A judge has dismissed Justin Baldoni's $400million defamation lawsuit against his former co-star Blake Lively.
The pair have been locked in a legal battle for months stemming from allegations made after they both starred in the 2024 film It Ends with Us.
A trial was set for next year, but in a dramatic turn of events on Monday, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed Baldoni's suit, which alleged extortion, defamation and other allegations.
Baldoni brought the £295million counter lawsuit after Lively filed a bombshell legal complaint last year against her former co-star, accusing him of sexual harassment and starting a smear campaign against her.
Lively filed her suit against Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios in December last year, alleging she was sexually harassed on set and that Baldoni retaliated against her for bringing those complaints, among other allegations.
Lively also outlined details of the allegations in a New York Times article published before her lawsuit.
Baldoni, who strenuously denies the claims, then brought the defamation suit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, and the New York Times, claiming they were aiming to ruin his career and reputation with the allegations.
The judge also dismissed Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.
Lively, Reynolds and Sloane denied the accusations made in litigation by Baldoni.
In his finding on Monday Judge Lewis Liman wrote: “The Wayfarer Parties have 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.
“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."
Baldoni and his production company “have not adequately alleged that Lively's threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions”, he wrote.
The judge also determined that evidence did not show that the New York Times "acted with actual malice" in publishing their story.
“The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened,” he wrote. “The Times had no obvious motive to favour Lively's version of events.”
Judge Liman said Baldoni would be allowed to amend and refile his allegations related to interference with contracts by 23 June.
A statement from Blake Lively's lawyers read: “Today's opinion is 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, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times.
"As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it.
"We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation."
It Ends With Us, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a 50 million dollar (£36.8 million) debut.
But the film's release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.
