Blake Lively seeks to end Justin Baldoni's 'vengeful' $400 million defamation lawsuit

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Actress Blake Lively asked a U.S. judge on Thursday to dismiss actor Justin Baldoni's $400 million defamation lawsuit, calling it a "vengeful" attempt to weaponize the federal courts after she accused him of sexual harassment.

In a filing in Manhattan federal court, lawyers for Lively called Baldoni's lawsuit part of a "sinister campaign to bury and destroy" Lively for speaking out about sexual harassment and retaliation, including through her lawsuit against him.

"The law prohibits weaponizing defamation lawsuits" such as Baldoni's to deprive Lively of her right to speak out, her lawyers added.

Lively is also seeking unspecified triple and punitive damages for reputational and emotional harm that Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios, and other defendants allegedly caused.

Lawyers for Baldoni did not immediately respond to requests for comment. He and Lively have forcefully denied each other's respective allegations.

The feud began publicly in December, when Lively accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her while filming the 2024 movie "It Ends With Us," in which Baldoni co-starred and directed, and then trying to smear her reputation.

Litigation began when Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, followed by her own lawsuit in the Manhattan court.

Baldoni and Wayfarer countersued for the $400 million, accusing Lively, her husband and actor Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, the New York Times and others of orchestrating a smear campaign to extort him.

He accused Lively of trying to "hijack" the movie, whose themes included domestic violence, and then blame him when her "disastrous" promotional approach prompted an online backlash.

The Times was sued over its December 21, 2024 article "'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine" about Lively and Baldoni.

LIVELY SAYS NO 'ACTUAL MALICE'

In seeking a dismissal, Lively's lawyers said applicable California law barred lawsuits such as Baldoni's based on public discussion of sexual harassment, including in the press.

They said Lively had a "genuine, good faith belief that she was mistreated," and Baldoni failed to show she acted with actual malice, meaning she knew her accusations were false or had reckless disregard of their falsity.

The alleged falsehoods "center on hair-splitting Ms. Lively's recounting of specific incidents within her legal complaints or, worse, attempt to justify the Wayfarer parties' behavior - essentially asserting that Ms. Lively 'asked for it,'" the lawyers said.

Most damning, they added, were Baldoni's August 30, 2024 text messages calling Lively "the kind of person that genuinely believes she's right and that all of this is unjust," to which a publicist replied, "She fully does. I know it."

In a joint statement, Lively's lawyers Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson called Baldoni's lawsuit "a profound abuse of the legal process," and said its "attempt to sue Ms. Lively 'into oblivion' has only created more liability" for him.

A March 2026 trial is scheduled.

Reynolds is also seeking a dismissal from Baldoni's lawsuit, saying it reflected "hurt feelings" based on the two times he allegedly called Baldoni a "predator."

He also said he "genuinely, perhaps passionately, believes" Baldoni's behavior reflects that of a predator, and that using the word is constitutionally protected opinion.

The Times, meanwhile, has said its article about Lively and Baldoni was merely journalism, and that it was not helping Lively extract revenge.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan, who oversees both lawsuits, has signaled Baldoni is likely to lose his case against the Times.

"It Ends With Us" garnered mixed reviews, but grossed more than $351 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)