A judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against social media guru Blake Lively, accusing her of helping tarnish her reputation online during the release of “It Ends With Us” last year.
Judge Lewis Lehman ruled that Lively’s lawyers had failed to prove that Austin, Texas-based Jed Wallace had enough connections to sue in New York.
Lively accused director and co-star Justin Baldoni of conspiring to damage her reputation in retaliation for filing complaints of sexual harassment on set. Lively sued Baldoni, as well as publicist Melissa Nathan and producer Jamie Heath. A trial is scheduled for March.
In her allegations, Lively claimed that Baldoni’s team hired Wallace to weaponize a “digital army” to damage her reputation on Reddit and other online forums. A judge previously dismissed the case against Wallace, but gave Lively’s lawyers an opportunity to add additional facts supporting the New York connection.
New York’s “long arm” law allows plaintiffs to sue out-of-state defendants in New York if they can prove that the injury occurred within the state. However, the law honors freedom of expression and exempts defamation claims from its provisions. The judge ruled that Mr. Lively had not overcome that hurdle, but left open the possibility that Mr. Wallace could sue in Texas.
For now, the ruling narrows the case to some extent, but it’s unclear whether Lively will pursue Wallace in Texas.
“The court has ruled that Ms. Lively’s claims can and should be filed in another court,” Lively’s spokesperson said in a statement. “Ms. Lively is considering many options for doing so and looks forward to trial in New York in March on all claims against Baldoni, Heath, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer defendants.”
Mr. Wallace has filed his own defamation suit against Mr. Lively in federal court in Texas.
Brian Friedman, an attorney for Mr. Baldoni and the other defendants, said in a statement: “We are grateful for today’s court order making clear that the claims against Mr. Wallace never belong in this court.” “Allegations that he participated in a defamatory campaign are unsubstantiated and all claims against him have been dismissed by this court. The other defendants look forward to their day in court where Ms. Lively’s claims against them will prove without merit.”
