Justin Baldoni has suffered a blow in his legal war with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
The It Ends With Us director's defamation countersuit against the couple was formally ended by Judge Lewis Liman after Baldoni's team declined to file an amended complaint, according to court documents obtained by The New York Post.
Judge Liman signed a new order that stated Baldoni and his co-plaintiff, Wayfarer Studios, had let the deadline lapse after their case was dismissed back in June.
Judge Liman noted that he had issued an order on 17 October to warn them that he was considering entering a final judgment to end the case.
Lively had responded, asking the judge to enter final Judgement but to treat her request for legal fees as active, which he agreed to.
The ongoing legal saga began last December when Lively sued Baldoni and claimed that he sexually harassed her on the set of It Ends With Us and "coordinated an effort to destroy her reputation" after the film was released.
Baldoni countersued Lively, Reynolds, and their publicist over alleged defamation and extortion.
In June, Judge Liman dismissed Baldoni and Wayfarer's lawsuit, as well as the actor's defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, in which he alleged libel over the newspaper's December 2024 article about Lively's sexual harassment complaint.
Baldoni can still appeal Judge Liman's latest legal move.