One day after the It Ends With Us director’s $400 million countersuit against Blake Lively—as well as her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane—was officially dismissed by a judge June 9, his attorney stressed that the legal battle is far from over.
“Ms. Lively and her team’s predictable declaration of victory is false,,” Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman said in a statement to E! News June 10. “So let us be clear about the latest ruling.”
Indeed, in legal documents obtained by E! News, judge Lewis J. Liman ruled that Baldoni and his associates had failed to prove defamation in their filing and to prove that “Lively’s threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions.” (Baldoni’s $250 million lawsuit against The New York Timeswas also dismissed.)
However, the judge ruled that Baldoni can refile an amended complaint on the allegations of tortious interference with contract, relating to Reynolds and Lively, and breach of implied covenant, relating to Lively by June 23. And, according to Freedman, Baldoni’s case against Lively goes far deeper than his dismissed claims of defamation.
“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,” Freedman continued. “Most importantly, Ms. Lively’s own claims are no truer today than they...
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