Federal Judge Dismisses Justin Baldoni’s $400 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and New York Times

A federal judge in New York said Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively failed to show actual malice

A federal judge has dismissed actor and director Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit against actors Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and the New York Times. The decision ends a high-profile legal dispute stemming from allegations made during the production of It Ends With Us, a 2024 film directed by and co-starring Baldoni, and based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel.

Following the film’s release, Lively filed a legal complaint alleging she was sexually harassed by Baldoni during filming. The complaint also named Wayfarer Studios, the production company co-founded by Baldoni. Around the same time, the New York Times published a detailed article about the crisis management efforts behind Baldoni amid the unfolding controversy.

Blake Lively at the 18th Annual Tribeca Artists Dinner hosted by Chanel on June 09, 2025

In response to the complaint and the article, Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios filed a $400 million lawsuit accusing Lively and Reynolds of defamation and extortion. The suit also targeted the New York Times, which had initially been named in a separate $250 million libel suit. That earlier suit was dropped when the Times was added as a defendant in the $400 million action.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled Monday that Baldoni failed to prove actual malice in the allegations made by Lively. Regarding the Times, the judge concluded that its reporting, while potentially dramatized, was based on available evidence and journalistic judgment. “The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened,” Judge Liman wrote.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in It Ends with Us

Lively’s attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, celebrated the ruling. “Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively,” they stated. “This '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it.”

The lawsuit’s dismissal marks the end of a legal battle that has drawn significant attention from both the entertainment industry and the public, given the high-profile individuals involved and the serious nature of the claims.