A federal decide on Thursday dismissed most claims in Blake Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit against her “It Ends With Us” director and co-star Justin Baldoni, in line with a court docket ruling.
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Judge Lewis Liman tossed out 10 of Lively’s 13 claims against Baldoni, together with harassment, defamation and conspiracy. But he allowed three different claims to proceed to trial: breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation.
Lively’s attorneys stated their shopper was “kissed, nuzzled and touched” with out her consent. Baldoni was “consistently inappropriate” and crossed “boundaries” on set, Lively’s attorneys argued.
Lively additionally accused Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios manufacturing firm of orchestrating a punitive “smear campaign” after she spoke out concerning the allegedly poisonous work atmosphere he created on the set of the film, launched in 2024.
In a January court docket listening to, one in all Baldoni’s attorneys argued that Lively knew “It Ends With Us” would characteristic “hot and sexy scenes” when she signed on, suggesting that the allegations of harassment have been a part of the artistic course of behind the film.
“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of a novel of the identical identify by Colleen Hoover, stars Lively as a flower store proprietor whose husband, a neurosurgeon performed by Baldoni, topics her to bodily and emotional abuse.
Representatives for the 2 actors didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon the decide’s ruling.
A listening to is predicted to happen on Thursday afternoon over Zoom at 5 p.m. ET.
Lively initially filed a grievance with the California Civil Rights Department on Dec. 20, 2024, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation. She then filed a federal civil lawsuit against him on Dec. 31, 2024.
In late February, she filed an amended grievance against him in addition to his firm, the agency’s chief govt and different defendants. He filed a countersuit against her looking for $400 million, although a federal decide tossed that case.
