Blake Lively’s Lawyers Claim ‘Total Victory’ After Judge Dismisses Justin Baldoni’s ‘Abusive’ $400 Million Lawsuit

Blake Lively‘s lawyers are claiming “victory” after a judge’s decision to toss out Justin Baldoni‘s $400 million countersuit against her.

In a statement obtained by some sources on Monday, June 9, the actress’s attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said, “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.”

“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it,” they added. “We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, [Steve] Sarowitz, [Melissa] Nathan and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.”

Judge Lewis J. Liman granted the motions to dismiss on Monday, tossing out the $400 million lawsuit filed by Baldoni, 41, and the Wayfarer Parties against Lively, 37, and husband Reynolds, which alleged extortion and defamation, plus Baldoni’s $250 million defamation lawsuit against the Times.

The judge noted in his filing on June 9 that Baldoni’s legal team can still amend the claims for breach of implied covenant and tortious interference with contract if they choose to move forward, with a deadline of June 23.

“The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged,” Judge Liman wrote in the opinion and order filing. “The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign. But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law.”

He added, “The Wayfarer Parties’ additional claims also fail. Accordingly, the Amended Complaint must be dismissed in its entirety.”

Lively first sued her It Ends With Us director-costar Baldoni plus others in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation, which he has denied.

Baldoni had also sued the Times for $250 million in December, accusing the newspaper of using “‘cherry-picked’ and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead” in its December article, ” ‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” The Times stood by its reporting.

Judge Liman’s decision to toss Baldoni’s countersuit comes amid recent developments in his legal battle with Lively that have included a journalist clarifying that Sloane never claimed Baldoni “sexually assaulted” Lively, as well as the actress agreeing to withdraw two of her claims, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.