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The ongoing legal feud between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni took a turn as a federal judge dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and The New York Times. While the ruling may have been a major win for Lively, the core of their dispute remains unresolved—Lively is still suing Baldoni for sexual harassment, and they are scheduled to appear for trial in March 2026.
According to the BBC, on June 9, 2025, Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit accusing Lively of defamation and extortion be dropped. Notably, the dismissal does not affect Lively’s separate lawsuit filed against Baldoni.
Social media personality Zack Peter took to X to state that Lively "got off on the technicalities" in Justin Baldoni’s dismissed lawsuit. On his podcast, Peter argued that while the judge’s decision favored Blake Lively procedurally, it didn’t necessarily validate her harassment claims or make Baldoni a "predator".
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"Just because you do something legally strategic does not mean that it's not morally corrupt. What's legal and what's moral are two completely different things. She got off on the technicalities, which is what I was afraid she was always going to win with."
Peter also suggested that Blake Lively referred to Amber Heard's defamation lawsuit against Johnny Depp and avoided the mistakes Heard made.
The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni explored
According to the BBC, on June 9, 2025, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman threw Justin Baldoni’s defamation and extortion cases out of court, claiming that Blake Lively’s original charges from a California Civil Rights Department complaint fell into the realm of acceptable conduct-based claims speech that is legally protected.
In addition, he rejected Baldoni’s $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times, asserting that the newspaper’s reporting was protected by "fair report privilege" law and showed no indication of actual malice.
According to People, Blake Lively’s legal team dubbed the dismissal a "total victory and a complete vindication" for the actress.
"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," they said in their statement.
As per the BBC, in her initial complaint, submitted in December 2024, Blake Lively described Justin Baldoni’s actions as “repeated sexual harassment” while working on It Ends With Us. According to the actress, his behavior was inappropriate on the film set and included retaliatory measures after she spoke out.
Lively claimed that Justin Baldoni and his company, Wayfarer Studios, hired a PR expert to damage her reputation and spread online criticism during the film’s press tour. Baldoni denied this and said Lively made it up to take creative control. His now-dismissed countersuit claimed she threatened to ruin the film’s promotion if he didn’t give in to her demands.
The remaining focus is on Blake Lively’s pending lawsuit. The 2026 trial plans to see the testimony of both actors, which is likely to include a major discovery on film production and harassment allegations.
