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Court Dismisses Justin Baldoni's Defamation Claims Against Blake Lively and Others (Stemming from the Making of It Ends With Us)

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The opinion (132 pages long) by Judge Lewis Liman (S.D.N.Y.) is here; the court also rejects the Baldoni side's civil extortion, breach of contract, false light, promissory fraud, and breach of contract claims. The opinion is too long to summarize here, but the key arguments that the court accepted as to the defamation claims are:

  1. Statements quoting from Lively's California Civil Rights Department complaint are protected by the "fair report" privilege, which covers fair reports of court filings (and which is especially broad in California).
  2. Statements that go beyond the CRD complaint, made by Lively's publicist (Leslie Sloane), Lively's husband (Ryan Reynolds), and the New York Times, were not made with knowledge that they were false or likely false (what libel law calls "actual malice").

You can see much more in the opinion.