The New York Times, which had a hand in igniting the public war of words between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni by publishing a story over alleged misconduct in the filming of It Ends With Us, has moved to dismiss a defamation lawsuit accusing it conspiring with the actress’ public relations team to advance a distorted narrative.

The New York Times said that Justin Baldoni's defamation suit over a December article is "insufficient" and should be dismissed.

Blake Lively has turned to a high-powered crisis manager in an effort to deal with her legal battle with Justin Baldoni. Lively has hired Nick Shapiro, the former deputy chief of staff at the CIA, to handle her PR.