Judge ends Baldoni’s $400m lawsuit after he failed to file amended claims by court deadline

A US judge has officially dismissed Justin Baldoni’s $400m (£295m) lawsuit against actress Blake Lively after the It Ends With Us star failed to meet the deadline to continue his case.

The ruling brings an end to one of Hollywood’s most high-profile legal feuds of the past year, which has pitted the two co-stars against each other since late 2024. The pair’s legal battle stemmed from Lively’s sexual harassment allegations against Baldoni, which she filed last December, accusing him of inappropriate conduct and running a smear campaign to damage her reputation.

Baldoni, who directed and co-starred with Lively in the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel It Ends With Us, responded with a countersuit in January. His claim, filed against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, and the New York Times, alleged civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.

In June, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed Baldoni’s lawsuit but gave him the opportunity to file an amended complaint to address the court’s concerns. According to court records, Baldoni failed to do so by the specified deadline.

On 17 October, Judge Liman contacted both parties to warn that a final judgment would be entered if no new filings were received. Only Lively’s legal team responded, asking the judge to officially close the case while keeping her request for legal fees active. The judge granted her request, formally concluding the matter.

“The court has received no amended complaint from Mr Baldoni or his counsel,” Judge Liman wrote in his final ruling. “Accordingly, the case is hereby dismissed in its entirety.”

Lively’s original lawsuit against Baldoni, filed in Los Angeles County, remains ongoing.

After Baldoni’s case was dismissed in June, Lively’s representatives hailed the decision as “a total victory and complete vindication” for the actress. Her legal team said the ruling reaffirmed her claims of misconduct and dismissed Baldoni’s “attempt to distort the facts and intimidate her through costly litigation.”

At the time, Baldoni’s lawyer rejected that characterisation, saying: “Ms Lively’s predictable declaration of victory is false. With the facts on our side, we march forward.” He added that the judge had invited them to refile four of the seven claims with “additional evidence and refined allegations.” However, those claims were never submitted.

Baldoni, 41, who is best known for directing Five Feet Apart and playing Rafael Solano in Jane the Virgin, has not commented publicly on the court’s decision. His production company, Wayfarer Studios, which was also named in the lawsuit, has likewise remained silent.

In his June ruling, Judge Liman noted that Baldoni’s claims hinged on two main accusations: that Lively and her representatives “stole” the film It Ends With Us by threatening not to promote it unless production changes were made, and that she fabricated sexual assault allegations as part of a campaign to destroy his reputation.

The judge concluded that Baldoni had failed to prove either claim met the legal threshold for extortion or defamation. “The plaintiffs have not adequately alleged that Lively’s threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions,” the court found.

Regarding the defamation claims, the judge ruled that Baldoni’s team had not shown that Lively was responsible for any public statements beyond those made in her own lawsuit, which are protected as privileged legal documents.

Baldoni’s attempt to include the New York Times as a defendant in a $250m claim also failed. Judge Liman determined that the newspaper had not acted with “actual malice” when reporting on the allegations, writing that “the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatised manner, what it believed to have happened. The Times had no obvious motive to favour Lively’s version of events.”

The decision effectively ends Baldoni’s defamation and extortion claims, leaving Lively’s harassment case still active. The actress, 38, and her husband Ryan Reynolds have not commented publicly since the latest ruling but are said to be “relieved” that the countersuit has been dismissed.

With the $400m claim now officially closed, attention will shift back to Lively’s original case, which is expected to continue into next year.