Justin Baldoni’s $400M countersuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds comes to a shocking end
Justin Baldoni suffered a massive blow in his legal war with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
The “It Ends With Us” director’s $400 million defamation countersuit against the couple was formally ended by Judge Lewis J. Liman after Baldoni, 41, declined to file an amended complaint, according to court documents obtained by The Post.
Liman signed a new order on Friday that stated Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios co-plaintiffs let the deadline lapse after their case was dismissed back in June.
Justin Baldoni attends Variety’s Faith and Spirituality in Entertainment Honors event in Beverly Hills, California, in December 2024. Variety via Getty Images
Blake Lively seen in New York City on Oct. 20. GC Images
The judge said he had issued an order on Oct. 17 to warn them that he was considering entering a final judgement to end the case.
Lively, 38, was the only person to respond. She asked the judge to enter final judgement but to treat her request for legal fees as active, which the judge agreed to.
Baldoni can still appeal Liman’s legal move.
The Post has reached out to Baldoni and Lively’s reps for comment.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in the 2024 drama “It Ends With Us.” ©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
The ongoing legal saga began last December when Lively sued Baldoni and claimed that he sexually harassed her on the set of “It Ends With Us” and “coordinated effort to destroy her reputation” after the film was released.
Baldoni denied the allegations and countersued Lively, Reynolds, 49, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane, for $400 million over alleged defamation and extortion, which they denied.
Justin Baldoni on the set of “It Ends With Us” in New Jersey in January 2024. Nancy Rivera / SplashNews.com
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds at “Another Simple Favor” screening in New York. Nancy Rivera / SplashNews.com
In June, Liman dismissed Baldoni and Wayfarer’s $400 million lawsuit, as well as the actor’s $250 million defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, in which he alleged libel and false light invasion of privacy over the newspaper’s Dec. 21, 2024 article about Lively’s sexual harassment complaint.
Blake Lively in an Instagram photo from September. blakelively/Instagram
After the dismissal, Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson & Mike Gottlieb, called the legal win “complete vindication” for the actress.
“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it,” they said in a statement in June, adding that they “look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages” against Baldoni and others “who perpetrated this abusive litigation.”
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni filming “It Ends With Us” in New Jersey. GC Images
Lively also spoke out about the lawsuit in a message on her Instagram Stories at the time.
“Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us,” she wrote. “While the suit against me was defeated, so many don’t have the resources to fight back.”
Blake Lively attends an event in London promoting “It Ends With Us” on Aug. 8, 2024. Dave Benett/WireImage
The mother of four also said that she’s now “more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman’s right to have a voice in protecting themselves, including their safety, their integrity, their dignity and their story.”
Lively’s original lawsuit against Baldoni is going to trial in March 2026.
