Monday’s ruling is the latest chapter in the ongoing bitter legal battle surrounding the dark romantic drama “It Ends With Us.”
NEW YORK — On Monday, a judge put an end to the lawsuit that actor and director Justin Baldoni had filed against his “It Ends With Us” co-star Blake Lively, after she brought a case against him alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman’s ruling marks the latest chapter in the contentious legal saga linked to the intense romantic drama, which began when Lively filed her lawsuit against Baldoni in late December.
Baldoni, along with Wayfarer Studios, the production company, responded in January with a $400 million countersuit, accusing Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.
The judge ruled that Baldoni can’t sue Lively for defamation over claims she made in her lawsuit, because allegations made in a lawsuit are exempt from libel claims. Liman also ruled that Baldoni’s claims that Lively stole creative control of the film didn’t count as extortion under California law.
While Lively was accused in the lawsuit of threatening to refuse to promote the film, Wayfarer does “not allege facts showing that Lively had an obligation to promote the film or to approve marketing materials,” Liman wrote.
Baldoni’s legal team can revise the lawsuit if they want to pursue different claims related to whether Lively breached a contract, the judge said.
“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.
The judge also dismissed Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which had reported on Lively’s sexual harassment allegations.
“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, (publicist) Leslie Sloane and The New York Times,” Lively’s attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a prepared statement.
The lawyers said they “look forward to the next round” of seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages.
The Associated Press sent emails seeking comment to Baldoni’s attorneys.
Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.
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