Director and co-star of the film – It Ends With Us, Justin Baldoni, has suffered a decisive legal defeat in his multi-million dollar war with co-star Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
On Friday, October 31, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis J. Liman formally ended Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios co-plaintiffs’ $400 million defamation countersuit, it has been revealed.
The shocking conclusion was procedural: Baldoni and his team failed to file an amended complaint after the judge initially dismissed the lawsuit back in June.
Judge Liman had issued an order on October 17th warning the parties that he was considering entering a final judgment to end the case. Only Blake Lively responded, asking the judge to finalize the dismissal while keeping her request for legal fees active, a request the judge granted.
While Baldoni still has the option to appeal the final judgment, the court’s latest move represents a massive setback for his side in the bitter legal feud.
The high-stakes saga began last December. Blake Lively initially sued Baldoni, alleging he sexually harassed her on the set of It Ends With Us and orchestrated a “coordinated effort to destroy her reputation” after she spoke out.
Lively’s original lawsuit is still active and is set to go to trial in March 2026. Baldoni denied the allegations and swiftly countersued Lively, Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane, for $400 million over alleged defamation and extortion.
Baldoni’s separate $250 million defamation lawsuit against the New York Times over its reporting of Lively’s complaint was also dismissed by the judge in June.
Following the initial dismissal in June, Lively’s attorneys celebrated the ruling as “complete vindication,” calling the countersuit a “sham.”
Lively also took to Instagram, saying she was “more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman’s right to have a voice.”
Baldoni’s $400 million legal action is now over, but the central conflict which is Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni is still headed for a courtroom battle next year.