According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, it has been revealed that the film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, Marvel, has been granted the request of removal from the ongoing legal dispute between Justin Balsoni and Blake Lively. This decision serves as another blow to Justin Baldoni, as his counter lawsuit against Blake Lively of $400 million got dismissed by the US Courts.
On June 9, Monday, US District Court judge Lewis J Liman granted Marvel Entertainment LLC’s request for a court order to “quash the subpoena issued to Marvel from Wayfarer Parties and for a protective order prohibiting the disclosure of Marvel’s confidential documents.” The company had first submitted the letter requesting removal from the lawsuit to the judge in April 2025.
How Did Marvel Get Involved In The Justin Baldoni And Blake Lively Legal Battle
Marvel became involved in the Baldoni-Lively legal drama because Justin Baldoni’s legal team had requested access to classified communications regarding a Marvel character created by Blake’s husband, Ryan Reynolds. The character in question is Nicepool, who was introduced in the Deadpool & Wolverine film. This request was made by Baldoni’s side as they believed that Nicepool was written to bully and ridicule Baldoni. In documents revealed earlier, Justin’s attorneys claimed Nicepool was part of a broader effort to “mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate or bully” Baldoni in the ongoing lawsuit.
According to PEOPLE, a litigation hold letter was sent to Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige and Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger by Justin’s legal team. The letter demanded that they hold onto any documents that mention Justin Baldoni and could be used in the court.
This Monday, Judge Liman dismissed Justin Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit. Because of this dismissal, the judge granted Marvel their request to be removed from any further proceedings of the lawsuit. “The information sought is no longer relevant to a claim or defence in this action,” wrote Liman in his ruling.
In his ruling, Judge Lisman further said that Baldoni’s team had not submitted enough evidence to support their claims of defamation caused by the accused party, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Sloan and The New York Times; hence, Justin’s case against them got dismissed.