Judge Ends Justin Baldoni’s $400M Case Against Blake Lively

A judge has officially ended Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and others after the actor missed a key filing deadline.

The ruling marks the latest twist in a Hollywood legal battle that has been as dramatic as any movie script.

Baldoni’s defamation countersuit against Blake Lively has come to an official end.

The 41-year-old “It Ends with Us” director failed to file an amended complaint before the court’s deadline, effectively closing the case.

On October 31, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman signed the final order confirming that Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios co-plaintiffs had allowed their opportunity to appeal to lapse.

According to a court document reviewed by PEOPLE, Judge Liman had contacted all parties on October 17, warning them that he would soon enter a final judgment.

Of all the involved parties, only Lively responded, asking the judge to declare the case officially closed while allowing her request for legal fees to remain active, a motion the judge granted.

The judge had previously dismissed Baldoni’s original filing back in June, but gave the plaintiffs time to amend their complaint.

When that deadline passed, the case was deemed concluded.

The U.S. District Court declined to comment further, and representatives for both Lively and Baldoni have not publicly responded.

This ruling is the latest development in what has become one of Hollywood’s most contentious behind-the-scenes disputes.

The legal saga began in December when Lively sued Justin Baldoni, alleging misconduct on the set of “It Ends with Us” and claiming he engaged in a retaliatory smear campaign, accusations Baldoni has denied.

In response, Baldoni launched a staggering $400 million countersuit accusing Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their longtime publicist of defamation and extortion.

He also filed a separate $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for its coverage. Both cases were thrown out in June.

Judge Liman cited a California law created in the wake of the #MeToo movement, ruling that Lively’s sexual harassment allegations were legally protected and could not be used as the basis for defamation claims.

The judge also noted that Baldoni and his fellow plaintiffs “have not alleged that Reynolds, [publicist Leslie] Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted” Lively’s claims, meaning they had failed to prove malice or defamation.

Following the June dismissal, Lively broke her silence with a powerful statement on her Instagram Stories.

“Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us,” she wrote. “While the suit against me was defeated, so many don’t have the resources to fight back.”

Lively continued, expressing her resolve to continue standing for women’s rights.

“I’m more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman’s right to have a voice in protecting themselves, including their safety, their integrity, their dignity and their story,” she shared.

The “Gossip Girl” alum also thanked those who supported her during the ordeal.

“With love and gratitude for the many who stood by me, many of you I know. Many of you I don’t. But I will never stop appreciating or advocating for you,” she wrote, adding a list of organizations that help victims of retaliation and harassment.

Her attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, celebrated the court’s decision in a statement, calling it “a total victory and a complete vindication” for Lively.

“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it,” they stated.

Despite the court’s ruling, Justin Baldoni’s legal team continues to dispute the outcome.

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE on June 10, his attorney Bryan Freedman rejected Lively’s lawyers’ declaration of triumph, calling it “false.”

Freedman wrote, “This case is about false accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign, which Ms. Lively’s own team conveniently describes as ‘untraceable’ because they cannot prove what never happened.”

His remarks underscored the bitter tension that has characterized this dispute since its inception.

Although Baldoni’s counterclaims are now legally over, the original lawsuit that Lively filed against him remains active, with a trial currently set for March 2026.