Topics: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Celebrity, News
There has been a major update in Justin Baldoni's whopping $400,000,000 case against Blake Lively.
At the start of the year, Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios sued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for a large sum of money, accusing the pair of defamation.
But earlier this month, a judge dismissed Baldoni's multi-million dollar suit because allegations made by Lively in her initial suit filed in December about her It Ends With Us co-star are exempt from libel claims.
Explaining the reasoning, Judge Liman wrote (via Fox News): "The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged.
Advert
"The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and [publicist Leslie] 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."
The judge concluded: "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."
Later addressing the dismissal, Lively said: "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."
But Baldoni's legal team were quick to respond and poo-pooed Lively's apparent claim of victory, insisting that Baldoni had been invited to amend his complaint.
"While the Court dismissed the defamation related claims, the Court has invited us to amend four out of the seven claims against Ms. Lively, which will showcase additional evidence and refined allegations," said the director's lawyer Bryan Freedman.
However, in a new update, it has been revealed that Baldoni will not refile the suit with any amendments.
Freedman told PEOPLE in a statement: "The Court’s decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defense against Ms. Lively’s claims."
"Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations," he continued.
"Instead of revising the existing claims, our clients will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us."
Freedman did not disclose the 'additional legal options' they plan on pursuing.
In response to this news, Lively's legal team told PEOPLE: "The Court dismissed the frivolous $400 million Baldoni-Wayfarer lawsuit in its entirety. In the days that followed, Baldoni’s lawyer said the judge’s decision to dismiss their case was not a big deal as they promised to amend and refile it.
"As per usual, that was not true. The Court’s dismissal of Baldoni’s sham lawsuit was a total victory after all."
