Justin Baldoni Faces Dire Prediction from Legal Experts After Blake Lively Incident

Legal experts are now weighing in on the fate of Justin Baldoni’s It Ends With Us ordeal after his bombshell $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively was officially dismissed. 

In an exclusive chat with the Daily Mail on Monday, business and entertainment attorney Seth Berenzweig insisted the ‘main guts’ of Baldoni’s case are now ‘dead’ after a judge tossed out his defamation and extortion claims – the ‘core’ of his lawsuit.

While the court’s order only allows Baldoni to file a second amended complaint for two of his claims – tortious interference with contract and breach of implied covenant – Bryan Freedman, his lawyer, has since insisted in a statement released after the ruling they actually have another shot at four more claims ranging from invasion of privacy to civil distortion (Lively’s attorneys deny this).

Whatever the future holds, there’s no doubt both Lively, 37, and Baldoni, 41, have suffered reputational damage since the feud erupted – which Berenzweig described as ‘pretty catastrophic.’

‘This is a devastating result for Baldoni, and it’s really actually a surprising result because the court did something that is fairly unusual in these kinds of business dispute and defamation cases,’ Berenzweig – who does not represent either Baldoni or Lively – told DailyMail.com of the dismissal. 

Berenzweig – who believes Baldoni had a ‘strong’ case – said: ‘He threw out the extortion and defamation claims and he gave leave for Baldoni by the 23rd of this month to file amended claims for breach of implied contract and tortious interference with contract. The main guts of the case are dead,’ he said.

‘The core focus of the lawsuit was based on defamation. It was based on Baldoni’s claim that Blake Lively tried to take over the film production of their project and then layer attacks of defamation to try to stifle him as a legal maneuver.’

Berenzweig’s called the extortion and defamation claims the ‘heart of the case’ that packed the ‘hardest punch,’ adding they are ‘the biggest loss for Baldoni.’ 

Despite the devastating blow, Berenzweig does not believe the dismissal has diminished Baldoni’s resolve to continue fighting.  

‘I believe Baldoni will try and come back and refile amended claims for his breach of implied contract and tortious interference with contract. He’ll probably come back on that, by not later than the 23rd, because he definitely doesn’t want to give up the fight,’ he said. 

‘If he walks away from those claims, then his entire case is sunk and then he’ll be in default because he would miss that deadline. 

‘I believe that he’ll almost certainly go ahead and meet that deadline and it’s also something that I believe he continues to feel is critical onto the theme of sometimes the best defense is a good offense. 

‘He’s still defending the claims that Lively asserting against him that are going to be going to trial next year. So I doubt that he’s going to want to give up whatever little leverage he has left.’

As Berenzweig sees it, this isn’t the end of the legal saga. 

‘He’ll probably file and keep filing,’ he said, noting she did recently drop two of her claims against him (intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress). 

‘But her case is moving ahead and in part his case is moving ahead,’ he added.  

‘So they’re going to continue doing battle with each other. And it’s really unfortunate, because it’s hard to see from a broad business standpoint how any of this litigation makes any sense for anybody other than the lawyers. 

‘And you’re talking about defamation claims and harassment, it just doesn’t seem to make much sense. And the reputational fallout from this, for both of them, seems pretty catastrophic.’

Attorney Michelle O’Neil – who also does not represent Baldoni or Lively – said it will be an uphill battle for the beleaguered actor given the amount of ‘detail’ the judge provided in his dismissal. 

She reiterated the judge’s decision to dismiss the defamation claim as Lively made her allegations in a legal filing that is ‘immune from suit’. 

‘Baldoni’s suit is still gasping for air since the Judge gave him until June 23rd to amend his contractual claims,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘However, the extortion claim, accusing Lively and team of “stealing” the film, and the defamation claim are gone because under the law Baldoni wholly failed to state any claim that rises to the level of actionable under the law.

‘The judge said, simply, the facts alleged do not constitute “extortion” under the law. And, when a person files a complaint with the government about a civil rights claim – here a sexual rights violation – that complaint is immune from suit and even if the report is leaded to the media, reporting about it is still protected. So no lawsuit under either of those theories. 

‘As to the two claims for breach of contract, the judge said Baldoni’s pleadings didn’t really identify the parts of the contract that he felt were violated, so he gets another limited shot at stating a claim on those two grounds. If he fails, then he’s out for good.

