Blake Lively has responded to a U.S. court ruling that several of claims against her ‘It Ends With Us’ co-star and director Justin Baldoni will not be heard.
Last week the court dismissed 10 of the 13 original claims, including those relating to sexual harassment, on legal technicalities.
Lively said the three surviving claims represent “the heart” of her case: that Baldoni’s team allegedly retaliated against her after she raised concerns about on-set behaviour.
Context
Lively and Baldoni both appeared in the 2024 film ‘It Ends With Us’, which Baldoni also directed. His company Wayfarer Studios owns the rights to the Colleen Hoover novel on which the film was based, and its sequel.
During the film’s press tour, Baldoni and Lively rarely appeared together. Lively faced online criticism during this period, accusing her of trivialising the film‘s domestic violence themes.
Lively alleges that backlash wasn’t organic. In late 2024, she sued Baldoni, alleging he sexually harassed her on set and coordinated a PR campaign to destroy her reputation.
In 2025, Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and the PR agents named in Lively’s suit counter-sued her and husband Ryan Reynolds. Lively’s publicist was also named as a defendant.
Baldoni accused Lively of hijacking the film’s production, cutting him out of the process, and making false allegations against him.
Judge Lewis Liman is overseeing the cases. He dismissed Baldoni’s counter-
suit in June 2025.
Dismissed claims
Last week, Liman dismissed 10 of the claims in Lively’s lawsuit. Most were thrown out on legal technicalities.
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That leaves three claims heading to trial in May, centring on the same allegation: that after Lively raised concerns about on-set behaviour, Baldoni’s team retaliated by running a campaign to ruin her career.
They are made against:
- Wayfarer Studios
- a company Wayfarer set up specifically for the film
- the PR firm Wayfarer hired
The sexual harassment claims were dismissed for two main reasons.
First, Lively was classified as an independent contractor rather than an employee on ‘It Ends With Us’, which meant the federal harassment law she was suing under didn’t apply to her situation.
Second, the film was shot in New Jersey, which meant California’s stricter workplace protections couldn’t be used either.
The judge was clear this didn’t mean it has been proven the conduct didn’t happen – only that the law, as written, didn’t apply in this case.
The judge also found that several specific allegations didn’t meet the legal threshold for a gender-based hostile work environment claim, though “there is enough evidence... to conclude that [her claim] was far from baseless.”
On Baldoni’s on-set behaviour during filming, Liman wrote that directors must have space to experiment creatively “within the bounds of an agreed script without fear of being held liable for sexual harassment.”
Baldoni’s legal team told media: “We’re very pleased the Court dismissed all sexual harassment claims.”
