Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds seek to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds aim to dismiss IT Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni's defamation lawsuit, with the first court hearing set for Monday.

Hollywood stars Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds informed a federal judge on Thursday that they intend to request the dismissal of Justin Baldoni's defamation lawsuit. According to a report by Variety, lawyers for both parties are due in court on Monday for the first hearing in the high-profile dispute between the two stars of It Ends With Us.

Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds have moved to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit

In accordance with Judge Lewis Liman’s order, the couple's legal team submitted the motion notice on Thursday, outlining how the federal case will proceed. The judge had requested a brief letter stating the defendant's intent to file a motion to dismiss, which Lively and Reynolds' lawyer, Michael J. Gottlieb, did, in a concise manner: “The Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint.” A similar notice was filed on Wednesday by Leslie Sloane, a publicist also named in Baldoni’s lawsuit.

Lively has accused Baldoni, who also directed the film, of sexually harassing her on set, followed by a retaliatory smear campaign after she spoke out. In response, Baldoni and his publicists have claimed that Lively defamed them by misrepresenting their text messages and interactions. Baldoni also alleges that Lively and Reynolds pressured the agency WME to sever ties with him, which WME denies.

The judge has indicated that he expects to schedule a trial for March 2026 and has asked both parties to submit a plan to ensure the trial takes place by that time. In a rare point of agreement, both sides have shown no objection to consolidating the two federal cases into a single proceeding.

During Monday’s hearing, both sides are expected to address the extrajudicial conduct of Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman. Lively's legal team has argued that Freedman’s public comments are prejudicial and could influence the jury pool. Freedman, however, maintains that he has every right to publicly defend his client from Lively's media campaign.

On Thursday evening, Baldoni’s team requested to take Lively’s deposition as soon as possible. However, they informed the judge that Lively’s legal representatives have signalled that she will refuse to allow Freedman to conduct the deposition due to "unspecified statements made by Mr. Freedman."

Kevin Fritz, another attorney representing Baldoni, responded by stating: “We are unaware of any situation that would warrant the deposed party to have a choice in which attorney takes her deposition.” He further added, “Parties to litigation simply do not have the right to dictate which of their opponents’ attorneys may or may not take their deposition or perform any other aspect of the opposing party’s case.” Fritz has requested that this issue be addressed during Monday’s hearing.