Justin Baldoni missed his chance to appeal a ruling that threw out his multimillion-dollar defamation claims against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and the New York Times, Daily Mail reports.
New court papers obtained by Daily Mail reveal a final judgment has been entered, officially ending Baldoni’s lawsuits against Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times.
The 52-year-old actor/director Justin Baldoni had been given a window to appeal after a judge dismissed his case back in June, but that deadline quietly expired without any action.
The decision marks a serious blow for Baldoni, whose $400 million suit against the Times accused the paper of defaming him with its bombshell exposé detailing Lively’s claims of sexual harassment on set of It Ends With Us — allegations he has repeatedly denied.
The legal war erupted last year when Lively accused Baldoni of inappropriate behavior on set — prompting him and his company, Wayfarer Studios, to fire back with a defamation suit against Lively, her publicist Leslie Sloane, and husband Ryan Reynolds.
But now, that counterattack has collapsed — leaving Justin Baldoni to face Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit as the only case still standing.
According to the latest filings, Lively is also seeking to recover her attorneys’ fees from defending against Baldoni’s failed claims.
The news come after the latest allegations in the ongoing litigation between the former co-stars focus on claims the actor allegedly illicitly used technology to orchestrate a smear campaign against his costar.
Justin Baldoni and his team of attorneys, agents and public relations professionals used digital tricks to conceal critical evidence in the legal proceedings, lawyers for Lively, 38, said in a court filing obtained by the Daily Mail on Wednesday.
Her team claimed: ‘Defendants have hid the ball at every turn in the discovery process, either failing to produce documents, or improperly cloaking them in the attorney-client privilege.’
Lively’s lawyers said that maneuvers from Baldoni’s camp forced ‘no less than twelve discovery-related motions to date against’ them.
A former Baldoni associate in Jonesworks LLC – a PR firm and a third-party defendant in the case – raised similar allegations in a filing on Wednesday, Deadline reported after reviewing court documents.
Attorneys for Lively, who is wed to actor Ryan Reynolds, 48, said in the court paper that Baldoni coordinated an effort with associates from Wayfarer Studios and PR professionals such as Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, with apps, auto-deleting messages and other digital elements coming into play.
Baldoni and his team worked in concert to try to destroy Lively’s reputation with the use of multiple digital resources, which included the app Signal; voice memos; and other software, lawyers for the Los Angeles-born actress said in the court paper.
Baldoni and his associates took multiple actions indicating they were aware litigation could be in the future, and sought to conceal information in the case that would not be advantageous if publicly exposed, Lively’s lawyers said in the filing.
Details about Signal and other efforts were gleaned from depositions with former employees of Nathan, including Katherine Case and Breanna Butler, Deadline reported, citing legal documents it reviewed.
The Gossip Girl star claimed Baldoni had sexually harassed her while making It Ends with Us, which was a surprise hit when it arrived in theaters in August last year. Baldoni denied the allegation.
The movie earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally – but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars.
The motion picture, which also starred Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, was based on the 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover.
The storyline of the film centered around a toxic relationship between Lily Bloom (played by Lively) and Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni).
According to a logline for the film, Lily ‘overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life,’ as ‘a chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents’ relationship.’
In December last year, Lively named Baldoni in a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliatory conduct, and intentional infliction of emotional stress.
In her lawsuit, the actress accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.
In her lawsuit, Lively named a number of Baldoni’s collaborators, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel Nathan and Abel.
Baldoni had initially asked for $250 million in damages from The New York Times mentioning a report it published on the topic, then added it into the $400 million lawsuit he filed this past January.
In the suit, Baldoni named Lively, her spouse Ryan Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, citing the aforementioned report in legal documents. It was thrown out of court this past June.
All parties have denied all of the allegations against them.