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The U.S. District Court judge officially ended Justin Baldoni's counterlawsuit against Blake Lively on October 31. Lively accused Baldoni of s*xual harassment and filed a lawsuit in December of last year. She also alleged that Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign against her. In January this year, Justin Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.However, in June, Judge Liman dismissed Baldoni's lawsuit. At the time, Baldoni and Wayfarer parties were provided a window to amend their complaint. Baldoni's legal team did not refile a complaint. Consequently, on Friday, the Judge signed an order formally dismissing the case. Many saw it as a major setback for Justin Baldoni.Pop culture podcaster Zack Peter also reacted to the development. The host of No Filter With Zack Peter took to X on November 3 and shared a screenshot of a Us Weekly exclusive. Citing a source, the outlet reported that Justin Baldoni "did not miss deadline" to file a complaint; rather, he never wanted to file an amended complaint. The report stated that Baldoni's legal team has been focusing on the trial scheduled in March.Appending the report's snippet, Peter wrote:"Cry harder, Blake Bots."Zack Peter @justplainzackLINKCry harder, Blake BotsThe podcaster also discussed the new development in the November 3 episode of his show. Zack Peter said that the Friday order was "nothing new" from the dismissal that took place in June. He slammed several media outlets for using "salacious headlines" to report the judge's final decision. Peter explained that Blake Lively filed her complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, and hence, a defamation lawsuit couldn't be filed."What happened was Blake Lively made her allegations in her CRD complaint. Her CRD complaint is a legal filing. And when it comes to claims like this, you can't be sued for defamation if it's in a legal filing. And so she couldn't be sued for defamation because she has what's considered litigation privilege," the podcaster stated.Zack Peter added that Blake Lively had a "double whammy" of having "Me Too" laws in California.Zack Peter says Justin Baldoni may challenge the court’s dismissal of his case against Blake LivelyIn his Monday podcast, Peter noted that while the judge dismissed Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively, he could pursue the "extortion claims." Zack Peter stated that, for some reason, Justin Baldoni's legal team decided not to file an amended complaint, but they can still appeal against the dismissal.The social media personality criticized media outlets for allegedly spreading "misinformation" about Baldoni’s right to appeal."A lot of reporters are spreading their favorite word, misinformation, by saying that he is no longer able to appeal the decision. That's not true either. You cannot appeal a decision until there is a final judgment made. So Justin Baldoni can now begin the process now that we've moved to final judgment," Peter said.The podcaster noted that Baldoni can now appeal against Judge Liman's decision if he wants to. Peter also reported that Blake Lively’s request for attorney's fees remains active and that no decision has been made yet."She's still looking to get her attorney's fees paid. There's been no decision made on that yet, but Baldon now has a chance to appeal the judge's final decision in his defamation case should he choose to," the podcaster stated.The podcaster stated that none of the recent legal developments would affect the final trial scheduled in March 2026.
