Justin Baldoni has scored a huge win on Thursday as the majority of his co-star Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims have been dismissed by a judge presiding on the case.
The It Ends With Us co-stars have been embroiled in a legal war since 2024 but Judge Lewis Liman has thrown out 10 of her 13 claims before the case goes to trial, leaving Ryan Reynold’s wife on thin ground
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.”
He then went onto say in his ruling of the claims that: “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.”
Blake kicked off the entire saga after she sued Justin for alleged harassment during filming followed by a targeted smear campaign against her.
© AFP via Getty ImagesAfter their press tour was dogged with controversies painting Blake in a bad light, the actress filed a suit against Justin to reclaim her voice and help “protect others who may be targeted” for speaking out against misconduct in the workplace.
Blake also claimed in her suit that she took her complaints to the higher-ups at the production company Wayfarer Studios, but swift action was not taken to address the issue.
Justin refuted the claims made in Blake’s lawsuit and hit her with a countersuit denying the allegations, calling her legal action “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to hurt”.
© GC ImagesHe also filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for libel, claiming that they had falsely reported on Blake’s suit and failed to uphold balanced reporting standards.
Justin filed a third suit against Blake, her husband Ryan, publicist Leslie Sloane and her PR firm, alleging that the party had attempted to extort and defame him. Both this suit and his claims against The Times have been dismissed as of June 9.
“The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged,” the judge declared in his ruling.
© Getty Images“The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign.”
The ruling continued: “But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law.”
“The Wayfarer Parties’ additional claims also fail. Accordingly, the Amended Complaint must be dismissed in its entirety,” he added.
Read the full article here
