Justin Baldoni’s massive $400 million extortion and defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds has officially been dismissed after he failed to meet a court-imposed deadline to amend his claims.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York declared in a signed order on October 31 that Baldoni and his business, Wayfarer Studios, had lost their opportunity to bring the case back to life.
Essentially ending the case, the judge observed that the plaintiffs "failed to respond" to a directive issued on October 17 asking them to provide an explanation for why a final judgement should not be entered.
This dismissal comes after a June decision in which Judge Liman dismissed Baldoni's complaint, finding no merit in his defamation claims.
The court determined that legal and journalistic privileges protected the statements used in the lawsuit, many of which were taken from Lively's sexual harassment complaint and a related New York Times article.
The latest ruling permanently ends Baldoni’s defamation and extortion claims against Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times. However, Baldoni still retains the right to appeal once the court settles motions regarding Lively’s request to recover her legal fees.
Baldoni had originally filed the $400 million lawsuit in January 2025, describing it as a “counterattack” in what has become one of Hollywood’s most public and bitter legal disputes.
The legal battle began in December 2024 when Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation during the production of It Ends With Us, the romantic drama they starred in together.
Also read: Blake Lively denies subpoenaing Megyn Kelly amid legal battle with Justin Baldoni
In her filing, Lively detailed several disturbing incidents, including one where Baldoni allegedly “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear down her neck,” telling her, “It smells so good.” She also claimed that he pushed to include explicit scenes in the film and made inappropriate remarks about her marriage to Ryan Reynolds.
It Ends With Us marked the pair’s first collaboration, but their professional relationship quickly deteriorated amid the serious allegations and ensuing legal battle that captured Hollywood’s attention.
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