Another major chapter in the never-ending Justin Baldoni/ Blake Lively legal war seems to have ended. Deadline reports that a federal judge has tossed out Baldoni’s $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds. That marks a significant legal victory for the star, with the lawsuit stemming from actions that reportedly happened during the now-infamous shooting of last summer’s blockbuster hit, It Ends With Us, and its aftermath.
To recap, Baldoni’s lawsuit was in response to a complaint Lively filed with the California Civil Rights Department against her former co-star/ director, alleging harassment on the It Ends With Us set. She later filed a federal lawsuit against Baldoni, which is still set to be heard in court in March 2026.
Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit apparently crumbled because the statements Lively made, which were the focus of the lawsuit, were privileged because they were made via the California Civil Rights Department, which protects such claims from being litigated. However, Baldoni and his various co-plaintiffs (including Wayfarer Productions, which financed the film) have until June 23rd to file an amended complaint.
Either way you slice it, this is a significant victory for Lively and Reynolds, although her claims against Baldoni, which he has also filed to be dismissed, are still intact. If they go forward, expect this case to be a media firestorm when litigated in March of 2026. Even if the case never goes to trial, one could argue that the fallout from the case has been disastrous for both sides, which is ironic as It Ends With Us was a giant success, and should have propelled Lively to greater stardom, and put Baldoni on the map as a director. Instead, Lively’s last movie, Another Simple Favor, was given a direct-to-streaming release by Amazon (although that may have always been the plan), while Baldoni’s career has gone into deep freeze.
Something tells me this case is far from over…
