By Nicki Brown, NCS
(NCS) — A federal decide tossed out Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims against her “It Ends With Us” director Justin Baldoni, roughly a month before the excessive-stakes trial was set to start. The decide threw out 10 of the 13 claims in Lively’s lawsuit, leaving solely three claims against defendants that don’t embrace Baldoni personally.
In her civil criticism, Lively accused Baldoni, who additionally co-starred within the movie, of sexually harassing her through the film’s manufacturing after which orchestrating a smear marketing campaign to retaliate against her for talking up concerning the alleged mistreatment. Baldoni denied the allegations.
In an order issued Thursday, District Judge Lewis Liman threw out nearly all of the claims in Lively’s lawsuit, together with sexual harassment and defamation. Some of the claims, together with those involving sexual harassment, have been nixed because of authorized technicalities, comparable to Lively being thought of an unbiased contractor fairly than an worker — some extent emphasised by Lively’s attorneys following the decide’s order.
Out of 13 claims, solely three stay within the case: retaliation, aiding and abetting retaliation, and breach of contract. Baldoni is just not a defendant in any of the remaining claims. One declare against his manufacturing firm, Wayfarer, stays. A public relations firm retained by his staff and the LLC for the movie are the opposite defendants within the remaining claims.
In a press release to NCS, representatives for Wayfarer stated they have been “very pleased” the court docket dismissed all sexual harassment claims and claims against particular person defendants.
“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,” the assertion stated. “What’s left is a significantly narrowed case, and we look forward to presenting our defense to the remaining claims in court.”
Jury choice for the trial, which might have been the climax of greater than yr-lengthy authorized again-and-forth that generated numerous headlines, is scheduled to start on May 18.
“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 McCawley, an lawyer for Lively, stated in a press release to NCS.
The assertion added that for Lively, “the greatest measure of justice is that the people and the playbook behind these coordinated digital attacks have been exposed and are already being held accountable by other women they’ve targeted.”
“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,” the assertion concluded.
Liman’s order narrows the scope of the upcoming trial to concentrate on what Lively alleged was a “smear campaign” against her after she raised issues about conduct on-set.
“Our clients are very good people who have not engaged in this sexual harassment as alleged. As such, they have deserved a vigorous defense which was led through transparency,” Baldoni’s protection lawyer Bryan Freedman stated within the assertion to NCS. “It is gratifying to see that the courts ruling confirms what the legal team believed from day one.”
How we acquired right here
The alleged harassment occurred through the manufacturing of “It Ends With Us,” the 2024 film primarily based on Colleen Hoover’s hit novel of the identical title. The story facilities round home violence in a pair, portrayed on-display screen by Lively and Baldoni.
In December 2024, the New York Times was the primary to report that Lively had filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department about Baldoni’s alleged conduct throughout and after filming. Those complaints are sometimes confidential. She later filed a civil criticism in New York federal court docket against Baldoni, his manufacturing firm Wayfarer Studios and several other others.
In the criticism, Lively alleged Baldoni made sexual feedback in the direction of ladies on set and spoke about his private intercourse life, together with his “previous pornography addiction.” He additionally allegedly improvised intimacy that had not been choreographed, together with in some footage that has since been publicly released.
Baldoni stated in court docket filings the alleged conduct amounted to “no more than miscommunications and awkward comments,” and a number of the conversations have been related because the film grappled with intimate grownup themes. Regardless, the manufacturing staff listened to Lively’s issues on the time and applied adjustments she requested, he stated.
Lively alleged Baldoni and his staff “weaponize[d] a digital army” after the film’s launch to shift the narrative against her.
“To safeguard against the risk of Ms. Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the Baldoni-Wayfarer team created, planted, amplified, and boosted content designed to eviscerate Ms. Lively’s credibility,” she wrote in her criticism. “They engaged in the same techniques to bolster Mr. Baldoni’s credibility and suppress any negative content about him.”
In court docket filings, Baldoni’s attorneys argued his public relations staff engaged in authorized, customary exercise after Lively “set out to destroy his reputation.”
“It was not illegal for Baldoni to promote positive content about himself or truthful narratives about various events. That Lively’s reputation may have suffered is a result of her own ill-advised public statements and actions,” his attorneys wrote. “This is a dispute about Hollywood reputations, not genuine legal wrongs.”
In January 2025, Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively and her celebrity husband Ryan Reynolds, alleging they “hijacked” his movie and tried to destroy his profession. A federal decide dismissed the lawsuit in June. The decide’s ruling didn’t deal with the deserves of Baldoni’s criticism however fairly held that Lively’s sexual harassment claims have been protected by regulation and couldn’t type the idea of a defamation declare.
The authorized battle between the Hollywood stars has usually performed out within the public eye. In February 2025, Baldoni’s staff revealed a web site containing texts and an alleged timeline regarding Lively’s claims. In January, the court docket unsealed proof together with dozens of texts between Lively and her close friend Taylor Swift.
This story has been up to date with extra info.
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NCS’s Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.