Justin Baldoni suffered a major legal setback when a judge dismissed his $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively. Nonetheless, lawyers exclusively informed Page Six that he still has potential legal avenues to explore.
According to Nicole Page, a partner at Reavis Page Jump LLP, if the “It Ends With Us” actress, 37, were to issue a “new public statement” about Baldoni that he perceives as defamatory, he could potentially initiate another defamation lawsuit, provided it’s filed within the one-year statute of limitations.
However, as highlighted by entertainment and libel attorney Tre Lovell, Baldoni, 41, might not need to wait for any new statements from Lively to take legal action again. The judge has allowed him to amend four of the seven claims in his initial countersuit, which included allegations such as false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and others.
Attorney Alphonse Provinziano agrees, “Right now, the court has allowed them to amend their pleadings on defamation-related claims, meaning the lawsuit is still alive.”
Bryan Freedman, who represents Baldoni in his ongoing legal battle, reiterated those beliefs in a public statement Tuesday.
“While the Court dismissed the defamation related claims, the Court has invited us to amend four out of the seven claims against Ms. Lively, which will showcase additional evidence and refined allegations,” he clarified.
“This case is about false accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign, which Ms. Lively’s own team conveniently describes as ‘untraceable’ because they cannot prove what never happened.”
However, Camron Dowlatshahi of Los Angeles-based MSD Lawyers tells us that even if Baldoni chooses to file an amended complaint, it will “likely face another motion to dismiss.”
“It remains to be seen whether Baldoni can get to the discovery stage of his case,” he says.
Our legal experts agree Lively’s latest legal victory does not mean she has won the whole war, though.
“Lively will still have to provide evidence in support of her allegations that Baldoni sexually harassed her in order to succeed on her claims,” Page, an entertainment, employment and labor lawyer, says.
Michael Elkins, Esq., partner and founder at MLE Law, agrees, “I think Lively has an uphill battle in her claim for sexual harassment.”
Lovell further explains why the “Gossip Girl” alum may still face hurdles inside the courtroom come March 2026 when she pleads her case that Baldoni’s behavior, particularly on set, constituted as sexual harassment.
“Alleging sexual harassment on a movie set where the film is about domestic violence and the actor’s job to improvise and perform scenes in accordance with the subject matter will make this case much more difficult to prove than a typical work-place of employment scenario,” he says.
Neama Rahmani, president of Los Angeles-based West Coast Trial Lawyers, thinks the judge’s latest ruling has had an impact on Lively’s trial next year because it now puts Baldoni at a disadvantage.
“Things are looking bad for him in the courtroom because now he is playing defense and not offense,” he says, calling the dismissal a “huge win” for Lively and her team.
Rahmani adds, “The judge ruled that even if Lively tried to steal creative control of the film, that is not civil extortion. It was just hard bargaining and renegotiation, and Baldoni can’t prove he was harmed by it.”
Despite there still being a lot of uncertainty as to what will happen next, Lively is in a celebratory mood.
Her lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb told Page Six Monday, “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.
“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it.”
