Justin Baldoni ‘Did Not Miss Deadline’ in Blake Lively Lawsuit, ‘Never Planned to File Appeal’

Justin Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively may not be as dead as the mainstream media would like you to believe.

via: Us Weekly

Sources explain that Baldoni’s team never planned to file an appeal after a judge dismissed the lawsuit against Lively, 38 in June. Instead, they’re focusing on Lively’s case.

They did not miss any deadline and are preparing for trial in March.

TMZ reported on Friday, October 31, that Baldoni missed the window to file an appeal in the case that was dismissed in June, as it recently entered final judgment. However, as Baldoni’s team never planned to file an appeal, they let the deadline expire.

However, Lively’s initial lawsuit, which was filed in December 2024, remains ongoing and is scheduled for trial in March 2026.

Lively and Baldoni’s legal back-and-forth began after the actress accused her It Ends With Us costar and director of sexual harassment and of orchestrating an alleged smear campaign against her. She filed her lawsuit against Baldoni in December 2024, four months after the movie was released.

Baldoni, 41, has denied all of the allegations. He subsequently countersued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, in January, accusing the couple of extortion and defamation. Lively and Reynolds, 49, denied the allegations. After the judge dismissed Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds, the Gossip Girl alum celebrated the legal win with an empowering message.

“Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organizations united in defending women’s rights to speak up for their safety,” she wrote via her Instagram Story in June. “Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us.”

Baldoni and his team had the chance to amend their claims for breach of implied covenant and tortious interference with contract. The judge gave them a deadline of June 23. However, Baldoni ultimately opted not to do so. Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman later explained that they were refocused on striking down Lively’s original December 2024 lawsuit.

“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 defense against Ms. Lively’s claims,” Freedman told People in June. “Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations. Instead of revising the existing claims, our clients will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us.”

Since the June dismissal, Lively and Baldoni’s legal teams have been preparing for their upcoming court date. In July, Lively was deposed by Baldoni’s lawyers in New York City. Us previously reported that Baldoni was in the room, alongside his legal team, to witness Lively answer questions about their feud on the set of It Ends With Us and the ongoing legal dispute.

Three months later, It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover and actress Jenny Slate, who played Baldoni’s sister in the movie, were deposed. Isabela Ferrer, who portrayed the younger version of Lively’s character, was also deposed. (Ferrer, 25, previously accused Baldoni of harassment after his team failed to serve her with a subpoena at multiple locations, and the actress’s lawyer did not respond to their request to turn over data related to the case. Baldoni’s legal team dismissed her accusations in August, and insisted they were only after “documents that [Ferrer] either neglected to produce or were not requested” when Lively first subpoenaed her in February 2025.)