A rejected judge Justin Baldoni Defamation complaint of $ 400 million against It ends with us co-star Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds On Monday, after finding that his accusations of sexual harassment were legally protected, which makes them free from defamation allegations.
Judge Lewis J. Liman rejected Baldoni and the trial of the production company Wayfarer Studios, which also alleged the extortion, but enabled him as well as his legal team to modify the complaint to modify the “relevant allegations for allegations of tort interference in the contract and the violation of the implicit alliance”, with a date of adaptation of June 23.
Liman also judged that Baldoni’s claims that Baldoni’s creative control did not count as extortion under Californian law.
“But the Wayfarer parties did not allege that Reynolds, Sloane or Times would have seriously doubted that these declarations were true on the basis of the information that has them, as is necessary for them to be responsible for defamation under the applicable law.
“The additional complaints from Wayfarer parties also fail. Consequently, the modified complaint must be rejected in its entirety. ”
The judge also rejected Baldoni’s defamation trial against the New York Times, which reportedly reported on the allegations of sexual harassment in Lively.
Lively lawyers described the dismissal “a total victory and a complete justification by Blake Lively, as well as those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer parties dragged into their trials, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and the New York Times.”
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“As we said from the first day, this trial of” $ 400 million “was an imposture, and the court saw everything. We are looking forward to the next round, which requires lawyer fees, triple damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan and the other parties of Wayfarer.
Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer representing the publicist in Lively, Sloane, said: “Leslie Sloane has always declared that she had never defamed Baldoni or the Wayfarer parties and that she had been wrongly trained in this trial because the Wayfarer parties actively wanted to harm Sloane’s reputation.”
“The decision of today’s today clearly indicates that Sloane has done nothing wrong. Sloane is fully justified and that justice has been done,” added McCawley.
Baldoni and his legal team did not publish a declaration after rejection of the prosecution, which was filed in January.
The Baldoni costume was looking for at least $ 400 million for damages that include loss of future income. The trial of Baldoni and the production company Wayfarer Studios, which also appointed Sloane as a defendant, came about two weeks after Baldoni continued Lively and several others Attached to the film, alleging harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack his reputation to present himself on his treatment on the set.
This trial came the same day That Baldoni continued the New York Times for defamation, alleging that the newspaper worked with Lively to dirty it.
The Baldoni trial, filed with the New York Federal Court, said that the complainants did not want to deposit the prosecution, but that Lively “had unequivocal for them, not only to set the record in response to the accusations of Lively, but also to put the spotlight on the Hollywood parties that they dedicated their career to be the antithesis.”
At the end of March, Lively asked a judge to reject the counter-communion of Baldonicalling for his “avenging and disjointed” claims, after having filed the trial against him for sexual harassment and reprisals.
The lawyers of Lively, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, wrote in documents deposited before the Federal Court of Manhattan that Baldoni and the allegations of his production company according to which they were defamed were a “deep abuse of the legal process”.
“The law prohibits the armament of defamation prosecution, like the latter, to retaliate against persons who have filed legal complaints or who have publicly talked about sexual harassment and reprisals,” said lawyers.
“The right to request a legal compensation and the right of the press to make this report are sacred principles which are protected by multiple privileges, including the dispute and the privileges of fair relationship, which are absolute.”
The Lively legal team also referred to the Baldoni trial as part of a “sinister campaign to bury and destroy it” for having spoken of sexual harassment against him.
His lawyers invoked a California law This protects the accusers of sexual harassment, that the governor. Gavin Newsom Signed, in response to defamation proceedings brought during #Me too movement. Lively lawyers said the law enabled him to claim legal fees and damage to Baldoni once his costume is rejected.
“In other words, in an auto-active epic, Wayfarer’s parties have created more responsibility for themselves by their malicious efforts to continue even” in oblivion “, says the motion.
Lively lawyers added that the Gossip Girl The actor “suffered a lot” by speaking of the alleged harassment of Baldoni.
“The painful reality is that Ms. Lively is not the only one to be continued for defamation after talking about being sexually harassed at work”, ” Lively lawyers said. “Although Ms. Lively has greatly suffered by speaking and pursuing legal allegations, it is important that other people know that they have protections and that there is a specific law which expressly protects them against silencer or financially ruined by a defamation trial because they had the courage to express themselves.”
Baldoni lawyers quickly responded to Lively’s first attempt to reject her trial against her.
“The recent request of Ms. Lively to dismiss herself from the self-cocotizing disaster she has initiated is one of the most heinous examples to abuse our legal system,” said Baldoni lawyer Bryan Freedman, said in a press release.
“Strict rules are set up to protect innocent people and allow individuals to rightly defend themselves. The laws are not supposed to be twisted and organized by the privileged elites to adapt to their own personal program. ”
Freedman said at the time that they “would continue to hold Ms. Lively responsible for her malicious actions, which falsely understand my clients for harassment and reprisals”.
“His fantastic claims will be quickly demystified as the discovery advances, easily refuted with real proof and proof,” said Freedman.
The Lively and Baldoni trial is expected to take place in March 2026.
– With files from the Associated Press
& Copy 2025 Global News, A Division of Corus Entertainment Inc.