Justin Baldoni’s $400m lawsuit against Blake Lively dismissed by judge

Judge Lewis J. Liman rejected Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit, which named Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and also included a defamation claim against The New York Times.

In his ruling, the judge wrote: "The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatised manner, what it believed to have happened. The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively's version of events."

Baldoni now has until June 23 to revise and refile certain claims.

Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, Lively’s attorneys, described the ruling as a "total victory and 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."

"As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it," the statement continued.

"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."

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On December 20, 2024, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment during the production of the film.

Baldoni responded on December 31, 2024, by filing the now-dismissed lawsuit against The New York Times for libel and false light invasion of privacy, following the paper’s article reporting on Lively’s complaint in California.

In his lawsuit, Baldoni alleged that The Times had used "cherry-picked" and altered communications - specifically text messages and emails exchanged between his publicists, Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan, and the newspaper - with details "stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced" to "mislead."

At the time, his attorney Bryan Freedman claimed the publication "cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful 'untouchable' Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative."

In response, a New York Times spokesperson told Good Morning America that they "plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit."

Later that same day, Lively escalated her California complaint into a formal lawsuit against Baldoni and additional defendants, citing sexual harassment.

Baldoni has denied the allegations.