Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have asked a judge to dismiss Justin Baldoni's defamation lawsuit. Last month, Blake sued Justin, who had also acted as director on the movie for sexual harassment and allegedly causing "severe emotional distress". Justin has, however, strongly refuted the allegations and was later dropped by his agency following the claims. This month, he sued Blake and her husband Ryan for £321 million for an apparent attempt to "destroy" his reputation and career. Now, it's claimed Blake and Ryan's lawyers have filed a notice to state that they will seek to dismiss Baldoni's lawsuit. This is in line with Judge Lewis Linman's court order, which outlined how the case will go ahead.

Judge Linman is said to have asked for a letter which would "indicate in one sentence the Defendant's intent to make a motion to dismiss." He will later set a deadline for when to file the motion, according to Variety. Blake and Ryan's lawyer, Michael J Gottlieb said: "The Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint.". Meanwhile, publicist, Leslie Sloane, who was also named a defendant in Justin's lawsuit has also filed a similar notice. A New York judge has set a March 2026 date for the trial and moved a conference from mid-February to next week.

The judge has also told lawyers to be prepared to address complaints surrounding pretrial publicity and attorney conduct. Judge Linman took action after Blake's lawyers claimed that an attorney for Justin was attempting to taint possible jurors over lawsuits that each actor had filed. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Justin's legal team said that they are keen to take Blake's deposition at the earliest opportunity but later claimed that her reps have claimed they don't want his lawyer to due the deposition due to "unspecified statements made by Mr Freedman.".

The judge indicated earlier this week that he's likely to consolidate the lawsuits for trial. In a separate filing in Hays County, Texas, which could lead to another potential lawsuit, Lively is seeking an order for a deposition from Jed Wallace. She alleges that Wallace, a crisis management specialist, was largely responsible for the 'social media manipulation' surrounding the film that swayed public opinion against her through posts on Reddit and TikTok. According to the filing, Wallace and his Texas-based firm, Street Relations, were hired as subcontractors by publicists working with Baldoni and his production company.

Lively filed an 80-page civil rights complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against Baldoni in late December, before officially filing a federal lawsuit against him on December 31. Lively told The New York Times the day after she filed the complaint: "I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.".