Judge dismisses Baldoni's countersuits against Lively, Reynolds, NYT

A federal judge has entered final judgment dismissing Justin Baldoni's multibillion-dollar countersuits against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and The New York Times after Baldoni and his production company failed to meet court deadlines to amend or appeal, court records show. The decision, entered this week by U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman in Manhattan, concludes Baldoni's defamation and extortion claims that were first tossed in June and were not revived after the court gave the plaintiffs time to file an amended complaint.

Liman dismissed the complaints in June on the grounds that the statements Baldoni challenged were protected by litigation privilege or were consistent with allegations contained in a civil rights complaint filed by Lively. The judge found that the Times had fairly relied on available public filings in reporting the matter and that Reynolds' description of Baldoni was tied to Lively's account, leaving no basis for a defamation claim. After the June ruling, Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios missed a court-imposed deadline to submit an amended complaint and did not respond to an October order asking why final judgment should not be entered.