Justin Baldoni's $614 million lawsuit against Blake Lively was tossed. He just shared his next move.

Earlier this month, a United States judge dismissed actor Justin Baldoni's $400 million (approx. $614 million AUD) defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively.

Now, we finally know the actor's next steps and exactly what Lively thinks about it.

Baldoni and Lively co-starred as the romantic leads in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's immensely popular novel It Ends With Us, but the pair have been locked in a legal battle for months.

Lively sued first, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and an alleged smear campaign to 'destroy' her reputation, a move made shortly after she shared details of her allegations with The New York Times in December 2024.

She claimed Baldoni created a "hostile work environment that nearly derailed the production of the film" and levelled several serious sexual harassment allegations, citing "severe emotional distress".

Listen to The Quicky discuss Judge Lewis Liman's dismissal of Justin Baldoni's lawsuit. Post continues below.

Baldoni's counter-suit alleged defamation, extortion and invasion of privacy, accusing Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloane and The New York Times of launching a smear campaign against him.

Things got messy between the two — each lobbing a plethora of legal accusations at the other. At one point, even pop star Taylor Swift became embroiled in the chaos as Baldoni successfully campaigned to have her private phone communications brought forward as evidence.

Lively's trial has been set for March next year. But on June 9, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed Baldoni's suit.

The judge told Baldoni he couldn't sue Lively for defamation over her claims, because allegations made in a lawsuit are exempt from libel claims. However, he did say Baldoni could amend and refile some of his claims related to the alleged breach of contract by Lively. He had until Monday to do so.

On Tuesday, Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman shared an update saying they had decided not to amend the claims and were shifting their strategy. Instead, they will be focusing on Baldoni's defence and "will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us".

"The court's decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defence against Ms. Lively's claims," he said in a statement, per Page Six.

"Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations."

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were named in Baldoni's countersuit.

Lively's camp had something to say about this decision, of course.

A spokesperson for the actress told Page Six in a statement: "The court dismissed the frivolous $400 million Baldoni-Wayfarer lawsuit in its entirety. In the days that followed, Baldoni's lawyer said the judge's decision to dismiss their case was not a big deal as they promised to amend and refile it.

"As per usual, that was not true. The court's dismissal of Baldoni's sham lawsuit was a total victory after all."

Why did the judge dismiss the case?

In his ruling, Liman said Baldoni and Wayfarer Parties (Baldoni's production company) had "not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged."

"The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign," the judge wrote, per Today.

"But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law."

Liman ruled that Baldoni's claims that the movie was 'hijacked' out from under him did not count as extortion under California law.

Liman also tossed out Baldoni's $250 million (USD, approx. $384 million AUD) defamation lawsuit against the Times, saying it was protected under the "fair report" privilege, which protects journalists reporting on legal matters.

"The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatised manner, what it believed to have happened," he wrote. "The Times had no obvious motive to favour Lively's version of events."

The judge threw out Baldoni's case. Image: Getty.

Blake Lively's response.

Following the dismissal, Lively shared an Instagram Story praising the news.

"Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organisations united in defending women's rights to speak up for their safety," Lively's post began.

"Like so many others, I've felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us. While the suit against me was defeated, so many don't have the resources to fight back."

"I'm more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman's right to have a voice in protecting themselves, including their safety, their integrity, their dignity and their story."

"With love and gratitude for the many who stood by me, many of you I know. Many of you I don't. But I will never stop appreciating or advocating for you," the post concluded.

Lively linked several advocacy groups she stands with, including the National Network to End Domestic Violence and the National Organisation for Women.

Image: Instagram/@blakelively.

It was a powerful statement, but two words she used stood out: manufactured shame.

It seems that Lively was hinting at the negative press that has sprung up in the wider tabloid media — who famously love to dismiss and degrade successful women — whether carried out by Baldoni's PR team (as Lively alleged) or not.

The widespread negativity towards Lively is worth talking about.

Blake Lively attends the Chanel Hosts 18th Annual Tribeca Artists Dinner on the eve of Judge Liman's ruling. Image: Getty.

Her legal team labelled the ruling a "total victory and a complete vindication".

In a statement to People, Lively's attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said: "As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the court saw right through it.

"We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, [Steve] Sarowitz, [Melissa] Nathan and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation."

Lively apparently had an emotional response to the dismissal, with an insider telling the publication she "cried with relief".

"She's obviously relieved. They both are," another source told People, referring to Lively and Reynolds. "She feels vindicated."

Baldoni has until June 23 to amend and refile some of his claims. Image: Getty.

Baldoni's team no longer 'marching forward'.

In the 24 hours after Judge Liman handed down his ruling, Baldoni's team were relatively quiet. However, on the morning of June 11, a statement was released from his legal team.

The statement read: "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.

"This case is about false accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign," the statement continued, "which Ms. Lively's own team conveniently describes as 'untraceable' because they cannot prove what never happened."

It appeared like the legal fight was just getting started.

"With the facts on our side, we march forward with the same confidence that we had when Ms. Lively and her cohorts initiated this battle and look forward to her forthcoming deposition, which I will be taking," Freedman added.

Freedman went on to say that Lively's allegations are "no truer today than they were yesterday", and, in an interesting move, thanked the internet for its continued support of his client.

"We are grateful for the organic show of support from the public and for the dedication of the internet sleuth community, who continue to cover the case with discernment and integrity."

However, Baldoni has since walked back his decision to refile the four allegations. So it appears that while his team will defend Lively's suit, they are no longer 'marching forward' with theirs.

So, what's next?

Prior to the judge dismissing Baldoni's suit, Lively was asked to withdraw two of her allegations against him — the intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

The original lawsuit filed by Lively against Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation, is scheduled to go to trial next March.

It will focus on Lively's original claims against Baldoni and his attorney's defence.

But we can only imagine that we'll be hearing plenty more about this before then.

Read the full timeline of the It Ends With Us costars' allegations.

Feature image: Getty.