LOS ANGELES: American actor and director, Justin Baldoni, has faced a major defeat as the court dismissed his defamation lawsuit against Hollywood’s power couple, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
According to the latest reports, the actor’s lawsuit against the couple, and their publicist, along with a lawsuit against The New York Times has been dropped by Judge Lewis J. Liman.
According to People magazine, the judge has dismissed the $400 million lawsuit, which claimed that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds tried to blackmail and hurt his reputation.
Additionally, the judge threw out Baldoni’s $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.
However, the court allowed Baldoni’s legal team the opportunity to revise and refile portions of the case related to breach of implied covenant and tortious interference. These amended claims must be submitted by June 23.
“The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged,” the Judge wrote.
The statement continued, “The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and [publicist Leslie] Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign.
“But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law.”
“The Wayfarer Parties’ additional claims also fail. Accordingly, the Amended Complaint must be dismissed in its entirety.”
