A New York court has dismissed Justin Baldoni’s позов 400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. According to the Guardian, allegations of sexual harassment and defamation related to the filming of the film “It Ends With Us” were at the center of the dispute.
Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Lively’s claims of Baldoni’s inappropriate behavior are protected by law.
Lively’s lawyers called the court’s decision a “complete victory.” Lawyers plan to demand that Baldoni compensate for lawyers’ costs and penalties for filing an unsubstantiated claim. According to The Guardian, Baldoni can appeal the decision, but whether he will exercise this right is still unclear.
Recall that the legal battle between Lively and Baldoni began last year amid rumors of a strained relationship between them during the filming of the film “It Ends With Us,” “where they played the main roles (and Justin also directed). The star of the TV series “Gossip Girl” accused a colleague of sexual harassment committed in various forms, as well as the image of her appearance.
Baldoni denied all charges. In court, he stated that the materials against him were fabricated. The director’s team also created a website to post Baldoni’s personal correspondence with Lively and her husband. In court documents, Justin claimed they tried to usurp his role as the film director, which became a box office hit. Baldoni and his representatives also said that Lively distorted the content of text messages and misled the public about their interaction during the filming.
After that, Lively accused Baldoni of organizing a defamatory campaign against her to damage her reputation. He, in turn, sued the New York Times for defamation after an article describing the operation of the “defamatory machine” allegedly launched by Justin in the media against Lively. The newspaper denied the allegations.