A US judge has dismissed a $400 million lawsuit that actor and director Justin Baldoni filed against his former co-star, Blake Lively and The New York Times after she accused him of sexual harassment.
In December, The New York Times reported that Lively had filed a complaint against Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath, alleging inappropriate behaviour and comments during the filming of It Ends with Us.
According to the complaint, Baldoni, who also directed the movie, made remarks about his sex life and sought to add sex scenes not included in the agreed script. It also alleged that Heath watched Lively while she was topless despite being asked to turn away, and that Baldoni later engaged in a public campaign to damage her reputation.
At the time, a lawyer for Wayfarer Studios, the company behind the film, told The New York Times that neither the studio, its executives, nor its PR team had taken any retaliatory action against Lively. "These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media," lawyer Bryan Freedman said in December.
Baldoni filed his lawsuit in January against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and The New York Times, claiming that the newspaper's report had defamed him.
On Monday, Judge Lewis Liman of the US District Court in Manhattan dismissed Baldoni’s case. He found that the newspaper’s article accurately reflected the contents of Lively’s legal complaint and had sought comment from Baldoni before publication.
The judge also rejected Baldoni’s claims that Lively, who has more than 43 million Instagram followers, attempted to control the film’s direction or publicity. Baldoni had further accused Reynolds of wrongly portraying him as a sexual predator.
In a statement reported by US media, Lively’s legal team described the ruling as a "total victory" over what they called Baldoni’s "retaliatory lawsuit."
Baldoni’s lawyer did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Based on the best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover, It Ends with Us was released in 2024 and went on to gross more than $350 million worldwide.
Source: AFP
