Court officially shuts down Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, know why

A federal judge has officially shut down director-actor Justin Baldoni’s $400 million extortion and defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. As per the report by Complex, the judgment came after Baldoni missed a court-imposed deadline to amend his claims after the case was initially dismissed in June.

In a ruling signed on October 31, the court confirmed that Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, “failed to respond” to an October 17 order asking why a final judgment should not be entered, leaving the U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York no choice but to formally dismiss the case.

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Court finds the claims baseless

This is another setback for the actor-director as his lawsuit was earlier thrown out in June 2025 after Judge Liman ruled that the defamation allegations had no merit. As per reports, several statements Baldoni claimed were defamatory and were taken from Lively’s sexual harassment complaint and a New York Times investigative report and both of which the court said were protected by litigation and journalistic privilege.

Though this ruling puts a full stop to Baldoni's defamation and extortion allegations against Blake-Ryan and The New York Times, he still has the opportunity to appeal once the court addresses motions linked to the actress's request to recover legal fees.

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Since the dismissal is made official, neither Baldoni nor Wayfarer Studios has issued a statement. However, The New York Times, who were also named in the lawsuit, welcomed the decision. As per the reports, a spokesperson earlier said the lawsuit was “a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting.” He also emphasised that the publication had reported “carefully and fairly on a matter of public importance.”

What's the background story

The controversy began when, in December 2024, the actress accused and filed a complaint against Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation on the set of their film It Ends With Us, which he directed and co-starred in. Later in January 2025, Baldoni filed the $400 million lawsuit, calling it a “counterattack.”

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Reportedly, Blake Lively alleged that Baldoni engaged in “disturbing” behaviour, including, entering her vanity van without permission, insisting on adding explicit scenes, asking intrusive questions about her marriage and sex life, and one particularly disturbing incident where he allegedly leaned forward during a quiet filming moment and “dragged his lips from her ear down her neck,” telling her, “It smells so good.”

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Blake's lawsuit further added that Baldoni attempted to smear her reputation and silence her by orchestrating a coordinated campaign after she came forward. As of now, neither Ryan Reynolds nor Blake Lively has publicly commented on the latest ruling. Baldoni has also remained silent following the dismissal.