The legal dispute that started from the sets of the Hollywood blockbuster ‘It Ends With Us’ has now reached a turning point. A New York court has dismissed serious allegations of sexual harassment made by Blake Lively against the film’s director and co-star Justin Baldoni. Baldoni has got a big relief from this decision of the judge, whereas the scope of the case has now become quite limited.
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The charges that were dismissed included sexual harassment, defamation, conspiracy etc. However, the trial will go on on the three allegations made by the actress. Charges that were not dismissed include breach of contract, retaliatory acts, and aiding and abetting retaliatory acts. The trial of this case will be held on May 18 in New York.
Judge dismisses most of Blake Lively’s charges
The case began in 2024, when Blake Lively sued Justin, accusing him of harassment and running a defamatory campaign against her during the shooting of her successful film. Justin denied these allegations and hit back at Blake by filing a lawsuit against him. Blake had accused Justin – who is also the film’s director and co-star – of sexually harassing her by commenting on her appearance and weight during the shooting of the film.
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She also accused Justin of hiring a team of publicists to take revenge on her by spreading negative rumors about her online. The judge ruled that two counts of retaliation would be heard by a jury.
Attorneys for Justin, Wayfarer Studios and their publicists – Alexandria Shapiro and Jonathan Bach – said, “We are pleased that the court has dismissed all allegations of sexual harassment and all allegations made against the individual defendants.”
“These are very serious allegations, and we are grateful to the court for its careful review of the facts, the law, and the extensive evidence presented. The case that remains has been narrowed in scope, and we look forward to presenting our defense against the remaining charges in court.”
According to Variety, Sigrid McCawley, part of Blake’s legal team, said that a jury will have the final say on whether Blake was the victim of a vindictive smear campaign. ‘This case has always been – and will continue to be – focused on the horrific vindictiveness and extraordinary steps that the defendants took to ruin Blake Lively’s reputation; This was done because he raised his voice for safety on the set. And now, this very case is headed to trial,” Sigrid said. He added, ‘She looks forward to testifying at trial and continuing to shine a light on this brutal trend of online revenge, making it easier to identify and fight against.’
More about the Blake-Justin controversy
This case is based on the conversation between Justin and Blake on the set of the film ‘It End’s With Us’. In the film, Blake plays the lead character ‘Lily Bloom’ – a young woman who has seen her mother abused by her father since childhood, but years later finds herself trapped in a similar violent relationship.
Blake’s team has accused Justin and his film studio ‘Wayfarer’ of conspiring to damage his reputation. The conspiracy also includes manipulating social media and using certain ‘friendly’ members of the media to push their desired narratives. Before going to court, Blake had discussed the allegations in detail in a ‘New York Times’ article.
On the other hand, Justin’s team claimed that Blake wanted to use the abuse allegations to gain control over the film, and subsequently portray Justin as a ‘bad person’. The team further claimed that any allegations Blake had made regarding Justin’s behavior on set were actually ‘minor complaints’.
In February, Justin and Blake attended a mediation hearing before a magistrate judge, but they failed to reach an agreement.