A defamation and extortion lawsuit against actress Blake Lively was dismissed Monday on the grounds allegations made in a separate lawsuit are exempt from claims of libel.
The lawsuit was filed by actor and director Justin Baldoni, Lively’s costar in “It Ends With Us.” His lawsuit was filed in response to a lawsuit Lively filed against Baldoni in which she accuses her costar of sexual harassment and retaliation, per the Associated Press.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman ruled the $400 million lawsuit filed against Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, was dismissed. The judge also ruled that an allegation made by Baldoni that Lively took over creative control of the movie was not extortion under California law.
Lively was accused of refusing to promote the movie, but as Liman wrote, Wayfarer Studios does “not allege facts showing that Lively had an obligation to promote the film or to approve marketing materials.”
Baldoni can revise the lawsuit if he wants to pursue a different breach of contract allegation against Lively, Liman said.
“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.
Lively took to Instagram after the lawsuit was dismissed.
“Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organizations united in defending women’s rights to speak up for their safety. Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us,” she wrote.
“While the suit against me was defeated, so many don’t have the resources to fight back.” she wrote.
She also thanked everyone who stood by her.
“With love and gratitude for the many who stood by me, many of you I know. Many of you I don’t,” Lively wrote. “But I will never stop appreciating or advocating for you. — B.”
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The defamation lawsuit against The New York Times was also dismissed by the judge. The newspaper had reported on the sexual harassment allegations Lively made against Baldoni.
A spokesperson for The New York Times said the paper was “grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting.”
“Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognized that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism,” Charlie Stadtlander said in a statement.
