RM Justin Baldoni’s $400 Million Lawsuit Against Blake Lively Dismissed After Missed Deadline

Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds has officially been dismissed after the It Ends With Us director failed to meet a court-imposed deadline to amend his claims.

According to an order issued on October 31 by U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York, Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios missed their opportunity to revive the case by not responding to an October 17 directive to explain why final judgment should not be entered. As a result, Judge Liman formally closed the case, effectively ending Baldoni’s lawsuit.

The court had previously dismissed Baldoni’s complaint in June, ruling that his defamation allegations were without merit. At that time, Judge Liman determined that many of the statements cited in Baldoni’s lawsuit — including those drawn from Lively’s sexual harassment filing and a New York Times article — were protected under legal and journalistic privilege.

Although the new ruling ends Baldoni’s claims of defamation and extortion against Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times, the filmmaker still has the right to appeal once the court resolves motions regarding Lively’s request for reimbursement of legal fees.

Baldoni first brought the $400 million case in January 2025, describing it as a “counterattack” in what has become one of Hollywood’s most contentious legal showdowns. Lively had previously sued Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation during production of It Ends With Us, in which she co-starred opposite Baldoni.

In her complaint, Lively alleged that Baldoni behaved inappropriately on set — including one instance during a quiet filming moment when he allegedly “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear down her neck,” saying, “It smells so good.” She also accused him of pushing for an explicit sex scene and making intrusive comments about her and Ryan Reynolds’ personal life.

Following Lively’s filing, Baldoni claimed that she, Reynolds, and The New York Times conspired to damage his reputation, citing the Times’ December 2024 feature, “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” which reported on Lively’s initial complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department.

Judge Liman ultimately rejected those defamation claims in June, agreeing with defense attorneys that the statements were legally protected. “The Times’ statements were privileged,” the court stated in its decision.

While Baldoni’s countersuit has now been dismissed, Lively’s sexual harassment and retaliation case against him continues in Manhattan federal court, ensuring the bitter legal conflict between the co-stars is far from over.

Earlier this year, a spokesperson for The New York Times said, “We are thankful the court recognized the lawsuit for what it truly was — an unfounded attempt to silence truthful reporting.”