OAN Staff Blake Wolf
3:32 PM – Monday, June 9, 2025
Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for alleged extortion and defamation was dismissed on Monday.
Judge Lewis J. Liman also dismissed Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties’ $250 million defamation lawsuit against the New York Times.
The feud between Baldoni and Lively stems from her initial lawsuit against Baldoni for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation during their time together in production for the film “It Ends with Us.”
In response, Baldoni countersued and alleged that Lively, Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane, engaged in a coordinated effort to damage his reputation and extort him by accusing him of sexual harassment in order to cease control over the film.
Baldoni also sued the New York Times, arguing that the outlet’s coverage of Lively’s lawsuit falsely portrayed him in a negative light — which in turn, further damaged his reputation.
Nonetheless, Judge Liman struck those arguments down on Monday.
“The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statement other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged,” he wrote in the opinion.
“The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign. But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law.”
Meanwhile, Lively’s lawyers celebrated the decision as a “total victory and a complete vindication.”
“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it,” they stated in a joint announcement. “We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages.”
Judge Liman did, however, rule that Baldoni’s lawyers are still able to amend the claims for breach of implied covenant and tortious interference with contract, if they so wish, with the deadline to do so being on June 23rd.
Reports emerged last week indicating that Baldoni’s lawsuit may be on unstable ground, as it hinges primarily on a text message from journalist James Vituscka, who alleged that Lively’s publicist claimed that Lively was “sexually assaulted” by Baldoni — a statement the reporter has since retracted.
Vituscka’s comments were referenced in Baldoni’s lawsuit, damaging his case. According to the outlet People, Vituscka filed an official declaration on Thursday stating that Sloane “never told me that Ms. Lively was sexually harassed or sexually assaulted by Justin Baldoni or anyone else.”
“In those text messages, my use of the phrase ‘sexually assaulted’ was a mistake. … I regret this error,” Vituscka continued. “This phrase was not in reference to any conversation that I had with Leslie Sloane.”
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