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The protracted legal battle surrounding "It Ends with Us" has seen a major development, as director and star Justin Baldoni's lawsuit against Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds has been dismissed by a judge. Baldoni had sought a staggering $400 million, alleging extortion and defamation. Concurrently, Baldoni's separate $250 million defamation suit against The New York Times was also thrown out.
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Lively had initially accused Baldoni of maliciously collaborating with his public relations team to spread false allegations, aiming to tarnish her reputation by fabricating claims of her abusing producer power and consistently bullying colleagues. Baldoni, in turn, countered that Lively had colluded with The New York Times to disseminate her one-sided and out-of-context narrative.
While Baldoni's lawsuit was dismissed, the judge indicated that his legal team still has the option to amend and resubmit claims for breach of implied contract and tortious interference with contract, with a deadline of June 23. Lively's attorneys, in a joint statement released earlier, declared: "As we stated from the very beginning, this $400 million lawsuit was a sham, and the court has seen through it. We look forward to the next round of litigation, seeking attorney's fees, treble damages, and punitive damages from the Wayfarer (Baldoni's production company) camp."