Justin Baldoni case against Blake Lively dismissed after deadline lapse

Justin Baldoni's $400m (£295m) lawsuit against his former co-star Blake Lively has been officially thrown out by a judge who said the actor and director failed to meet a deadline to pursue their claim.

The couple, who co-starred in the 2024 film It Ends With Us, have been engaged in a bitter legal battle since Lively sued Baldoni last December, accusing him of sexual harassment and waging a smear campaign against her.

In response, he filed a lawsuit against her, as well as her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist and the New York Times, alleging civil extortion, libel and invasion of privacy.

Baldoni's case was dismissed in June, but he had the opportunity to file an amended complaint. However, Judge Lewis Lyman said he had failed.

The judge said he contacted all parties on October 17 and warned them that he would make a final decision at the conclusion of the case.

Only Lively responded, asking for a final decision to be announced but for her request for legal fees to stand. The judge agreed.

Her original lawsuit against Baldoni is also ongoing.

After Baldoni's case was dismissed in June, the actress's lawyers called it “a complete victory and a complete vindication.”

At that time, Baldoni's lawyer said this. “Lively's predictable claim of victory is false” and that “with the facts on our side, we move forward.”

He added: “Although the court dismissed the defamation claims, the court invited us to amend four of the seven claims against Ms. Lively to demonstrate additional evidence and updated allegations.”

However, according to the latest ruling, these amended claims have not been filed. Baldoni and Wayfarer have not commented on the situation.

In June, Judge Liman explained that Baldoni's lawsuit is based on two allegations: that Lively “stole the film” from him and his production company Wayfarer by threatening not to promote it, and that she and others promoted a false narrative that Baldoni sexually assaulted her and launched a smear campaign against her.

But Baldoni and his production company “insufficiently argued that Lively's threats were unlawful extortion rather than legally permitted tough bargaining or renegotiation of labor conditions,” Judge Lyman wrote at the time.

Additionally, the judge wrote, Baldoni and his company did not prove defamation because “the Wayfarer parties did not allege that Lively was liable for any statements other than the statements” in her suit, which are confidential.

The judge also ruled that the evidence did not prove that the New York Times “acted with actual malice” in publishing its story and dismissed the $250 million lawsuit.

“The alleged facts indicate that the Times has reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps theatrically, what it believes happened,” he wrote. “The Times had no apparent motive to favor Lively’s version of events.”