Justin Baldoni's $400M countersuit against Blake Lively ended by judge
A federal judge in New York has formally ended Justin Baldoni's $400 million counterclaim against his "It Ends With Us" co-star Blake Lively.
Judge Lewis Liman entered a final judgment on Oct. 31, after dismissing the suit in June.
Baldoni is able to appeal the judge's ruling.
Baldoni and Lively have been locked in a bitter legal dispute since December 2024, when Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of the film, which he also directed.
Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni on Dec. 31, 2024, reiterating the claims made in her earlier complaint and alleging Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios had waged a retaliatory smear campaign against her. That same day, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against the New York Times, which had published a report outlining the claims detailed in Lively's earlier complaint, alleging libel and false light invasion of privacy.
Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios filed a countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloane weeks later, alleging civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.
In June of this year, Liman granted Lively's motion to dismiss Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios' countersuit against her. The judge also dismissed Baldoni's defamation suit against the Times.
At the time, Liman wrote in his opinion that Baldoni's lawsuit hinged on claims that Lively "stole the film from Baldoni and Wayfarer, threatening to refuse to promote the film and attack Baldoni and Wayfarer in the press if the Wayfarer Parties did not agree to grant her, rather than Wayfarer, control over and credit for the film" and that "Lively, Sloane, Reynolds, and the Times spread a false narrative that Baldoni committed sexual misconduct towards Lively and the Wayfarer Parties then engaged in a smear campaign to ruin her reputation."
"Regardless of the propriety of these actions, they do not constitute civil extortion under California law," Liman wrote, adding that "the Wayfarer Parties have not adequately alleged that Lively's threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions" and had "not shown that some of Lively's allegedly extortionate acts damaged them."
Two weeks later, on June 24, Baldoni decided not to amend his claims against Lively, Reynolds, Sloane, and the Times.
In a statement at the time, Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said, "Instead of revising the existing claims, our clients will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us."
"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," Freedman continued, calling Lively's allegations "baseless."
Lively's spokesperson responded to Baldoni's decision at the time, saying in a statement, "The Court dismissed the frivolous $400 million Baldoni-Wayfarer lawsuit in its entirety."
They added, "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."
Reached for comment on Monday, a Times spokesperson directed ABC News to its earlier statement in June, following Liman's dismissal of Baldoni's defamation case against the outlet. "We are grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting," the spokesperson said.
"Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognized that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism," they continued. "We will continue to stand up in court for our journalism and for our journalists when their work comes under attack."
Lively's case against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios is still expected to go to trial in March next year.
ABC News reached out to Baldoni's team who did not issue any further comment.
ABC News has also reached out to Lively's team for comment.
For a full breakdown of Baldoni and Lively's legal dispute, click here.
