“It Ends With Us” director Justin Baldoni has scored another victory in his ongoing legal battle with Blake Lively and in a defamation suit against his former publicist Stephanie Jones.
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively sued
In his fight against Lively, Baldoni and his co-defendants scored a victory after Judge Louis G. Lehman granted their request to postpone key pretrial deadlines, following allegations that the actress’ legal team inundated them with a “dump of documents,” including nearly 1,000 potential documents, People reports.“It is difficult to imagine that even half that number would be brought before a jury,” said the letter, which was filed in the Southern District of New York. The letter also asks Judge Lehman to hold a Zoom conference and extend pretrial filing deadlines by one week. They also requested that the final preliminary conference be postponed for a week.
Justin Baldoni’s team asks judge for ‘more time’
They also said they needed more time to review the materials and finalize jury instructions and other related defenses.In a March 26 filing, Lively’s lawyers rejected the request, calling it a “progressive tactic to delay trial.”However, the judge ruled at Baldoni’s request, granting an extension of the deadlines and scheduling a preliminary conference for April 2.
Justin Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against Stephanie Jones
In another major win, the judge ruled that Baldoni can move forward with his defamation lawsuit against his former publicist, Stephanie Jones. The ruling comes after Jones sought to have the case dismissed.
However, the court determined that Wayfarer had provided sufficient grounds to further examine the allegations.
The court denies Stephanie Jones’ motion to dismiss the case
“The court rejected Stephanie Jones’ efforts to dismiss the case and will allow Wayfarer’s claims, including defamation, to be tested in the full evidentiary record,” Baldoni’s attorney, Brian Friedman, said in a statement to Page Six.Thus, communications involving multiple people connected to the legal battle can be examined. This includes Jones, Leslie Sloan, Lively’s publicist, and any communications he may have had with Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Justin Baldoni’s team messages have been leaked
According to the 2025 lawsuit, Wayfarer alleges that Jones “maliciously” leaked private text messages, which ultimately contributed to a series of legal actions related to the film. Baldoni’s team also alleges that Jones shared damaging information with third parties, including Sloan, Lively and Reynolds.
