A federal judge has ended Justin Baldoni's $400 million legal action against his "It Ends with Us" costar Blake Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds and The New York Times.

On Oct. 31, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman entered final judgment in the case, effectively terminating the Jan. 16 countersuit initiated by plaintiffs Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, studio cofounder Steve Sarowitz, studio CEO Jamey Heath, crisis PR specialist Melissa Nathan and publicist Jennifer Abel.

"On October 17, 2025, the Court issued an order directing the parties to show cause why final judgment should not be entered in this case," Liman wrote in his order.

"The time for the Wayfarer Parties to file an amended complaint has lapsed," he added, noting that "only Defendant Blake Lively ("Lively") responded to the Order to Show Cause." The parties had until Oct. 24 "to show cause ... why final judgment should not be entered."

However, the plaintiffs have the right to appeal. Lively's request for attorneys' fees is ongoing.

USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Baldoni and Wayfarer, as well as Lively and Reynolds, for comment.

When reached for comment, New York Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander referred USA TODAY to a previous statement in response to Liman dismissing the lawsuit, which read: "We are grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting.

"Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognized that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism. We will continue to stand up in court for our journalism and for our journalists when their work comes under attack."

Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs' Jan. 16 suit, which was consolidated with Lively's Dec. 31 sexual harassment lawsuit in New York federal court, accused Lively, Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane of extortion, defamation and false light invasion of privacy, among other allegations.

Justin Baldoni's lawsuit officially ends months after dismissal

The case's termination comes four months after Judge Liman granted a motion for dismissal from Lively's legal team because Baldoni's claims of civil extortion, defamation and false light did not hold up under the law.

Though Liman allowed Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs to file a second amended complaint by June 23, he noted in an Oct. 17 order that "the Wayfarer Parties did not do so," meaning the dismissal "became final as of June 23, 2025, as to all parties."

"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," Lively's lawyers previously said in a June 9 statement to USA TODAY.

"As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it," the statement continued. "We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation."

Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge ends Justin Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively

Reporting by KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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