What you need to know
Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation countersuit against Blake Lively has been officially ended by a judge after he failed to file an amended complaint by the deadline.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Louis Lehman signed a new order stating that Baldoni, 41, and co-plaintiffs from Wayfarer Studios missed a deadline after the court dismissed their lawsuit in June.
The judge also said he contacted all parties on Oct. 17 to alert them to a final judgment to end the case. Lively, 38, was the only person to respond, asking the judge to declare a final judgment but still asking for her legal costs, which the judge agreed to, according to documents reviewed by PEOPLE.
The U.S. District Court did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional information. PEOPLE has also reached out to representatives for Lively and Baldoni for comment.
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Baldoni’s setback is the latest development in the Seraph of the End legal saga that began in December, when Lively sued Baldoni for on-set misconduct and a retaliatory smear campaign, allegations Baldoni denies. Lively’s first lawsuit is currently underway.
As PEOPLE previously reported, Baldoni’s $400 million counterclaim for extortion and defamation against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist was dismissed by a judge on June 9, as was her $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.
Lively later shared a post on her Instagram Stories in which she opened up about the “pain” caused by Baldoni’s countersuit.
“Like so many others, I have felt the pain of retaliatory lawsuits, including the manufactured shaming meant to hurt us,” Lively wrote in a June 9 post. “The case against me was lost, but so many people don’t have the wherewithal to fight back.”
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At the time, she added, “I am more determined than ever to continue to champion the right of every woman to have a voice in protecting herself, including her own safety, integrity, dignity, and story.”
“With love and gratitude to the many who have supported me, I know many of you. I don’t know many of you, but I will never stop appreciating and advocating for you,” she wrote, sharing a list of organizations where you can find related resources and information.
Her lawyers also praised the decision, calling it a “complete victory and complete vindication” for the actress. In a statement after news of the termination, Lively’s attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said, “As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit is a fabrication, and the court saw through it.”
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Meanwhile, Baldoni’s lawyer, Brian Friedman, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE on June 10 that Lively and her team’s “predictable declarations of victory” were “false.”
Friedman’s statement at the time said, “This case concerns false accusations of sexual harassment, retaliation, and a non-existent smear campaign, but Lively’s own team has conveniently described it as ‘untraceable’ because it cannot prove what happened.”
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Judge Lehman ruled in June, pointing to a California law passed in the wake of the #MeToo movement, that Lively’s sexual harassment allegations were legally protected and could not be the basis of a defamation claim.
Additionally, Baldoni and fellow plaintiffs associated with production company Wayfarer Studios “do not allege that Reynolds,[publicist Leslie]Sloan, or the Times would have seriously doubted” Lively’s original claims, but that does not prove they defamed Baldoni, the judge previously wrote.
A trial is scheduled for March 2026.
