A federal judge’s message in the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal war on Thursday was clear: settle.
After all the wild, headline-grabbing drama in the case — involving demands for hundreds of millions in damages and text messages about “dragons,” Taylor Swift, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and more being dragged into court docs — Judge Lewis J. Liman signaled he’s not interested in witnessing a Hollywood ending in his courtroom.
Liman yesterday threw out 10 of Lively’s 13 claims against Baldoni, her co-star in “It Ends With Us,” including sexual harassment, defamation and conspiracy, according to court docs obtained by Page Six, in a major blow to her side.
Three of the “Gossip Girl” star’s claims can proceed — breach of contract, retaliation and aiding and abetting in retaliation.
When we asked a top Hollywood legal eagle (who’s not involved in the case) of the ruling, they told us of Liman: “This is a real judge who’s a former federal prosecutor. It seems clear that he’s saying, ‘a pox on both of your houses,'” to borrow from Shakespeare in a legal saga that’s rivaled the Bard’s yarns.
“This should have been settled a while ago, and the judge will be perturbed if it isn’t,” the independent attorney added.
Lively filed her initial complaint accusing Baldoni of harassment and other claims on the set of “It Ends With Us” on Dec. 31, 2024. The star also alleged in her suit that she’d suffered at least $161 million in lost earnings and damages due to a smear campaign launched against her when the film came out.
Baldoni denied Lively’s allegations and countersued Lively — as well as her movie star husband, Ryan Reynolds — for $400 million, but that lawsuit was tossed out last June, also by Liman.
Said a legal source: “Remember, [Liman] threw out all of Baldoni’s splashy counter claims? And [now he has thrown out] many of her claims. I think the judge feels like he has more significant matters to try in his courtroom. He is sort of signaling that this is a case they should settle.” The law pro called it the whole thing, “a loss for both sides.”
A source said that when Liman also previously moved the trial date from March to May, it was another sign to the parties to settle the matter.
A seasoned legal source added more bluntly, “It’s a stupid case. She filed the lawsuit for all the wrong reasons and went to court to try to redeem her reputation, and it hasn’t worked out.”
But it seems the parties aren’t taking the hint.
Lively’s lawyer said in a statement to P6H: “She looks forward to testifying at trial and continuing to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation so that it becomes easier to detect and fight.”
(The statement also said: “This case has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial… For Blake Lively, the greatest measure of justice is that the people and the playbook behind these coordinated digital attacks have been exposed and are already being held accountable by other women they’ve targeted.)
Members of Baldoni’s legal team said a statement that they’re “very pleased” with the ruling.
