Summary:
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The legal battle over “It Ends With Us” ends as judge dismisses Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds.
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Baldoni’s bid to revive the lawsuit fails after missing court-ordered deadline, officially closing the case.
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Lively’s separate harassment case against Baldoni continues as court decides on motions for legal fees.
The legal battle surrounding It Ends With Us took another sharp turn this week after a judge officially closed Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
In an October 31 ruling, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman dismissed Baldoni’s case after the It Ends With Us director and his Wayfarer Studios co-plaintiffs failed to meet a court-ordered deadline to amend their complaint.
The judge noted that the plaintiffs “failed to respond” to an October 17 order requesting an explanation for the delay, effectively ending their bid to revive the lawsuit.
Baldoni had filed the defamation and extortion suit in January, calling it a “counterattack” to Lively’s December 2024 sexual harassment and retaliation claims. His complaint accused Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times of orchestrating a smear campaign after the paper ran a story titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.”
Judge Liman first tossed the defamation allegations in June, finding that the statements cited from Lively’s harassment lawsuit and The Times’ reporting were protected speech. “The Times’ statements were privileged,” the court wrote at the time. The new ruling now formally closes the case.
While Baldoni’s claims are dismissed, he still has the option to appeal once the court decides on motions related to Lively’s request to recover legal fees. Her separate harassment and retaliation case against him continues in Manhattan federal court.
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Lively’s lawsuit accuses Baldoni of “disturbing” conduct on set, including an alleged incident during a quiet filming sequence where he “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear down her neck,” reportedly saying, “It smells so good.” She also claims he pushed for explicit scenes and made personal comments about her marriage to Reynolds.
In June, the court allowed Baldoni’s team limited access to private text messages between Lively and her close friend Taylor Swift, whose song “My Tears Ricochet” appeared on the film’s soundtrack. The messages are expected to be reviewed as part of the ongoing harassment case.
A New York Times spokesperson previously said, “We are grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting.”
For now, Lively’s case against Baldoni proceeds, while his multimillion-dollar counterattack has officially reached its end.
