Lively accused Wallace of having “weaponised a digital army around the country from New York to Los Angeles to create, seed and promote content that appeared to be authentic on social media platforms and internet chat forums”.
However, Judge Lewis J. Liman granted the PR expert’s motion to dismiss without prejudice, meaning Lively has until July 31 to file an amended complaint or sue Wallace in a different jurisdiction.
Her representative said: “Ms Lively respects the Court’s decision, which has nothing to do with the merits of her allegations about Mr Wallace’s role in the smear campaign and relates solely to the procedural question of whether he is subject to jurisdiction in New York or elsewhere.
“We currently are evaluating our numerous options for holding Mr Wallace accountable for the pivotal role he served in the retaliatory effort that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties paid him at least tens of thousands of dollars a month to perform.”
Baldoni has denied Lively’s allegations and his counterclaims against the Another Simple Favor star and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, which included extortion and defamation, were dismissed last month. His legal team opted not to file an amended complaint.
A trial is scheduled to take place in New York in March 2026, with both stars set to testify.
