$400m blow for Justin Baldoni as Blake Lively claims ‘complete vindication'
It Ends With Us actor and director Justin Baldoni's legal battle with Blake Lively hit a roadblock on Monday, when a federal judge dismissed his $US400 million ($A613,900,000) countersuit.
Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios sued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation in January.
He sought at least $400 million for damages that included lost future income. It also named publicist Leslie Sloane as a defendant.
Baldoni filed his lawsuit about two weeks after Lively sued him and others tied to the film, alleging harassment and that a coordinated campaign was launched to ruin her reputation after she came forward about allegations of poor treatment on set. An amended complaint from Lively alleged that Baldoni also made other women on set feel uncomfortable.
Baldoni also sued The New York Times for libel after he accused the newspaper of working with Lively to smear him. US District Judge Lewis J. Liman also tossed out that lawsuit on Monday.
Liman said in the court filing that Baldoni's legal team can amend the claims of tortious interference with contract and breach of implied covenant by June 23.
'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 Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said in a statement.
They said Baldoni's lawsuit was a 'sham' and that '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,' Hudson and Gottlieb said.
Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
The months-long feud between Baldoni and Lively exploded after the pair wrapped filming of It Ends With Us, a film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's book. Lively alleged in her initial complaint that she was sexually harassed by Baldoni while filming and was targeted after she expressed her concerns.
Lively also accused him of hiring a crisis publicity firm to engage in a 'social manipulation campaign' to ruin her reputation. Baldoni has denied the allegations.
Taylor Swift was dragged into the bitter legal battle after Baldoni's attorney tried to subpoena her as a potential witness. A spokesperson for Swift quickly blasted the subpoena as a way to 'use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait'.
Last week, a federal judge refused to let Lively dismiss claims of emotional distress on her terms. Lively had offered to drop the claims instead of providing her medical and mental health records as requested by Baldoni's legal team.
Lively and Baldoni's trial is scheduled for March.
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7NEWS
5 hours ago
- 7NEWS
$400m blow for Justin Baldoni as Blake Lively claims ‘complete vindication'
It Ends With Us actor and director Justin Baldoni's legal battle with Blake Lively hit a roadblock on Monday, when a federal judge dismissed his $US400 million ($A613,900,000) countersuit. Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios sued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation in January. He sought at least $400 million for damages that included lost future income. It also named publicist Leslie Sloane as a defendant. Baldoni filed his lawsuit about two weeks after Lively sued him and others tied to the film, alleging harassment and that a coordinated campaign was launched to ruin her reputation after she came forward about allegations of poor treatment on set. An amended complaint from Lively alleged that Baldoni also made other women on set feel uncomfortable. Baldoni also sued The New York Times for libel after he accused the newspaper of working with Lively to smear him. US District Judge Lewis J. Liman also tossed out that lawsuit on Monday. Liman said in the court filing that Baldoni's legal team can amend the claims of tortious interference with contract and breach of implied covenant by June 23. '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 Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said in a statement. They said Baldoni's lawsuit was a 'sham' and that '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,' Hudson and Gottlieb said. Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, did not immediately return a request for comment Monday. The months-long feud between Baldoni and Lively exploded after the pair wrapped filming of It Ends With Us, a film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's book. Lively alleged in her initial complaint that she was sexually harassed by Baldoni while filming and was targeted after she expressed her concerns. Lively also accused him of hiring a crisis publicity firm to engage in a 'social manipulation campaign' to ruin her reputation. Baldoni has denied the allegations. Taylor Swift was dragged into the bitter legal battle after Baldoni's attorney tried to subpoena her as a potential witness. A spokesperson for Swift quickly blasted the subpoena as a way to 'use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait'. Last week, a federal judge refused to let Lively dismiss claims of emotional distress on her terms. Lively had offered to drop the claims instead of providing her medical and mental health records as requested by Baldoni's legal team. Lively and Baldoni's trial is scheduled for March.
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6 hours ago
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Justin Baldoni's lawsuit against Blake Lively dismissed
A US judge has dismissed actor Justin Baldoni's multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit against actress Blake Lively, who accused him of sexually harassing her while filming the movie It Ends with Us. US District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan said Lively's claims to a California state agency about Baldoni's alleged harassment during the filming were privileged, and shielded from the defamation claim by Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios. Liman also dismissed Baldoni's related $US250 million ($A384 million) lawsuit against the New York Times for its December 21, 2024 article about the dispute, "'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine". The judge said Baldoni can try to file a much narrower lawsuit against Lively focused on contractual issues. "Today's opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively," her lawyers Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson said in a joint statement. "As we have said from day one, this $US400 million ($A614 million) lawsuit was a sham." Baldoni's lawsuit was in response to Lively's own lawsuit over his alleged harassment. She still seeks unspecified triple and punitive damages, and a March 2026 trial remains scheduled before Liman. A Times spokesman, Charlie Stadtlander, said in a statement: "Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognised that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism." The feud began publicly in December when Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) about Baldoni, followed by her lawsuit. In response, Baldoni's countersuit accused Lively, her husband and actor Ryan Reynolds, Lively's publicist Leslie Sloane, the Times and others of trying to smear him. Baldoni said Lively tried to effectively hijack It Ends with Us, which he directed and whose themes included domestic violence, and then blame him when her "disastrous" promotional approach prompted an online backlash against her. Lively had called Baldoni's lawsuit a "vengeful" attempt to weaponise 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 in the article that Baldoni led a "smear campaign" in retaliation for Lively's complaints was protected opinion. Liman said Baldoni alleged at most that Lively communicated the privileged CRD complaint to the Times, while her husband and publicist made what they thought were true statements about Baldoni's sexual harassment. "The Wayfarer Parties' conclusory allegations that the Lively, Reynolds, and Sloane engaged in a conspiracy to defame the Wayfarer Parties by disseminating knowingly false statements cannot substitute for factual allegations supporting a plausible inference that this occurred," the judge wrote. "Freedoms of expression require breathing space, and a publisher must be permitted to publish the story that it believes in good faith to be before it," Liman wrote. It Ends with Us garnered mixed reviews, but grossed more than $US351 million ($A538 million) worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. with AP
