Baldoni’s countersuit against Lively and co. had alleged extortion and defamation; to meet the legal requirements of defamation, false or damaging information has to be communicated to a third party. But Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios partners “have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her [California Civil Rights Department] complaint, which are privileged,” Judge Liman wrote in his ruling, via People. “The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and [publicist Leslie] Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign. But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law.”
Baldoni’s complaint against Sloane apparently hinged on a text message of a Daily Mail reporter in which the writer alleged that Baldoni “sexually assaulted” Lively. However, earlier this month the reporter signed a declaration swearing that Sloane “never told me that Ms. Lively was sexually harassed or sexually assaulted by Justin Baldoni or anyone else” (via People). Meanwhile, Reynolds’ lawyers stated in March (via The New York Post), “The entirety of Mr. Baldoni’s case appears to be based on Mr. Reynolds allegedly privately calling Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’ but here is the problem, that is not defamation unless they can show that Mr. Reynolds did not believe that statement to be true.” As for The New York Times, the judge observed that the newspaper “had no obvious motive to favor Lively’s version of events.” The NYT has always stood by the story, which a spokesperson reiterated “was meticulously and responsibly reported.”
Judge Liman ruled that the “additional claims” in the countersuit “also fail”: “Accordingly, the Amended Complaint must be dismissed in its entirety.” However, Baldoni’s team has the chance to amend the claims for breach of implied covenant and tortious interference with contract before June 23, per People.
In a statement to ABC News, Lively’s lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb called the dismissal a “total victory and complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times.” The statement continued, “As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it. We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.”
