Judge Dismisses Justin Baldoni's $400M lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds
Yara Sameh
A judge on Monday dismissed Justin Baldoni's $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, finding that her accusations of sexual harassment were legally protected and therefore immune from suit.
U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman in Manhattan dismissed Baldoni's entire lawsuit — which also alleged extortion and other claims — but allowed him to amend and refile a couple of allegations regarding interference with contracts.
'Today's opinion is a total victory and a 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,' Lively's lawyers said in a statement. 'As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it. 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.'
Lively has sued Baldoni in federal court for sexual harassment and retaliation, alleging that he and the producers of the 2024 movie "It Ends with Us" launched a smear campaign against her after she complained about conditions on the set of the film.
In response, Baldoni retaliated with the defamation claim against the New York Times, Lively, Reynolds, and their publicist, alleging that they had conspired to destroy his career with false allegations.
Baldoni said Lively tried to hijack "It Ends with Us," which he directed and whose themes included domestic violence, and then blamed him when her "disastrous" promotional approach prompted an online backlash against her.
In turn, Lively had called Baldoni's lawsuit a "vengeful" attempt to weaponize the federal courts and pursue a "sinister campaign to bury and destroy" her for speaking out.
The Times, meanwhile, said it shouldn't be punished merely for newsgathering, and said a statement in the article that Baldoni led a "smear campaign" in retaliation for Lively's complaints was "protected opinion".
In his ruling on Monday, Liman found that the initial claims — first made in a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department and shared with the Times — were shielded by the litigation privilege, which immunizes legal claims from defamation actions.
The Times' reporting on the claims was also protected under the 'fair report' privilege, which allows media outlets to cover legal proceedings without incurring defamation liability.
'We are grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit against The New York Times for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting,' a Times spokesperson said in a statement. 'Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognized that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism. We will continue to stand up in court for our journalism and for our journalists when their work comes under attack.'
Reynolds, Lively's husband, was accused in the suit of defaming Baldoni by calling him a 'sexual predator.'
The judge found that Reynolds was relying on Lively's version of events, which he had no reason to doubt.
He also found that Leslie Sloane, Lively's publicist, did not defame Baldoni in her dealings with the Daily Mail, finding that Sloane likewise relied on Lively's account.
A trial on Lively's complaint against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios is set for March 2026.
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Yara Sameh Nicepool's introduction in Marvel's 2024 blockbuster "Deadpool & Wolverine" may be the most observed four minutes of screen time in recent memory. The introduction of the character Nicepool in Marvel's 2024 hit 'Deadpool & Wolverine' might mark the most scrutinized four minutes of screen time in recent memory. On Monday, Judge Lewis Liman threw out Justin Baldoni's defamation case against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, which means that Marvel won't have to turn over what it calls 'proprietary and highly confidential' documents and communications about the development of Reynolds' Nicepool character. While Judge Liman threw out Baldoni's defamation case, he is allowing the director to file an amended complaint by June 23 regarding interference with contracts, however, the Nicepool subpoena was tied to the defamation claims, which are now dead. 'The motion by Marvel Entertainment, LLC ('Marvel') to quash a subpoena issued to Marvel from the Wayfarer Parties and for a protective order prohibiting the disclosure of Marvel's confidential documents is GRANTED,' Judge Liman wrote. 'The information sought is no longer relevant to a claim or defense in this action. Moreover, assuming the information were relevant, it would not be proportional to the needs of the case and the potential harm to Marvel of disclosing confidential commercial information.' The move comes months of back and forth on the matter between attorneys for Baldoni and the studio, which was trying to quash the director's efforts to obtain the material in his ongoing legal battle with Lively. On January 7, Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman, sent a litigation hold letter to Marvel president Kevin Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger, instructing the studio to preserve all relevant documents and data with regard to Baldoni. That letter came one week before the 'It Ends With Us' director filed a civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds for $400 million, claiming that the married power couple sought to 'destroy' him with false harassment claims and an alleged smear campaign. Marvel was subpoenaed on February 14. Baldoni's attorneys have argued that Reynolds was intentionally mocking and bullying Baldoni in a four-minute scene in Marvel's 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' which was released by Disney in July. On screen, Reynolds played 'Nicepool,' a misogynistic alternate version of the titular protagonist Deadpool, and served up such lines as 'Where in God's name is the intimacy coordinator?!' while complimenting Ladypool for 'snapping back' into shape after giving birth. 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Levin added, 'The requested documents are particularly sensitive because they relate to the development of a character in an ongoing movie franchise. Marvel has built the success of the MCU in large part by interconnecting storylines, plots, and characters across its titles, including 'crossover' events and sequels. Whether and how such elements will appear in upcoming, unreleased projects is the subject of much public interest, and this information is closely guarded by Marvel.' The Marvel attorney asked Freedman to agree to defer the return date of the subpoena 'until after the Court decides Reynolds' pending motion to dismiss.' On April 25, Marvel attorney Jacob Albertson wrote to Judge Liman to request that the court quash the Baldoni subpoena. Albertson made similar arguments to those Levin previously made and added that producing any documents and communications concerning Baldoni would prove to be 'unduly burdensome.' He added, 'The Wayfarer Parties certainly have other, less burdensome means through which they can obtain relevant information (if any exists) from the parties in the action, such as a request for admission or a party deposition.' Three days later, Baldoni's lawyers, Mitchell Schuster and Kevin Fritz of Meister Seelig & Fein, shot back with a letter to Judge Liman. 'Marvel does not explain how the Subpoena is unduly burdensome, especially given the Wayfarer Parties' agreement to narrow the scope thereof, and Marvel does not claim it will incur significant expense to locate and produce the documents,' the letter stated. Freedman's initial litigation hold letter was far broader and asked the studio to preserve communications concerning Tim Miller, who directed the first 'Deadpool' movie but did not return for the sequel or 'Deadpool & Wolverine.' Miller and Reynolds are known to have clashed. 'The suggestion by Marvel that the Wayfarer Parties should obtain documents and information concerning 'Nicepool' from the parties hereto including from Ryan Reynolds himself is insincere because Marvel also seeks a protective order 'prohibiting the disclosure of Marvel's confidential documents by any party or other nonparty in this action,'' Schuster and Fritz added. The attorneys argued that the subpoena only seeks documents concerning one character — 'Nicepool' — who appears in one already released movie. They note that Nicepool does not appear in any other entry in Marvel's film franchise and will not appear in any future outings, given that he was killed off in 'Deadpool & Wolverine.' The letter also took issue with Marvel's move to stall pending a determination of Reynolds' motion to dismiss. 'Reynolds himself has neither sought nor obtained a stay of discovery in connection with his dismissal motion,' the letter stated. 'Additionally … there are not substantial grounds for dismissal of the claims against him. And in the unlikely event claims against Reynolds are dismissed with prejudice, the information sought in the Subpoenas remains relevant as to the suit against Lively, as the Wayfarer Parties contend Reynolds was acting as an agent of Lively.' Baldoni's battle with Marvel is merely a subplot in a much larger war between the director and his 'It Ends With Us' star. There are currently multiple lawsuits that involve 'It Ends With Us' parties, the most recent one being filed by Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios against his former publicist, Stephanie Jones, who he alleges 'maliciously' leaked text messages that sparked the entire saga. At the center of the sprawling back-and-forth, Baldoni is suing and being sued by Lively over what happened on the set of and in the run-up to the release of the 2024 domestic violence drama. Lively's lawyers celebrated Judge Liman's decision on Monday. 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