Judge dismisses Lively’s sex harassment claim against Baldoni but allows retaliation and breach of contract claims to proceed.
A US judge has dismissed sexual harassment claims brought by actor Blake Lively against co-star Justin Baldoni that were at the heart of an explosive public row between the two, a court filing showed.
Manhattan federal judge Lewis Liman also dismissed on Thursday defamation and conspiracy claims brought by Lively.
However, her claims of retaliation and breach of contract against Baldoni still stand as their civil trial approaches on 18 May.
Lively had filed a complaint against Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath for allegedly inappropriate behaviour and comments during the shooting of the romantic drama “It Ends with Us”.
The complaint said Baldoni, who also directed the film, had spoken inappropriately about his sex life. It also said he sought to alter the film to include sex scenes that were not in the script and had not been agreed to.
It also said Heath had watched Lively while she was topless, despite having been asked to turn away. It further said Baldoni waged a PR campaign to wreck Lively’s reputation.
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Baldoni and the studio Wayfarer countersued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, with claims of extortion and defamation. However, Judge Liman dismissed those claims last year.
Wayfarer previously insisted that neither the studio, its executives, nor its PR team did anything to retaliate against Lively.
Based on a best-selling novel by the US writer Colleen Hoover, “It Ends with Us” made more than $350 million at the box office in 2024. In fact, this made it one of the biggest hits of the year.
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