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A federal judge has granted The New York Times' request to pause Justin Baldoni's $400 million defamation lawsuit. On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, Judge Lewis J. Liman granted a temporary halt to discovery as considering the publication's motion to be dismissed from the complaint.
In December 2024, NYT published a bombshell story where Blake Lively accused her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Baldoni, of s*xual harassment and orchestrating a coordinated smear campaign against her. The article coincided with her legal complaint alleging s*xual misconduct on set (not a lawsuit).
Baldoni denied all allegations and, on New Year's Eve, sued the outlet for libel, invasion of privacy, fraud, and breach of contract, seeking $250 million in damages. Baldoni claimed that NYT conspired with Blively to create a false narrative, using "cherry-picked" details and altered communications, omitting necessary context to "mislead" the audience.
It is worth noting that Justin Baldoni later dropped the libel suit, adding the paper to his $400 defamation countersuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds in January.
"We did exactly what news organizations should do"—The New York Times about Justin Baldoni's case against the paper
Citing the five-page order by Judge Lewis J. Liman, Deadline reported that in his decision Liman felt that the plaintiffs involved in the suit, namely Justin Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, and others, would not be significantly impacted by the pause. He wrote:
"The Wayfarer Parties are unlikely to be unfairly prejudiced by a stay while the Court decides the pending motion."
In response to Baldoni including the New York Times in his $400 million defamation lawsuit, the publication on February 28 filed a motion to be dismissed from the case. NYT has maintained that there were no underhanded tactics at play, noting that the story was responsibly reported.
In his order, Judge Liman noted that the outlet did not delay in filing its motion and intended to "promptly" dismiss it after it was fully submitted. He noted:
"To the extent that the Wayfarer Parties are concerned about delay, they have it within their power to accelerate their contemplated further amended complaint or their opposition to the motion to dismiss."
In a statement made to Deadline, a spokesperson for the NYT thanked the court for its decision, reasoning that "First Amendment values" were at stake. They also asserted that Justin Baldoni's case should not have been brought in the first place.
According to The News, at the time of filing their motion to dismiss, a spokesperson for NYT in a statement explained that Blake Lively brought "serious concerns about how she was treated," noting:
"We did exactly what news organizations should do: we informed the public of the complaint," adding that Justin Baldoni attempt's at "questioning our ethics, attempting to discredit our reporting, filing a baseless lawsuit — will not silence us."
About the ongoing legal feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, in brief
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni starred in It Ends with Us (August 204), a film centered around domestic violence. While a box office hit, it has been shrouded in controversy.
During its press tour, there were rumors of friction between the cast and its director, Baldoni, with eagle-eyed fans noticing they did not follow him on any social media. Further, Lively faced criticism for promoting the film as a light-hearted romance while downplaying the DV aspect.
On December 20, NYT published its article We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine, where Lively claimed she reported Justin Baldoni to the movie's producers for creating a hostile work environment. Per the article, this included him showing Lively explicit photos and video, discussing his s*xual preferences, and adding intimate scenes not originally in the script, among others.
Further, in her lawsuit (filed on December 31), the Sisterhood of Travelling Pants actress claimed that despite promising no retaliatory measures, Justin Baldoni hired a crisis PR expert, Melissa Nathan. She alleged that they launched a smear campaign against her during the press tour.
In its aftermath, Baldoni's talent agency WME dropped him as a client. Several celebrities and organizations spoke in support of Blake Lively. Vital Voices also rescinded their Voices of Solidarity Award given to the former.
In response, on January 16, the director filed a countersuit agaisnt Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and the actress' publicist Leslie Sloane for defamation, extortion, and interference with contractual relations, among other allegations. He claimed that she falsely accused him of s*xual harrasment to use him as "scapegoat" for the negative press surrounding her during the film's promotion.
Justin Baldoni claimed that Blake Lively organized a "takeover strategy" in an effort to gain creative control over the film. It is worth noting that in 2019 Baldoni acquired the rights to adapt Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us into a film, according to the defamation lawsuit. The also accused them of launching a smear campaign against him.
Neither Justin Baldoni nor his representatives have publicly commented on the delay.
The case is set to go on trial next March.
