Judge Dismisses Justin Baldoni's $400 Million Defamation Suit Against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds and the New York Times
Plus: Simone Biles Attacks Riley Gaines

The couple spoke with the New York Times to get their defamation more play.

A federal judge has thrown out actor Justin Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against actress Blake Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, marking a decisive legal victory for the Hollywood couple. Baldoni had accused Lively of making false sexual harassment claims as part of an alleged reputational power play. However, the court found no actionable evidence to support the claims, dismissing the entire suit and paving the way for potential countersanctions against Baldoni and his affiliates.

Key Details:

Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Lively's statements in her civil rights complaint were legally privileged and non-actionable.

The court also dismissed claims against Reynolds, Lively's publicist Leslie Sloane, and the New York Times.

Lively's legal team is now seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages, and punitive damages against Baldoni and his Wayfarer company.

Diving Deeper:

The legal saga between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni stemmed from explosive allegations and counterclaims tied to their work on the film It Ends With Us. In December 2024, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department accusing Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath of sexual harassment and related misconduct. Baldoni responded with a $400 million defamation lawsuit, alleging Lively fabricated the claims to salvage her image following turmoil on the film's press tour.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman delivered a firm rebuke of Baldoni's claims. In a written opinion, Liman found that Lively's statements, confined to her CRD complaint, were privileged under the law and thus not grounds for defamation. Liman also dismissed related accusations that Reynolds, Sloane, or The New York Times knowingly spread false information about Baldoni, citing a lack of evidence that they acted with "actual malice."

I get the idea that allegations in a lawsuit are privileged and cannot be the basis of a defamation claim, but how does that insulate them from repeating the defamations to a New York Times reporter, or getting their publicist to spread the allegations around?

Liberal judges love finding ways to dismiss defamation lawsuits against liberals and liberal propaganda organizations.

...

Lively's attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, celebrated the ruling, calling it a "total victory and a complete vindication" for their client and those "dragged into [Baldoni's] retaliatory lawsuit." They further indicated intentions to pursue legal costs and damages from Baldoni and others associated with Wayfarer for what they termed "abusive litigation."

The fallout from this legal drama may not be over yet. Judge Liman gave Baldoni's team until June 23 to amend and refile only limited claims regarding tortious interference and breach of implied contract. The broader defamation effort, however, is effectively dead in the water.

In related news of lefties defaming people, overrated tumbling fireplug and Noted Quitter Simone Biles attacked Riley Gaines out of the blue for trying to keep men out of women's sports.

Gaines commented on this newest example of Stolen Women's Valor: a boy is now playing on a girl's softball team and you'll never guess. It turns out the boy is much, much better at softball than girls, and he "dragged" his team to the championship based mostly on his ability to absolutely dominate the female batters he was facing.

Trans Pitcher Marissa Rothenberger Drags Champlin Park to MN Girls Softball State Title

The date was June 6, 2025, when for the first time in recorded history, a transgender biological male (XY) won a state championship in Minnesota Girls (XX) high school softball.

Marissa Rothenberger -- born Charlie Dean Rothenberger until he began transitioning to a she at just 9 years old -- is now 6'0″ tall junior and the No. 1 pitcher for Champlin Park high school girls softball, which on Friday morning defeated Bloomington-Jefferson 6-0 in the 4A Minnesota State Championship.

Rothenberger is the ace of the team's pitching staff and probably the best high school softball pitcher in the state of Minnesota. On Friday, the towering 17-year-old with long blonde hair pitched a complete-game shutout and held Bloomington Jefferson to just 3 hits, bringing Marissa's 2025 pitching statistics to a rest at 94 IP, 0.74 ERA, 0.65 WHIP and .176 BAA.

It's very easy to win a girl's softball championship when your starting pitcher is Thor, God of Thunder.

Biles exploded at Riley Gaines for telling the truth.

Biles even insinuated that Riley Gaines might be a little transgender herself:

Olympic legend Simone Biles is under fire for attacking former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines and defending the participation of biological males in female sports competitions.

Key Details:

Biles called Gaines "truly sick" and a "sore loser" in response to her criticism of a transgender athlete leading a Minnesota high school softball team.

Biles suggested sports could introduce a transgender category but accused Gaines of bullying.

The backlash was swift, with critics calling Biles' comments hypocritical and out of touch with concerns about fairness in women's sports.

Diving Deeper:

Simone Biles is now at the center of a growing firestorm over her recent defense of transgender athletes competing in women's sports. The gymnastics icon took aim at Riley Gaines, a 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer turned outspoken advocate for protecting women's sports, igniting a wave of backlash across social media.

The controversy began when Gaines criticized the Minnesota State High School League for celebrating Champlin Park High School's softball championship -- a title secured in large part by a biologically male player, junior pitcher Marissa Rothenberger. The league posted a team photo with comments disabled, prompting Gaines to speak out on X.

Biles jumped into the fray by attacking Gaines directly. "You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser," Biles wrote, referencing Gaines' 2022 competition against UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. In a follow-up post, Biles said Gaines should be "uplifting the trans community" and proposed creating a "transgender category in all sports."

But Biles' attempt to frame her remarks as inclusive quickly backfired.

"You bully them... One thing's for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!" she added, escalating the personal nature of her criticism.

...

Others accused Biles of ignoring the central issue: biological differences between men and women, especially in competitive athletics. "Simone Biles benefited from fair competition her whole career," one commenter wrote. "Now she's endorsing policies that erase that fairness for the next generation of girls."

Note that Biles attacked Riley for being a buff female athlete, telling her to "pick on someone her own size" which, she then added, would be a "man." She's basically claiming that Riley Gaines looks like a tranny.

This from a woman who looks like Herschel Walker in one-piece bathing suit.

This stubby, jacked Mannish Racist is now saying she didn't mean to be a bully and attack people for no reason.

Based Jane D'oh speculated that Biles might have heard from her sponsors.

I don't know if any woke corporations are ready to dump their sponsorship over trans activism yet.

But it's no longer 2018 with a fully-empowered left-wing cancellation and deplatforming machine ready to destroy anyone who disputes the insane claims of the left. Apparently Biles still thinks she can get away with screaming outrageous stupidity that puts girls' safety in danger and get nothing but "Slay Kween" in return.

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posted by Ace at 03:25 PM

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