Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have reportedly asked a federal judge to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against his It Ends With Us co-star…

In December, Lively sued Baldoni, who also directed the film, for sexual harassment and causing her “severe emotional distress”. Baldoni, who has denied the accusations, was subsequently dropped by his agency after the allegations emerged.

Earlier this month, Baldoni sued Lively and Reynolds for $400m (£321m) for attempting to “destroy” his reputation and career.

Variety now reports that the couple’s attorneys filed a notice on Thursday stating that they will seek to dismiss Baldoni’s lawsuit. This is in compliance with Judge Lewis Liman’s order, which outlined how the case will proceed.

The judge had reportedly asked for a letter that would “indicate in one sentence the Defendant’s intent to make a motion to dismiss”. Liman will later set a deadline for when to file the motion.

Following the judge’s instruction, lawyer Michael J Gottlieb said: “The Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint.”

Leslie Sloane, who is a publicist for Lively and Reynolds and was also named as a defendant in Baldoni’s lawsuit, submitted a similar statement to the court on Wednesday.

A New York judge set a March 2026 trial date and moved an initial conference from mid-February to next week.

The judge told lawyers to be prepared to address complaints about pretrial publicity and attorney conduct.