Hollywood’s latest high-stakes courtroom drama has come to an abrupt end — and not in Justin Baldoni’s favor.
The It Ends With Us director’s massive $400 million extortion and defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and The New York Times has officially been dismissed after Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios team missed a critical court deadline.
In an order signed on October 31, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York ruled that Baldoni “failed to respond” to an earlier directive from the court and therefore forfeited his chance to amend his claims. The judge’s latest order effectively shuts down Baldoni’s legal fight, marking a definitive end to his countersuit — at least for now.
“The plaintiffs failed to respond,” the order read, closing one of the most sensational defamation cases Hollywood has seen in years.
The dismissal follows an earlier decision in June 2025, when Judge Liman threw out Baldoni’s original complaint, ruling that the cited statements — many pulled from Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit and a related New York Times article — were protected under litigation and reporting privileges.
That earlier ruling found that Lively’s statements were legally shielded as part of an active legal process, and that The Times had acted within its rights to report on the allegations.
The Backstory: A Hollywood Feud Turns Legal
Baldoni filed his headline-grabbing $400 million complaint in January 2025, calling it a “counterattack” against what he described as a “smear campaign” led by Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
His lawsuit came just weeks after Lively filed a sexual harassment and retaliation suit in December 2024, alleging that Baldoni engaged in disturbing on-set behavior while filming It Ends With Us — a film he both directed and starred in alongside her.
Lively’s lawsuit detailed several unsettling encounters, including one incident during a quiet scene in which Baldoni allegedly “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear down her neck,” whispering, “It smells so good.” She also accused him of pushing for unnecessary explicit scenes and making invasive remarks about her marriage to Reynolds.
After Lively went public, Baldoni lashed out, accusing the actress, Reynolds, and The New York Times of orchestrating a coordinated campaign to “destroy his reputation and career.” His filing referenced a December 2024 Times exposé titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” which covered Lively’s harassment complaint in detail.
The Court’s View: “Protected Speech”
But Judge Liman was unmoved. In June, he ruled that both The Times and Lively’s statements were “privileged” and constitutionally protected, noting that Baldoni’s defamation and extortion claims lacked sufficient merit to proceed.
This week’s ruling simply sealed the deal. By missing the court-imposed deadline to amend or appeal, Baldoni’s team allowed the dismissal to become final.
“We are grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting,” said a New York Times spokesperson following the ruling.
What Comes Next
While Baldoni’s defamation case is now officially over, he still faces Lively’s ongoing sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit, which continues in Manhattan federal court. Lively is reportedly seeking both financial damages and structural changes to protect performers on set.
As for Baldoni, he may still attempt an appeal — but legal experts say his odds of reviving the case are slim. The court’s record of missed deadlines and clear rulings against him leave little room for maneuvering.
For now, one thing is certain: the Hollywood redemption arc Baldoni hoped to write through litigation has ended in silence — and his $400 million claim has vanished without a closing scene.
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