Justin Baldoni's $400M Countersuit Against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds Reaches Final Ruling

Justin Baldoni's $400 million countersuit against Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, has reached its end.
According to ABC News, a federal judge entered a final judgment last week, officially closing the case after Baldoni declined to amend his original complaint.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman confirmed in court filings that Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios co-plaintiffs missed an October deadline to refile the case. Liman noted he contacted all involved parties on October 17 to advise them of his intent to finalize the ruling, adding that only Lively's legal team responded.
According to documents reviewed by Page Six, the actress asked that her request for legal fees remain active, which the court granted.
Judge Ends $400 Million Lawsuit
Baldoni, 41, originally filed the countersuit in January, accusing Lively, Reynolds, and Lively's publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion.
The case stemmed from Lively's sexual harassment claims against Baldoni, who directed and co-starred with her in the 2024 film It Ends With Us.
In June, Judge Liman dismissed both Baldoni's countersuit and his separate $250 million defamation case against The New York Times, ruling that the filings failed to show evidence of "actual malice" or wrongdoing.
At the time, the court said Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs had not proven that Lively made any defamatory statements beyond her official civil rights complaint, which is protected under law.
Baldoni's legal team said the decision not to amend the complaint was strategic, allowing them to preserve their right to appeal. They said Baldoni remains focused on defending himself in Lively's pending harassment case, which is scheduled to go to trial in March 2026.
#JustinBaldoni’s $400M lawsuit against #BlakeLively got tossed after he missed a court deadline 😬
— Just N Life (@TheJustNLife) November 3, 2025
Blake had filed a sexual harassment complaint last year. Baldoni responded with a countersuit, but didn’t follow through.
💬 N Crowd: Who do y’all think really fumbled here? pic.twitter.com/ku5SUUf5zq
Background Of The Legal Dispute
After initially accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation in December 2024, Lively, 38, later took the matter to federal court by filing a civil suit.
Her accusations were prominently featured in a report by The New York Times that provided the excerpts from emails and text messages obtained via subpoenas.
In his reply, Baldoni threw dirt back at Lively and The Times by filing defamation and "smear campaign" counterclaims against them. His legal filings also accused Reynolds and Sloane of amplifying false claims.
Judge Liman rejected those assertions, ruling that Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios partners "have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane, or The Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true."
Following the June dismissal, a spokesperson for Lively called the outcome "a total victory and complete vindication" for the actress, Reynolds, and others named in Baldoni's complaint.
In the aftermath of the decision, Lively made public a declaration on her Instagram account expressing gratitude to those who stood by her.
Lively said that the very ordeal of being confronted with a lawsuit in retaliation had been a factor that deepened her commitment to be a voice for the protection and rights of the female gender.
"While the suit against me was defeated, so many don't have the resources to fight back," she said, per E! News.
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