{"id":83669,"date":"2025-07-01T11:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T15:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/?p=83669"},"modified":"2025-07-31T11:09:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T15:09:07","slug":"blake-lively-calls-it-a-total-victory-after-justin-baldoni-drops-his-usd-400-million-countersuit-over-it-ends-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/blake-lively-calls-it-a-total-victory-after-justin-baldoni-drops-his-usd-400-million-countersuit-over-it-ends-with-us\/83669\/","title":{"rendered":"Blake Lively calls it a \u2018total victory\u2019 after Justin Baldoni drops his USD 400 million countersuit over It Ends With Us"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Blake Lively\u2019s legal team is celebrating a significant development in the ongoing legal battle surrounding the production of <em>It Ends With Us<\/em>, as Justin Baldoni has officially chosen not to refile his previously dismissed $400 million countersuit. This turn comes after months of high-stakes allegations and legal maneuvering. Lively\u2019s initial lawsuit, filed in late 2023, accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, maintaining a hostile work environment, and orchestrating a smear campaign against her. In response, Baldoni launched a sweeping countersuit targeting not only Lively but also her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, and <em>The New York Times<\/em>, alleging defamation and extortion.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni\u2019s claims in full. The court ruled that Lively\u2019s statements made to the California Civil Rights Department were legally protected, and that <em>The New York Times<\/em>\u2019 coverage was shielded by the fair-report privilege. This left Baldoni\u2019s legal team with the narrow option to refile a breach-of-contract claim, which they have now opted not to pursue. While Baldoni\u2019s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has said they will consider \u201cadditional legal options,\u201d the high-value countersuit is no longer in play.<\/p>\n<p>Lively\u2019s team responded swiftly and strongly to the development, calling the court\u2019s decision a complete legal win. In statements given to multiple outlets, her representatives characterized Baldoni\u2019s lawsuit as baseless and accused his team of making misleading public statements about the possibility of refiling. They emphasized the dismissal as a full vindication not only for Lively but for Reynolds and others named in the countersuit.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the setback, Baldoni\u2019s camp remains defiant. His legal team continues to deny all allegations made by Lively, asserting there was no harassment or campaign to discredit her. They maintain confidence in their legal strategy moving forward, though what those next steps will be remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Blake Lively\u2019s original lawsuit is still active and steadily moving toward trial, currently scheduled for March 2026. Discovery is underway, and among the more unexpected developments is Baldoni\u2019s team seeking access to Lively\u2019s private communications with her friend Taylor Swift, which could potentially play a role in shaping the case as it unfolds in the months ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blake Lively\u2019s legal team is celebrating a significant development in the ongoing legal battle surrounding the production of It Ends\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":83670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[458],"class_list":["post-83669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-news","tag-blake-lively"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}