Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni legal dispute: Judge dismisses multiple claims against It Ends With Us director

Blake Lively faced a major setback on Thursday as a judge dismissed bulk of her claims against her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni. Lively and Baldoni have been embroiled in a bitter court battle for over an year with actress acussing the actor-director of sexual harassment on the film’s set and later orchestrating an online smear campaign against her.

Judge dismisses bulk of Lively’s claims against Baldoni

In a ruling issued on Thursday, Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of the 13 claims in Blake Lively’s lawsuit, including claims of harassment, defamation, and conspiracy.

However, he allowed three claims to proceed to a trial, including claims of breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation. They will now go to a civil trial in New York on May 18.

Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni

In 2024, Lively sued Baldoni and accused him of harassment and a smear campaign on the set of their hit movie. He denied it and counter-sued. Lively served as the producer of It Ends With Us, while Baldoni was the director of the film. The two played the lead roles in the film.

Lively accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her on the set of the film by making comments about her appearance and weight.

On Thursday, Liman ruled that Blake could not bring a sexual harassment claim under federal law because she was an independent contractor. He also ruled that she could not file a harassment claim under California law because the filming took place in New Jersey.

In her lawsuit, Lively had alleged that Justin hired an army of publicists to retaliate against her by seeding and amplifying negative stories online. The judge ruled that two retaliation claims deserved to go to a jury.

“We’re very pleased the Court dismissed all sexual harassment claims and every claim brought against the individual defendants,” said attorneys Alexandria Shapiro and Jonathan Bach, who represent Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and their publicists.

“These were very serious allegations, and we are grateful to the court for its careful review of the facts, law, and voluminous evidence that was provided. What’s left is a significantly narrowed case, and we look forward to presenting our defence to the remaining claims in court.”

Meanwhile, Sigrid McCawley, a member of Blake’s legal team, told Variety that the jury will get the final word on whether Blake was the victim of a retaliatory smear campaign.

“This case has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial,” Sigrid said, adding, “She looks forward to testifying at trial and continuing to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation so that it becomes easier to detect and fight.”