Federal judge throws out most of Blake Lively’s claims against Justin Baldoni | Blake Lively
A federal judge has dismissed most of Blake Lively’s claims against Justin Baldoni.
In a court ruling issued Thursday, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed 10 of the 13 claims in Lively’s lawsuit against her co-star and the director of the domestic violence movie It Ends With Us.
Among the 10 allegations that Liman denied were Lively’s claims of sexual harassment, conspiracy and defamation. Only three of the actor’s claims will now be heard at trial: breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retaliation.
This decision puts Lively’s case in a narrower field of view; The focus is limited to the actor’s allegations that Baldoni was behind a retaliatory campaign that featured and shared negative stories about him online.
Lively’s lawyers had alleged that Baldoni “consistently acted inappropriately” towards their client and “kissed, nuzzled and touched” her without her consent. She vividly accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her by making unwanted comments about her appearance and weight while she was filming the Colleen Hoover adaptation.
Last June, Liman denied two of Lively’s allegations against Baldoni that she was experiencing emotional distress. That same month, she dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million defamation claim against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Released in 2024, It Ends With Us became a worldwide hit and grossed more than $350 million, but was soon overshadowed by the dispute between Lively and Baldoni and rumors of complicated, protracted litigation.
The lawsuit lifted the lid on private messages Lively sent to other celebrities, including Taylor Swift and Ben Affleck. In unsealed text messages to Swift, Lively called Baldoni “the stupid director of my movie” and asked the singer for her thoughts on rewriting the It Ends With Us script. Swift allegedly replied: “I’d do anything for you!”
“This doesn’t help either of them,” former entertainment lawyer and Puck reporter Matthew Belloni told the Guardian last year about the Lively and Baldoni case. “The longer this goes on and the more mud is thrown at each other, the more they’re both really hurting.”
The narrowed-down case is due to go to trial in May after mediation failed last month.
