Blake Lively’s sexual harassment case against ‘It Ends With Us’ co-star and director Justin Baldoni has suffered a major setback. A judge has dismissed the claims filed by the Hollywood actor in a significant turn of events in the case. In a judgment passed on Thursday, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed 10 out of the 13 claims filed by Blake Lively in the case.
The claims dismissed included sexual harassment, defamation, conspiracy, among others. However, three claims filed by the actress will go to trial. The claims that were not dismissed included breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation. The case will go to trial in New York on May 18.
Judge dismisses majority of Blake Lively’s claims
The case began in 2024 when Blake Lively sued Justin for harassment and a smear campaign against her during the filming of their successful movie. Justin denied this and countersued Blake for her allegations. Blake accused Justin, who is also the director and co-star, of sexually harassing her during the filming of their movie by commenting on her looks and weight.
She also accused Justin of hiring a team of publicists to retaliate against her by spreading negative rumours about her online. The judge decided that two out of the retaliation cases would go to a jury.
‘We are pleased that the Court dismissed all sexual harassment claims and every claim against the individual defendants,’ said Alexandria Shapiro and Jonathan Bach, who are lawyers for Justin, 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 defense to the remaining claims in court.’
As per Variety, Sigrid McCawley, who is a part of the legal team representing Blake, mentioned that the final judgment would be left to the jury about whether or not Blake was a 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 is the case that is going to trial,’ Sigrid mentioned, further saying, ‘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.’
More about the Blake-Justin dispute
The case is based on the interactions between Justin and Blake on the set of the film It Ends With Us. The film has Blake playing the lead character, Lily Bloom, a young woman who was raised watching her mother abuse her father but finds herself in a similar abusive relationship years later.
Justin and his film studio, Wayfarer, have been accused by Blake’s team of plotting to damage her reputation, including using social media manipulation and using friendly media members to advance their intended narratives. Blake discussed the accusations in a New York Times article before she went to court.
Justin’s team, on the other hand, claimed that Blake was using her accusations of misconduct to gain control of the film and later to portray Justin as a bad character. The team further claimed that the accusations Blake made regarding Justin’s behavior on the set were nothing but ‘minor grievances’.
Justin and Blake attended a mediation hearing with a magistrate judge in February, but they could not come to a settlement.
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