Justin BaldoniThe production company, Wayfarer Studios, has been ordered to pay The New York Times more than USD 171,000 after its defamation lawsuit against the newspaper was settled.
Justin Baldoni and the production company ordered to pay The New York Times
According to a decision issued on Monday, July 27, New York Supreme Court Judge Gerald Lebovits awarded The New York Times USD 171,616.20 after granting ‘summary judgment’ in favor of the newspaper under New York’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law. The newspaper initially sought $181,622.70 in attorney’s fees. However, Justice Lebovits reduced the amount after noting that some legal work done after the settlement of the case would be ‘non-reimbursable’.
About the court decision
According to People, Justice Lebovits ruled, “The government’s actions here were caused by the publication of news in the public domain … The judge said that what the newspaper wrote was about “matters of public interest.”Justice Lebovits also denied Wayfarer Studios’ request to stay the federal case pending an appeal. The judge noted that the end of the parties in May 2026 in the federal capital case included a waiver of the right to appeal, which resulted in the termination of the petition.
The New York Times responds
After the latest ruling, The New York Times said in a statement to People, “We are pleased with the court’s decision. The anti-SLAPP statute is designed to combat precisely these types of frivolous suits that are brought to shut down the press.”
Justin Baldoni’s ‘It Ends With Us’ case
The change comes a few months after Wayfarer Studios sued The New York Times in their December 2024 investigation, titled “We Can Put Anyone: Inside the Hollywood Smear Machine,” which detailed Blake Lively’s allegations of harassment and retaliation at work against Baldoni and others involved in the production of ‘It Ends With Us’.As previously reported, in the federal lawsuit against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios in January 2025, they claimed that the newspaper defamed him through his articles. However, in June 2025, United States District Judge Lewis J Liman dismissed all of the newspaper’s claims of discrimination, preventing the allegations from being repeated.