The New York Times has officially filed a motion to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s $250 million lawsuit.
According to Deadline, the outlet filed a motion in a New York federal court on Friday, February 28, defending its reporting of Blake Lively’s accusations against Baldoni, 40, on the set of It Ends With Us and asking for NYT to be removed from the lawsuit.
The New York Times is arguing that their reporting and newsgathering in its article “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” which detailed Lively’s sexual harassment claims against Baldoni, was fair and accurate. In Friday’s court filing, the NYT accused Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios of making “one-sided” accounts of their feud against Lively that should not involve the NYT.
“The Wayfarer Parties’ FAC tells a one-sided tale that has garnered plenty of headlines,” the NYT’s court filing reads. “But The Times does not belong in this dispute.”
In a statement to Us Weekly on Friday, February 28, The New York Times doubled down on its move to dismiss.
“As our motion shows, this case should never have been brought against The New York Times,” a spokesperson told Us. “Blake Lively raised serious concerns about the way she was treated on the set and after the movie’s release. We did exactly what news organizations should do: we informed the public of the complaint she filed with the California Civil Rights Department. Mr. Baldoni’s misbegotten campaign against The Times — questioning our ethics, attempting to discredit our reporting, filing a baseless lawsuit — will not silence us.”
‘The New York Times’ Responds to Justin Baldoni’s Defamation Lawsuit
Baldoni was among 10 plaintiffs, which also includes publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel as well as It Ends With Us producers James Heath and Steve Saraowitz, who began legal proceedings against the New York Times on New Year’s Eve 2024.
The plaintiffs sued for libel and false light invasion of privacy and alleged that the publication “cherry-picked” communications and omitted context in order to mislead readers in its article, which was published on December 21. The New York Times disputes their reporting was unfair or inaccurate in their motion to dismiss.
“Over the course of their 224-page First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) (plus an added 168-page timeline), the Wayfarer Parties breathlessly tell their side of an ongoing Hollywood drama involving actors Blake Lively (“Lively”) and Justin Baldoni (“Baldoni”), the stars of the film It Ends With Us,” the courting filing submitted on Friday reads. “The FAC has, to some extent, achieved its obvious purpose; the Wayfarer Parties’ story has been reported by countless news outlets during the last few weeks. What the FAC has not done, however, is plead a viable claim against The Times.”
Following the court filing, a spokesperson for Lively, 37, told Us Weekly that their side agreed that the lawsuit against The New York Times should be dropped.
“In its motion to dismiss, the New York Times correctly calls out Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit for what it is: a shameless PR document that has no business in a court of law,” a Lively representative told Us.
The spokesperson added: “For years, Baldoni urged men to listen to and believe women. But when a woman spoke out about his behavior, he and his billionaire backer Steve Sorowitz used a social media combat plan to scorch earth and try to ‘bury’ and ‘destroy’ her, along with the media who reports on it. These bullying tactics will not survive in court, and everyone should see their meritless claims for what they are.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Baldoni’s representatives for comment.
Justin Baldoni Files $250 Million Lawsuit Against New York Times
In December after the $250 million lawsuit was filed, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman vowed to “take down” The New York Times, describing its reporting as a “vicious smear campaign” in a statement to Us Weekly.
“In this vicious smear campaign fully orchestrated by Blake Lively and her team, the New York Times cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative,” he said via a statement to Us at the time. “In doing so, they pre-determined the outcome of their story, and aided and abetted their own devastating PR smear campaign designed to revitalize Lively’s self-induced floundering public image and counter the organic groundswell of criticism amongst the online public. The irony is rich.”
He continued: “Make no mistake however, as we all unite to take down The NY Times by no longer allowing them to deceive the public, we will continue this campaign of authenticity by also suing those individuals who have abused their power to try and destroy the lives of my clients. While their side embraces partial truths, we embrace the full truth – and have all of the communications to back it. The public will decide for themselves as they did when this first began.”
Baldoni has also vehemently denied all of Lively’s claims, suing her on January 16 along with her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane (who has filed a motion to remove herself from the lawsuit) for $400 million.
