Judge Tosses Justin Baldoni’s $400M Lawsuit Against Blake Lively and NYT in Explosive Hollywood Showdown

The legal showdown between It Ends With Us co-stars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively has been a Hollywood rollercoaster, and the latest twist is surprising. Yesterday (Monday) a federal judge in New York, Lewis J. Liman, threw out Baldoni’s massive $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and The New York Times, plus a separate $250 million libel suit against the Times. This is a major win for Lively and a serious blow for Baldoni, so let’s break it down.

The Backstory: A Film Feud Gone Wild

The saga stems from the 2024 film It Ends With Us, a romantic drama adapted from Colleen Hoover’s novel about domestic abuse, where Lively starred as Lily Bloom and Baldoni both directed and co-starred. The movie grossed over $350 million worldwide, but behind-the-scenes tensions exploded.

Rumors of a rift surfaced during the press tour, as Baldoni was noticeably absent from joint promotions with Lively and the cast. Things got messy when Lively filed a complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department on December 20, 2024, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation during filming. Lively also alleged Baldoni and his team at Wayfarer Studios launched a “smear campaign” to tank her reputation after she raised concerns, complete with planted negative press and social media manipulation.

Baldoni fired back, denying the allegations and claiming Lively was the one orchestrating a smear campaign to seize creative control of the film. On December 31, 2024, he filed a $250 million libel suit against The New York Times, which published a bombshell article titled “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” detailing Lively’s claims.

He followed up on January 16, 2025, with a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, Sloane, and others, alleging they conspired to ruin his career with false accusations of harassment and extortion to take over the film. Baldoni’s suit included text messages he said were taken out of context by Lively and the Times.

The Judge’s Ruling: A Total Shutdown

Judge Liman’s 132-page ruling on June 9, 2025, was a decisive smackdown of Baldoni’s claims. He dismissed the $400 million suit against Lively, Reynolds, and Sloane, finding that Lively’s accusations in her California complaint were protected by litigation privilege, meaning they couldn’t form the basis of a defamation claim.

The judge also rejected Baldoni’s argument that Lively’s demands for workplace protections amounted to extortion, calling the evidence legally insufficient. As for the $250 million suit against The New York Times, Liman ruled that the paper’s reporting was protected under the “fair report” privilege, as it covered a matter of public interest without “actual malice.” He noted the Times reviewed thousands of documents and didn’t just parrot Lively’s narrative, dismissing Baldoni’s claim that they colluded with her.

Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, were over the moon, calling it a “total victory and complete vindication” for Lively and everyone Baldoni dragged into the suit. They labeled his lawsuit a “sham” and said they’re now gunning for attorneys’ fees, treble damages, and punitive damages against Baldoni and his team. The Times echoed the sentiment, with spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander saying the suit was a “meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting” and praising the court for protecting their journalism.

The Fallout: Hollywood’s Watching

This legal battle has been tabloid catnip, with fans and celebs picking sides. Lively’s It Ends With Us co-stars like Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate, along with stars like Amy Schumer and Amber Heard, publicly backed her, with Heard comparing the alleged smear campaign to her own experiences. Meanwhile, Baldoni’s team tried to pull Taylor Swift into the mess, subpoenaing her over texts where Lively allegedly called her one of her “dragons” (the subpoena was later withdrawn). Posts on X show the internet is split, with some calling Lively’s win a triumph over DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) tactics, while othersclaim the media’s biased toward her. Baldoni’s camp has stayed quiet since the ruling, but earlier posts from @TMZ suggest they’re not giving up easily.

Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni, filed in December 2024, is still ongoing, with a trial set for March 9, 2026. She’s pushing claims of harassment and retaliation, while Baldoni denies everything, insisting he’s the real victim.