Judge ends Justin Baldoni’s countersuit against Blake Lively

A federal judge has formally closed Justin Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Blake Lively

A federal judge has formally closed Justin Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Blake Lively.

The move is the end of Baldoni’s legal offensive against Lively after nearly a year in court, although Lively’s lawsuit against him in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York is still scheduled to go to trial next year.

The two stars have been embroiled in a tense legal standoff stemming from their time working together on the set of “It Ends With Us,” the 2024 film adapted from a Colleen Hoover novel. Each has accused the other of orchestrating a smear campaign.

Their court saga began in December when Lively sued Baldoni, who was her co-star and the film’s director, accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation after she raised issues about his on-set behavior. She accused Baldoni of conducting a coordinated campaign to attack her reputation.

Earlier in December, Baldoni filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, over its explosive story detailing her alleged treatment on set. In January, he also filed a defamation lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, additionally naming the publicist Leslie Sloane and her firm Vision PR as defendants, in the Southern District of New York.