Justin Baldoni’s high-profile $400 million extortion and defamation lawsuit targeting Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds has officially been dismissed, marking a major turn in one of Hollywood’s most contentious legal dramas.
In a court order signed on October 31, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York ruled that Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios co-plaintiffs failed to meet a key deadline to amend their claims. According to the order, the plaintiffs did not respond to an October 17 directive asking why a final judgment should not be entered — effectively bringing their legal challenge to a close.
The case had already suffered a major setback earlier this year when the court dismissed Baldoni’s initial complaint in June, finding that his defamation arguments were legally unsupported. Many of the statements Baldoni cited stemmed from Lively’s sexual harassment allegations and subsequent reporting by The New York Times. Judge Liman ruled those statements were protected under litigation and journalism privileges.
While this dismissal ends Baldoni’s claims against Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times, the It Ends With Us star still has the option to appeal once the court addresses Lively’s pending request for legal fee reimbursement.
Baldoni originally filed the lawsuit in January 2025, describing it as a defensive strike in a mounting dispute. The filing came shortly after Lively sued him and Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation during the production of It Ends With Us. The actress alleged that Baldoni engaged in inappropriate on-set behavior, including an incident in which he allegedly leaned in close during a quiet filming setup and “dragged his lips” from her ear to her neck while making a suggestive remark. She also claimed he pushed for a more explicit sex scene and made invasive personal comments involving her husband, Reynolds.
Following Lively’s allegations, Baldoni accused her, Reynolds, and The New York Times of launching a coordinated effort to damage his reputation. His team pointed to the newspaper’s story, “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” as evidence of a targeted campaign.
The court, however, disagreed, reaffirming in June that the statements at issue were shielded speech. Lively’s original harassment and retaliation lawsuit against Baldoni remains ongoing in Manhattan federal court, meaning the legal battle between the former co-stars is far from over.
Responding to the court’s earlier dismissal, a spokesperson for The New York Times said: “We are grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting.”
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