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A judge on Monday dismissed Justin Baldoni’s $400m defamation claim against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, after finding that Lively’s accusations of sexual harassment against Baldoni were legally protected and therefore immune from suit.
The entire lawsuit from Baldoni, the actor and director, which included claims of extortion, was dismissed by Lewis Liman, a US district judge of New York. But the ruling allows Baldoni to amend and refile some allegations regarding interference with contracts.
Liman also dismissed Baldoni’s $250m defamation claim against the New York Times, finding that the newspaper’s reporting on the claims was protected under “fair report” privilege.
At the center of the complex dispute are claims from Lively and Reynolds that Baldoni had sexually harassed Lively on the set of It Ends With Us, in which Lively starred and Baldoni both acted and directed.
Lively and Reynolds also alleged that Baldoni conducted a smear campaign against her after she complained about conditions on the set of the film.
Baldoni’s defamation claim against the New York Times, Lively, Reynolds, and their publicist alleged that they had conspired to destroy his career with false allegations.
Referring to Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer, which produced It Ends With Us, Liman’s ruling on Monday said that “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.”
In a statement following the ruling, Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a statement that Liman’s ruling “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”.
The statement continued: “As we have said from day one, this [$400m] 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 … and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.”
Attorneys for Baldoni have not immediately commented. Rulings from the district to which Liman belongs can be appealed to the US second circuit court.
