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 legal filing from New York, as obtained by TheWrap, states the the defamation claim is "insufficient as a matter of law because the challenged statement is protected opinion and because the Wayfarer Parties plead nothing but conclusory allegations regarding The Times' purported actual malice.

Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine’ expose turned up the heat on Justin Baldoni and his PR team over sexual harassment and retaliation allegations made by Blake Lively from the making of It Ends With Us.