This morning, New York Judge Lewis J. Liman granted a motion to dismiss the suit alleging defamation against Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds. The judge also dismissed Justin’s $250 million defamation lawsuit against the New York Times.
“The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged,” the court filing reads. “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 the dismissal judgment, the judge also specified that Justin’s team could choose to amend their claims of “breach of implied covenant” and “tortious interference with contract” by June 23.
The trial resulting from Blake’s original lawsuit against Justin, which alleges sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us, is currently set to take place in March 2026. In a statement to BuzzFeed, her lawyers said the following: “Today’s opinion 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. As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ 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, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.”
We’ll let you know if there’s anything more as this story develops.
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