Featured Image Credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Vital Voices Global Partnership
Topics: Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, US News
Callum Jones
Topics: Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, US News
Justin Baldoni's $400,000,000 defamation countersuit against Blake Lively has been dismissed by Judge Lewis Liman on Monday.
In 2024, Lively filed her initial lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, where she accused the director of sexual harassment and orchestrating a subsequent 'social manipulation' campaign against her.
In turn, Baldoni issued a counterclaim against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of defamation, civil extortion, and other claims.
The two suits also included several alleged text messages between the two and their PR teams, as well as a set of alleged demands made by Lively for Baldoni and others on set.
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Both parties' legal teams have denied the claims presented in both lawsuits, with Baldoni's lawyers calling Lively's accusations 'categorically false', while the A Simple Favor star's lawyers accused the director of attempting to 'turn the tables on the victim'.
Now, in a new development to the long-running feud, Balodni's countersuit has been thrown out.
In an order obtained by Fox News, Judge Liman wrote: "The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged.
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"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."
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE magazine, Lively's attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said: "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.
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"As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it," they added. "We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, [Steve] Sarowitz, [Melissa] Nathan and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation."
LADbible Group has reached out to Baldoni's team for comment.
It comes just weeks after Lively made an unexpected legal move in her suit against her former co-star.