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Blake Lively has faced a major blow as a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni's social media expert, Jed Wallace, has been dismissed by a judge.
In December, the Gossip Girl alum filed a civil rights complaint against Wallace, who runs a Texas-based crisis-management firm, alleging that he was hired by Baldoni's PR to assist in an alleged smear campaign against the actress.
On Wednesday, July 16, Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Lively had failed to prove in her case why Wallace needs to be sued in New York and dismissed the claims on jurisdictional grounds.
The judge granted Wallace's motion to dismiss without prejudice, which gives the A Simple Favor actress until July 31 to file a revised complaint or sue Wallace in a different jurisdiction.
Lively has alleged that Wallace, along with Baldoni and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jen Abel, planned a character assassination effort leading up to the release of It Ends With Us.
The dismissal comes a day before Lively's deposition, which will take place in an undisclosed location following a recent protective order that was granted to the mother-of-four.
For the unversed, Lively accused her It Ends With Us director-costar Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation, which he strongly denied.
His counterclaims against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, which involve allegations of extortion and defamation, were dismissed by Judge Liman, and his legal team opted not to refile amended versions of those claims.
Their trial is set for March 2026 in New York, and attorneys for both Lively and Baldoni have shared that their clients would be testifying during the proceedings.
