BREAKING NEWSLegal Bombshell: Blake Lively Files to Dismiss Lawsuit Against Justin Baldoni After Sexual Harassment Accusations
In January 2025, Justin Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation countersuit against Blake Lively.
The Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal saga may finally come to an end.
According to a report, the Gossip Girl alum, 37, filed to dismiss against her It Ends With Us costar, 41, on Thursday, March 20.
Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni in December 2024, claiming he allegedly sexually harassed her and ran a smear campaign to 'destroy' her reputation.
"This lawsuit is a profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court. California law now expressly prohibits suing victims who make the decision to speak out against sexual harassment or retaliation, whether in a lawsuit or in the press,” the mother-of-four's lawyers Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson said in their statement.
“This meritless and retaliatory lawsuit runs head first into three legal obstacles, including the litigation, fair report, and sexual harassment privileges, the latter of which contains a mandatory fee-shifting provision that will require the likes of … Wayfarer Studios, and others that brought frivolous defamation claims against Ms. Lively to pay damages. In other words, in an epic self-own, the Wayfarer Parties’ attempt to sue Ms. Lively ‘into oblivion’ has only created more liability for them, and deservedly so, given what they have done," the legal minds added.
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively worked closely on the 'It Ends With Us' film, which was adapted from Colleen Hoover's novel.
The blonde beauty's spokesperson also released a statement about her legal request.
“The painful reality is that Ms. Lively is not alone in being sued for defamation after speaking up about being sexually harassed at work. That is entirely why California recently enacted AB 933, the Privileged Communications Incident of Sexual Assault, Harassment, or Discrimination Act, which codified California civil code section 47.1. While Ms. Lively has suffered greatly by speaking up and pursuing legal claims, it is important for other people to know that they have protections, and that there is a specific law that expressly protects them from being silenced or financially ruined by a defamation lawsuit because they had the courage to speak up," they said.
As OK! previously reported, in December 2024, Lively filed a lawsuit in which she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us and claimed he then ran a smear campaign to "destroy" her reputation. In January 2025, Baldoni hit back by filing a $400 million defamation countersuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane's PR firm Vision PR Inc.
- Justin Baldoni Files $250 Million Libel Lawsuit Against 'The New York Times' Over Blake Lively Article
- Blake Lively's Counterattack: Actress Claims Justin Baldoni's Unedited 'It Ends With Us' Footage Proves Her 'Discomfort'
- Rose McGowan's RICO Lawsuit Against Harvey Weinstein & His Lawyers Gets Dismissed By Federal Judge: Report
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Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have been in a contentious legal battle since she accused him of sexual harassment in December 2024.
As OK! previously reported, Lively's filing came after her It Ends With Us costar Jenny Slate refused to discuss the legal battle between the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants alum and Baldoni.
“I don’t have anything to say about that,” she said about the duo's woes during a sit-down with The Hollywood Reporter.
The journalist the asked how working on It Ends With Us compared to her new project, Dying for S--.
Justin Baldoni denied Blake Lively's sexual harassment allegations following the shocking lawsuit.
“Everything is its own thing. I poured my heart into this work, and every minute of [Dying for S--] was important to me, and I just want to talk about that," she stated. “Anyone can ask anything, but my only responsibility is to speak about the work I’m there to promote. It was so important to me to get this job, so why would I spend time talking about anything but that?”
Us Weekly reported on the legal minds' statement.
