A federal judge in Manhattan has officially closed the actor-director Justin Baldoni’s $400 million extortion and defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and The New York Times. According to Rolling Stone, the decision was taken after he missed the deadline to file an amended complaint after the case was first dismissed in June.
Baldoni first took legal action against The New York Times in Los Angeles on December 31, shortly after it ran a story titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” The article revealed that Lively had filed an initial complaint with the California Civil Rights Department before her federal lawsuit, following the film It Ends With Us.
While the defamation suit has been dismissed, Lively’s separate sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against Baldoni is still ongoing in federal court.
Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively dismissed
US District Judge Lewis Liman on Friday noted that Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, missed the deadline to file an amended complaint after the court initially dismissed their case in June. At the time, Judge Liman said that Baldoni failed to prove defamation because the statements he complained about were made in an official Civil Rights Department complaint, and such statements are legally protected.
The judge also mentioned that Baldoni’s team failed to respond to an October 17 order asking why a final judgment shouldn’t be entered. With no response from the plaintiffs, the case has now been formally closed.
No official comments from Baldoni and Wayfarer have been made since. The actor/director, however, still holds the right to appeal the decision once the court rules on Lively’s motion to recover legal fees. Following the ruling, The Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander thanked the court for recognising the case as a “meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting.”
“Our journalists reported carefully and fairly on a matter of public importance,” he said, “and the court affirmed that the law exists to protect that kind of journalism.”
Blake Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit remains intact
Baldoni will still have to battle serious allegations made by Lively in her sexual harassment and retaliation suit filed on December 31 in Manhattan federal court. In her complaint, the Gossip Girl alum accused Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios of subjecting her to “disturbing” behaviour during the filming of It Ends With Us, creating a “toxic workplace,” entering her vanity van without permission, introducing intimate scenes in the movie without consultation, and later attempting to destroy her credibility by orchestrating a smear campaign against her. According to her lawsuit, Baldoni even asked her personal questions about her sex life with Reynolds, calling it “intrusive and inappropriate.”
Lively in her lawsuit described one particular incident involving the filming of a slow-dance scene with no sound recording. According to her complaint, Baldoni at the time leaned in, dragged his lips down her neck, and said, “It smells so good.” She also claimed that the actor tried to add a graphic sex scene without discussing it with her beforehand.