‘Baldoni will have the ability to appeal the judge’s ruling dismissing his claims once the case is over. Likely that will be a hard road considering the amount of detail that the judge put in his decision about why the claims were unfounded under the law.’

She ultimately said the judge based his decision on the law and ‘not the facts.’  

‘Bottom line: this is a decision on the law not the facts. No matter the opinion of the facts, the judge said the law doesn’t make an actionable claim out of those facts so you don’t have a case.’

Ethan Krasnoo, a Partner at Reavis Page Jump LLP, also noted Baldoni’s limited legal path to victory now that he apparently has only two claims he can pursue. 

Kransoo – who also does not represent Lively or Baldoni – told DailyMail.com that Baldoni could instead attempt to win ‘the battle in the public eye’ by speaking out publicly about his claims. 

‘Baldoni can refile an amended version of his complaint, but only for two of his claims: tortious interference and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing,’ he said. ‘The judge did not authorize Baldoni to file any of his other claims again, including his most significant claims for defamation and civil extortion, ruling that doing so would be futile. 

‘It is likely that Baldoni will file his remaining claims again to maintain any minimum settlement advantage he may have left, although the bulk of his claims and alleged damages have been thrown out.

‘Aside from that, Baldoni could choose to engage more publicly in support of his underlying allegations and defenses to Lively’s suit against him, in an attempt to win the battle in the public eye. 

‘Baldoni’s loss of the affirmative suit does not mean that he cannot prevail as a defendant in Lively’s counterclaims against him. Baldoni may try to take advantage of any opportunity to obtain a reasonable settlement with Lively before that matter gets to trial, though he has significantly limited his ability to obtain a settlement advantage given the dismissal of his complaint.’

Rumors of tension between Baldoni and Lively have been brewing since before their film It Ends With Us premiered, but it officially all boiled over late last year. 

In December 2024, the actress filed a legal complaint and subsequent lawsuit against Baldoni for allegedly sexually harassing her on set and orchestrating a retaliatory smear campaign  — claims he denied – before Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios sued Lively, her publicist Leslie Sloane and husband Ryan Reynolds for civil extortion, defamation, and more. 

Baldoni also waged war with The New York Times, filing a $250million lawsuit against the publication over its bombshell tell-all on Lively’s sexual harassment claims against her former co-star on December 31, 2024.

In yesterday’s shock twist, a judge dismissed Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, the New York Times, Sloane and her PR firm Vision in a major setback for the actor’s hopes for a blockbuster win over the millionaire actress.

Judge Lewis J Liman dismissed Baldoni’s suit alleging defamation and extortion on the basis that all Lively’s allegations were made within privileged court papers.

Liman said in the order obtained by DailyMail.com: ‘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 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.’

The judge ruled: ‘The Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened. The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively’s version of events.’

Liman, however, did state the Wayfarer Parties will be able to file a second amended complaint by June 23, 2025 but are only able to amend the allegations ‘relevant to the claims of tortious interference with contract and breach of implied covenant.’

A statement obtained by DailyMail.com from Lively’s lawyers read: ‘Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times.

‘As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it.

‘We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.’

However, Baldoni is still able to file an amended complaint, which may leave Lively and her husband still fighting a battle over the tortious interference with contract and breach of implied covenant claims. 

On top of that, Daily Mail exclusively revealed that Lively is facing being deposed by the Jane the Virgin star’s lawyers – and that a motion to do just that was filed last week, it was claimed.

In a battling statement exclusively released to the Daily Mail, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman said her claims of sexual harassment that sparked the legal war ‘are no truer today than they were yesterday’ and thanked the public for their ‘unmitigated support’.

The statement read: ‘Ms. Lively and her team’s predictable declaration of victory is false, so let us be clear about the latest ruling.

‘While the Court dismissed the defamation related claims, the Court has invited us to amend four out of the seven claims against Ms. Lively, which will showcase additional evidence and refined allegations.

‘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.

‘Most importantly, Ms. Lively’s own claims are no truer today than they were yesterday, and with the facts on our side, we march forward with the same confidence that we had when Ms. Lively and her cohorts initiated this battle and look forward to her forthcoming deposition, which I will be taking.

‘We are grateful for the organic show of support from the public and for the dedication of the Internet sleuth community who continue to cover the case with discernment and integrity.’

According to a spokesperson on for Blake, a deposition hasn’t been scheduled and extortion has been tossed from the case. They can only amend the claims of tortious interference and breach of contract.