Justin Baldoni's lawsuit against Blake Lively dismissed by federal judge
Justin Baldoni's lawsuit against Blake Lively was dismissed by a federal judge in New York on Monday.
The "It Ends With Us" co-stars have been in a heated legal feud since 2024.
In his motion, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Justin Baldoni's $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, the couple's publicist, Leslie Sloane, as well as Baldoni's defamation claim against The New York Times.
"The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened," the opinion said. "The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively's version of events."
Baldoni has until June 23 to refile some of his claims.
Lively's lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, called the dismissal a "total victory and complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times."
"As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it," the statement continued. "We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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Ananda Lewis, Former MTV VJ and Talk Show Host, Dies at 52
Ananda Lewis has died at the age of 52. The former MTV VJ's sister Lakshmi announced news of her death in a Facebook post shared on Wednesday, June 11. "She's free, and in His heavenly arms," she wrote, alongside a series of broken heart emojis and a black and white portrait of Lewis. "Lord, rest her soul 🙏🏽" Lewis became well known in 1997 when she was hired to be one of MTV's VJs, hosting shows like Total Request Live and Hot Zone. In 1999, The New York Times dubbed her 'the hip-hop generation's reigning It Girl.' She left MTV in 2001 to host her own talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show. Lewis revealed in a 2020 Instagram post that she had been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. She said that she had not been getting regular mammograms because of her fear of radiation. In October 2024, Lewis took part in a roundtable discussion with CNN's Stephanie Elam (her friend from college) and CNN anchor Sara Sidner in which she revealed that she went against medical advice and did not have a double mastectomy after she was diagnosed. Her tumor had metastasized, and her cancer had progressed to stage IV, she shared. 'My plan at first was to get out excessive toxins in my body. I felt like my body is intelligent, I know that to be true. Our bodies are brilliantly made,' Lewis said. 'I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way. . . . I wish I could go back. It's important for me to admit where I went wrong with this.' Lewis was born in Los Angeles in 1973. Her parents divorced when she was 2, and she and her sister, Lakshmi, moved with her mother to live with their grandmother in San Diego. In 1999, Lewis opened up to Teen People about her difficult relationship with her mother as a child and teenager. 'Mom was overwhelmed from the get-go, devastated by the divorce and working hard to support two kids,' she said. But Lewis felt neglected and 'built up a lot of resentment toward her.' 'By the time I was 10, I'd become a belligerent, rebellious kid, and my mother and I were fighting about everything,' she explained. She attended an arts high school and spent her time in school plays and volunteering. After graduating from Howard University in 1995, she landed a job as the host of BET's Teen Summit, which filmed in D.C. In one episode, she interviewed then First Lady Hillary Clinton. 'That experience got me noticed at MTV and in August of 1997, I moved to New York and started working there,' she told Teen People. Months earlier, in December 1996, she had reconciled with her mother after a period of estrangement. 'I decided to close the chapter on being hateful and resentful toward my mom and open a new one that focused on love, forgiveness and appreciation for her,' she explained. 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Two Paths for the Pop Star
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