Blake Lively Lands Big Win Against Justin Baldoni as ‘Sham' 400 Million USD Counter Lawsuit Gets Tossed Out
Justin Baldoni has lost a major footing in his claims against It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively, amid their ongoing feud about the happenings on the film set. On June 9 local time, a judge dismissed the director's 400 million USD defamation case against the actress. The original counter lawsuit stood against the leading lady of the film and her famous husband, Ryan Reynolds, who can now breathe a sigh of relief.
According to Variety, it was a judge named Lewis J. Liman who stopped the defamation lawsuit from taking root by dismissing it, earning Blake Lively a long-awaited win. Justin Baldoni 's other claims included extortion from him, but those have all gone down the drain. It's not all negative, however, as he has been allowed to refile a couple of other claims and make changes to some of his allegations.
Blake Lively's side reacts to dismissal of defamation case filed by Justin Baldoni
The lawyers for the actress were in a celebratory mood, counting it as a 'total victory' in their fight against the 41-year-old star. They say that it's a release from the 'abusive litigation', and look forward to receiving attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages, the next time around. 'As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it', they added.
What does the judge's new ruling mean?
The dismissal not only benefits Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, but also Leslie Sloane and The New York Times, who were previously implicated in the filing of the lawsuit. Initially, the Jane the Virgin actor meant to shove away Blake Lively, her husband and her publicist, by claiming that the allegations of s*xual harassment and trying to ruin her career with a smear campaign were all false.
It has now been ruled that Blake Lively's accusations were legally protected.
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