After more than a year of messy legal wrangling, it looks like the war between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has finally come to an end.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman recently entered a final judgment in which he explained that Baldoni missed the deadline to file an amended complaint after his $400 million suit against Lively was dismissed back in June.
Judge Liman says he reached out to both teams in mid-October to warn them that the deadline was approaching, and only Lively’s team responded.
Lively reportedly asked that her request for legal fees remain active, which Liman granted.
Liman ruled in June that Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs “have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her [California Civil Rights Department] complaint, which are privileged” (per Page Six).
The judge also threw out Baldoni’s suit against the New York Times.
The wide-ranging countersuit was filed in response to Lively’s sexual harassment suit.
The two stars clashed on the set of the 2024 film It Ends With Us, which Baldoni also directed.
The title proved to be wildly ironic, as the conflict between the movie’s two leads has raged on in the nearly two years since filming wrapped.
Lively publicly accused Baldoni of harassment in December of 2024, filing a lawsuit later that month.
He responded with a countersuit that also named Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and several members of the actress’ inner circle in his complaint.
In dismissing Baldoni’s suit, Liman explained that the actor and his Wayfarer organization did not provide sufficient explanation for why any of the defendants’ public statements were unlawful.
Liman wrote that Baldoni “alleged that Reynolds and [publicist Leslie] Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign.”
“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,” the judge concluded.
And with that, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to the conclusion of this never-ending drama.
But it’s important to note that we’re not entirely out of the woods.
Lively and Baldoni will head to court in March of 2026 for the beginning of her harassment suit against him.
If Baldoni had a viable countersuit, then Lively might be inclined to settle out of court. Now, however, it looks like the whole thing will play out publicly next spring.