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Earlier this week, a New York City judge tossed out Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and the New York Times. As a result, his claims that the Nicepool character in Deadpool & Wolverine have also been binned.
On Monday, June 9, Judge Lewis J. Liman in New York City ruled that the allegations that Blake Lively made against Justin Baldoni — Lively alleged Baldoni engaged in inappropriate on-set behavior, harassment, and a smear campaign against her — legally protected by the litigation privilege and therefore immune from suit.
A tangential consequence of the judge’s ruling is that Marvel Studios will not have to turn over what the Disney-owned studio called “’proprietary and highly confidential’ documents and communications about the development of Ryan Reynolds’ Nicepool character in Deadpool & Wolverine,” according to Variety.
“The motion by Marvel Entertainment, LLC (“Marvel”) to quash a subpoena issued to Marvel from the Wayfarer Parties and for a protective order prohibiting the disclosure of Marvel’s confidential documents is GRANTED,” Judge Liman wrote.
“The information sought is no longer relevant to a claim or defense in this action. Moreover, assuming the information were relevant, it would not be proportional to the needs of the case and the potential harm to Marvel of disclosing confidential commercial information.”
The judge did rule, however, that Baldoni could still files charges relating to the allegations the related to interference with contracts. Both Lively and Baldoni’s legal teams subsequently released statements.
“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,” an attorney for Lively said in a statement on Monday, June 9
“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,” said Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman.
Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios is set to go to trial in March 2026.
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