Justin Baldoni’s $400million lawsuit against It Ends with Us Co-star Blake Lively apparently will end with him, after a judge suddenly and shockingly ended it, RadarOnline.com can confirm.
The case came to an anticlimactic close after the actor failed to file an amended complaint before a crucial deadline.
Baldoni’s Slip and Fall
Baldoni let a crucial deadline to appeal slip without taking any action.
Late last week, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman entered a final judgment in Baldoni’s defamation and extortion case against his costar, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and The New York Times.
Judge Liman first dismissed the case in June, and the deadline for Baldoni to file an appeal has come and gone, without the 41-year-old taking any action. Now, a final judgment in the case has been entered, and all of Baldoni’s accusations have been thrown out.
Baldoni and his legal team have not shared why they seemingly gave up their case.
All parties were contacted on October 17 to inform them the judge was preparing to enter his final judgment, but only Lively responded, asking the judge to close the case.
Legal Turmoil to Continue
Lawsuits against Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and the ‘New York Times’ were also tossed.
This doesn’t mean the long legal nightmare is over for the bickering on-screen lovers, as Lively, 38, has promised to go after the defeated director for her legal fees.
Meanwhile, Lively’s lawsuit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and claiming his behavior while filming caused her “grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety” is still progressing.
“This is a disaster for Justin,” one legal insider told Hollywood journalist Rob Shuter. “He went after the biggest couple in Hollywood, and lost big.”
Lively’s trial is still scheduled to begin in March.
“Justin thought he could silence Blake with a massive lawsuit,” a source said. “Instead, she just shut him down in court.”
Lively’s Laywers Applaud the Decision
The former co-stars legal battles started after Lively filed harassment claims against Baldoni for his alleged behavior on their movie ‘It Ends with Us.’
Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios co-plaintiffs had alleged extortion and defamation from Lively and Reynolds before Judge Liman granted the motion to dismiss in June. The judge also dismissed Baldoni’s $250million defamation lawsuit against the New York Times.
At the time of the dismissal, Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a statement: “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, Leslie Sloane, and The New York Times.
“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it.”
Lively’s Lawsuit Lingers
Lively’s harassment lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in March.
Now all eyes are on the March trial, but LA celebrity lawyer Christopher Melcher said he doubts it will ever make it that far.
“I see no realistic chance that this case will ever go to trial,” Melcher said. “Justin has very little claims left that are allowed based on this ruling, and Blake can’t seek emotional distress damages.”
Melcher continued: “They have inflicted damaging wounds against the other (and) the only thing they have to show for it are big legal bills.
“Now they really need to find a way out, because going forward in court is not a viable pathway for either one of them based on the rulings that they have suffered.
‘It’s really now in their hands to settle, and that might be what the judge is hoping to do through these rulings.”
