Justin Baldoni’s legal battle has hit a major roadblock.
On June 9, Judge Lewis J. Liman granted a motion to dismiss the $400 million countersuit filed by Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and several staff members against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane, according to documents obtained by E! News.
Baldoni’s separate $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times was also dismissed.
Liman addressed two key claims in Baldoni’s suit. The first alleged that “Lively, assisted by Reynolds and Sloane, stole the film from Baldoni and Wayfarer, threatening to refuse to promote the film and attack Baldoni and Wayfarer in the press if the Wayfarer Parties did not agree to grant her, rather than Wayfarer, control over and credit for the film,” framing this as civil extortion.
But the court ruled that “the Wayfarer Parties have not adequately alleged that Lively’s threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions,” adding that her alleged actions do not meet the standard of civil extortion under California law.
On the defamation claims, the ruling noted that “Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD [California Civil Rights Department] complaint, which are privileged.”
As for alleged defamatory comments by Reynolds, Sloane, and The Times, the dismissal stated, “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.”
However, Liman granted Baldoni’s team permission to file an amended complaint, but only regarding “allegations relevant to the claims of tortious interference with contract and breach of implied covenant” by June 23.
After the dismissal, Lively’s attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb called the ruling “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.” They added, “As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it.”
