A federal judge has formally dismissed actor and director Justin Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against his former "It Ends With Us" co-star Blake Lively, ruling that Baldoni failed to meet a filing deadline to continue the case.
Judge Lewis Liman issued the final judgment after Baldoni did not submit an amended complaint within the time allowed following the dismissal of his case in June, BBC reported.
The decision ends Baldoni's legal action against Lively; her husband, Ryan Reynolds; their publicist; and The New York Times.
Liman said he reached out to all parties on Oct. 17, warning that he would close the case unless someone moved it forward.
Court filings show only Lively's attorneys replied, asking for a final judgment but keeping their request for legal fees active. The judge approved that request.
Lively's separate lawsuit against Baldoni, filed in December 2024, remains active.
In that case, she accused him of sexual harassment and conducting a smear campaign following production of their film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel "It Ends With Us."
Baldoni responded with claims of civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy, arguing that Lively and others damaged his career and reputation.
His complaint also alleged that Lively had "stolen" the film from him and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, by threatening not to promote it unless her demands were met.
Judge Liman dismissed Baldoni's claims in June but gave him the option to revise four of the seven counts in a new filing.
At the time, Lively's attorneys called the ruling "a total victory and a complete vindication."
Baldoni's attorney pushed back on that description, saying, "Lively's predictable declaration of victory is false," adding that the team planned to move forward with "additional evidence and refined allegations," according to Variety.
But those revised claims were never filed, leading the judge to close the case for good.
In his earlier ruling, Liman wrote that Baldoni's extortion claim failed because the plaintiffs "have not adequately alleged that Lively's threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions."
He also ruled there was no basis for defamation, noting that Baldoni's side hadn't shown Lively was behind any statements not protected by legal privilege.
The judge further rejected claims against The New York Times, ruling that the newspaper did not act with "actual malice" when it reported on the dispute.
"The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatised manner, what it believed to have happened," Liman wrote. "The Times had no obvious motive to favour Lively's version of events."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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