A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit that the actor Justin Baldoni had filed against his former co-star Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, as well as The New York Times.
The ruling, by Judge Lewis J. Liman of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, is the latest twist in a star-studded legal battle over the making and marketing of a film and a major setback for Mr. Baldoni.
The actor filed a $400 million lawsuit against Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds in January, accusing the Hollywood stars of trying to destroy his reputation by accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation on the set of the film “It Ends With Us.” He also named their publicist, Leslie Sloane, and her company as defendants.
He later added The Times as a defendant, arguing that an article published by the news organization on Dec. 21 about Ms. Lively’s accusations had defamed him.
The Times article reported on a legal filing to the California Civil Rights Department in which Ms. Lively accused Mr. Baldoni, who also directed the film, and Jamey Heath, the lead producer, of harassment on set and launching a retaliatory smear campaign against her after she complained.
Ms. Lively filed a lawsuit against Mr. Baldoni 10 days after The Times’s article was published. Her lawsuit is proceeding.
Judge Liman said in his ruling on Monday that Mr. Baldoni’s suit had not adequately shown that Ms. Lively’s threats were “wrongful extortion” and not the hard bargaining of working conditions. He added that Mr. Baldoni’s legal team had not shown that Ms. Lively had defamed him, because it had not claimed that Ms. Lively had made any defamatory comments other than those in her civil rights department complaint, which are covered by privilege.
Judge Liman ruled that many of The Times’s statements were also privileged because they were taken from Ms. Lively’s legal filing. He went on to say that Mr. Baldoni had not shown that The Times acted with actual malice in publishing the article.
“The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively’s version of events,” he wrote.
Ms. Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a statement that Monday’s decision was “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.” (Wayfarer Studios is a production company co-founded by Mr. Baldoni.)
Representatives for Mr. Baldoni and The Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While the claims of extortion and defamation were dismissed, Judge Liman said Mr. Baldoni’s legal team could amend and refile their complaints for breach of implied covenant and tortious interference with a contract by June 23.
Katie Robertson covers the media industry for The Times. Email: [email protected]
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