Justin Baldoni majorly shifts legal strategy against Blake Lively after dismissal of $615m defamation suit

Daily Telegraph

9 hours ago

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Justin Baldoni will not be moving forward with amending his A$615 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
After Judge Lewis J. Liman shockingly threw out Baldoni's countersuit earlier this month, the actor/director's lawyer Bryan Freedman told Page Six that they are now focusing on Baldoni's defence.
'The Court's decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defence against Ms. Lively's claims,' Freedman said in a statement on Tuesday.
'Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations,' he added.
Liman claimed in his ruling to dismiss the defamation suit that Baldoni and his legal team 'have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her [California Civil Rights Department] complaint, which are privileged.'
Lively first filed a lawsuit late last year. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP
Baldoni's countersuit was thrown out. Picture:for Vital Voices Global Partnership
As part of the judge's decision, Baldoni was given until June 23 to amend his claims for breach of implied covenant (suggesting that terms agreed upon in their legal agreement were violated) and tortious interference with contract (intentionally disrupting the relationship or contractual agreement between parties, potentially leading to significant financial damages and reputational harm).
However, 'instead of revising the existing claims,' Freedman told us that they 'will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us.'
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Lively told Page Six in a statement: 'The Court dismissed the frivolous $400 million (A$615 million) Baldoni-Wayfarer lawsuit in its entirety. In the days that followed, Baldoni's lawyer said the judge's decision to dismiss their case was not a big deal as they promised to amend and refile it.
'As per usual, that was not true. The Court's dismissal of Baldoni's sham lawsuit was a total victory after all.'
The pair in a scene from It Ends With Us. Picture: Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures via AP
Baldoni, 41, launched his suit against Lively, Reynolds and their publicist Leslie Sloane in January after the Gossip Girl alum accused him of sexual harassment during production on It Ends With Us in a complaint filed last December.
Soon after she filed the complaint, Lively, 37, officially sued the actor and director for alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and lost wages.
Last week, Baldoni scored his own legal victory as Liman ruled that he could access to private text messages between Lively and Taylor Swift about the 2024 domestic violence film.
'The requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively's harassment and retaliation claims,' the judge said in documents obtained by Page Six.
This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission.
Originally published as Justin Baldoni majorly shifts legal strategy against Blake Lively after dismissal of $615m defamation suit