believes in good faith to be before it," Liman wrote.

The judge concluded the director could file a more detailed and concise lawsuit against the mum-of-four, if it was focused on contractual issues.

Lively's lawyers Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson said in a joint statement: "Today's opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively.

"As we have said from day one, this $400 million lawsuit was a sham."

And, Lively shared a statement on her Instagram after the decision was announced.

"Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organizations united in defending women's rights to speak up for their safety," she wrote.

"Like so many others, I've felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us.

"While the suit against me was defeated, so many don't have the resources to fight back.

"I'm more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman's right to have a voice in protecting themselves, including their safety, their integrity, their dignity and their story.

"There are protections out there. Check out some of the incredible organizations below for some resources and information."

The actress listed contact details for numerous lawyers in her post.

She signed off her statement: "With love and gratitude for the many who stood by me, many of you I know. Many of you I don't. But I will never stop appreciating or advocating for you. B."

Lively is still seeking unspecified triple and punitive damages.

A trial has been set for March 2026.

This comes after Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, earlier this year launched a website releasing 168 pages of emails, text messages and WhatsApps between Baldoni and Lively.

Freedman defended his actions in court, saying: “Not to sound like a four-year-old fighting a four-year-old with ‘but they started it’ but once someone says something it becomes fact, there’s no way to fight against it.

“You start to lose things without the ability to have the court’s adjudication. This was not started by us.”

Meanwhile, in May, Taylor Swift was also dragged into the legal clash.

She broke her silence after being served with a document subpoena amid the feud.

The furious pop superstar's team issued a statement after being ordered to provide evidence, which Baldoni's team believes is relevant to the case.

A statement from an official Taylor Swift Spokesperson denied any involvement in the pair's issues on the set of the movie It Ends With Us.

Her team claimed her loose link to the film - the use of her 2020 track My Tears Ricochet - was a way of dragging her name into proceedings to boost publicity surrounding the trial.

Lively's representatives also attacked the subpoena, and claimed Baldoni's teams were trying to turn a serious matter into entertainment.

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