A Judge Tossed Most of Blake Lively's Case Against Justin Baldoni and Killed His 400 Million Dollar Countersuit

Caption: Blake Lively attends the 2026 Met Gala on May 4, 2026. Credit: SWinxy, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Blake Lively’s lawyers called it a total victory. Justin Baldoni’s team called it a significant narrowing of the case. Both were describing the same federal ruling, and the fight that followed ended not in a courtroom but in a settlement.

What You Should Know

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed 10 of the 13 claims Lively brought against Baldoni, including harassment, defamation and conspiracy, according to NBC News. Three claims survived: breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation.

Liman also entered final judgment against Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit, which had targeted Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist and The New York Times, after Baldoni missed a deadline to amend it.

The Public Image Problem

Lively’s team framed the ruling as vindication on the point that mattered most to her: the alleged retaliation campaign after she raised concerns on the set of “It Ends With Us.” Attorney Sigrid McCawley said the case “has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation,” according to NBC News, adding that the harassment claims were dismissed on a legal technicality, “not because defendants did nothing wrong.”

Baldoni’s lawyers read the same ruling as a clearing of his name, saying they were “pleased” the court dismissed the sexual harassment claims and every claim against the individual defendants.

The Receipts

The harassment claims were not dismissed on the underlying conduct. Liman ruled that Lively could not bring them under federal civil rights law because she was classified as an independent contractor, not an employee, NBC News reported. What survived was the breach-of-contract and retaliation claims tied to Lively’s allegation that Baldoni’s team orchestrated a smear campaign after she raised concerns on set.

What Happens Next

The three surviving claims had been headed to a trial scheduled for May 2026, but the parties reached a private settlement before it began, according to reporting on the case. The settlement closes a legal battle that ran for more than a year; what remains is the public split in how each side characterizes an outcome that never reached a jury.

References: NBC News | AOL (USA Today)