Blake Lively has shared a statement following the news that a judge dismissed 10 out of the 13 claims, including sexual harassment and defamation allegations, she made against her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni.
While these claims were dismissed on April 2, the other three allegations of breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation will go to a civil trial, set to take place in New York on May 18
The actress took to her Instagram Stories the following day to issue a lengthy response to the news. ‘I’m grateful for the Court’s ruling which allows the heart of my case to be presented to jury next month, and for the ability to tell my story in full at trial, for my own sake, but also for those who don’t have the same opportunity to… many of whom I have known and loved deeply in my life, and the countless I’ll never known,” she penned.
Blake shared that a lawsuit was “the last thing I wanted in my life”, before adding that it was filed due to the alleged “pervasive RETALIATION I faced, and continue to, for privately and professionally asking for a safe working environment for myself and others.”
She described the media attention surrounding the lawsuit as a “digital soap opera”, which she said is “irresponsible” and “by design: to keep you from seeing yourselves in my story”, adding, “physical pain from digital violence is very real.”
© Getty“It is abuse. And it’s everywhere. Not just in the news, but in your communities and schools.”
She continued: “I couldn’t begin to stand up if not for the countless who’ve gone before me – and the masses who are still around us all – creating laws, social change, sparking conversations, rallying, working privately and publicly, risking and sometimes losing everything for the safety of others in all spaces.”
“I know it’s a privilege to be able to stand up. I will not waste it. Your support keeps me going,” she concluded.
© Gareth Cattermole/Getty ImagesThe lawsuit arises from alleged incidents on the set of It Ends With Us, with Blake accusing Justin of overstepping professional boundaries. Her claims include that he improvised a kiss in an unscripted scene, entered her trailer while she was breastfeeding, and that a producer showed her a video of his wife giving birth.
In his ruling the judge said: “The question whether Lively would have the unilateral right to halt production of the film if in her view sexual harassment occurred is hardly inconsequential. The fact that the parties were not able to come to terms on such provision provides powerful evidence that no contract had yet been formed.”
“The court disagrees. Considering Lively’s evidence both in isolation and as a whole, it fails to raise a genuine issue of material fact concerning formation of the ALA. Ultimately, Lively fails to confront what is the central dilemma in her claim. She contends that the ALA became binding on IEWUM at some point while the parties were still negotiating it, but she cannot pinpoint a time when the parties began to be bound by it or which version of the ALA they were bound to.”
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