Justin Baldoni has decided not to amend or refile his massive $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds—but that doesn’t mean the legal battle is over.
After a federal judge threw out Baldoni’s countersuit earlier this month, his legal team now says they’re changing tactics. Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s attorney, told Page Six on Tuesday, “The Court’s decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defense against Ms. Lively’s claims.”
“Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations,” Freedman added.
Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni’s defamation claims, ruling that Lively’s complaint was privileged and protected. However, the court did give Baldoni the option to amend specific claims by June 23—claims related to breach of implied covenant and tortious interference with contract.
Rather than file amendments, Baldoni’s camp has chosen a new legal strategy. “Instead of revising the existing claims,” Freedman said, “we will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us.”
A spokesperson for Lively responded with sharp words: “The Court dismissed the frivolous $400 million Baldoni-Wayfarer lawsuit in its entirety. In the days that followed, Baldoni’s lawyer said the judge’s decision to dismiss their case was not a big deal as they promised to amend and refile it. As per usual, that was not true. The Court’s dismissal of Baldoni’s sham lawsuit was a total victory after all.”
Baldoni initially filed the lawsuit in January after Lively accused him of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us. Lively sued Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, invasion of privacy, and more.
In a small win for Baldoni, the court recently ruled he could access text messages between Lively and Taylor Swift that may be relevant to the case. Judge Liman said, “The requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively’s harassment and retaliation claims.”
Where things go next is anyone’s guess—but this Hollywood legal saga is far from over.
