Judge tosses Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims against Justin Baldoni one month before trial

By Nicki Brown, CNN

(CNN) — A federal judge tossed out Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims against her “It Ends With Us” director Justin Baldoni, roughly a month before the high-stakes trial was set to begin. The judge threw out 10 of the 13 claims in Lively’s lawsuit, leaving only three claims against defendants that don’t include Baldoni personally.

In her civil complaint, Lively accused Baldoni, who also co-starred in the film, of sexually harassing her during the movie’s production and then orchestrating a smear campaign to retaliate against her for speaking up about the alleged mistreatment. Baldoni denied the allegations.

In an order issued Thursday, District Judge Lewis Liman threw out the majority of the claims in Lively’s lawsuit, including sexual harassment and defamation. Some of the claims, including the ones involving sexual harassment, were nixed due to legal technicalities, such as Lively being considered an independent contractor rather than an employee, a point emphasized by Lively’s attorneys following the judge’s order.

Out of thirteen claims, only three remain in the case – retaliation, aiding and abetting retaliation, and breach of contract. Baldoni is not a defendant in any of the remaining claims. One claim against his production company, Wayfarer, remains.

In a statement to CNN, representatives for Wayfarer said they were “very pleased” the court dismissed all sexual harassment claims and claims against individual defendants.

“These were very serious allegations, and we are grateful to the Court for its careful review of the facts, law and voluminous evidence that was provided,” the statement said. “What’s left is a significantly narrowed case, and we look forward to presenting our defense to the remaining claims in court.”

Jury selection for the trial, which would have been the climax of more than year-long legal back-and-forth that generated countless headlines, is scheduled to begin on May 18.

“This case has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial,” Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for Lively, said in a statement to CNN.

The statement added that for Lively, “the greatest measure of justice is that the people and the playbook behind these coordinated digital attacks have been exposed and are already being held accountable by other women they’ve targeted.”

“She looks forward to testifying at trial and continuing to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation so that it becomes easier to detect and fight,” the statement concluded.

CNN has reached out to Baldoni’s attorney for comment.

How we got here

The alleged harassment occurred during the production of “It Ends With Us,” the 2024 movie based on Colleen Hoover’s hit novel of the same name. The story centers around domestic violence in a couple, portrayed on-screen by Lively and Baldoni.

In December 2024, the New York Times was the first to report that Lively had filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department about Baldoni’s alleged conduct during and after filming. Those complaints are typically confidential. She later filed a civil complaint in New York federal court against Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios and several others.

In the complaint, Lively alleged Baldoni made sexual comments towards women on set and spoke about his personal sex life, including his “previous pornography addiction.” He also allegedly improvised intimacy that had not been choreographed, including in some footage that has since been publicly released.

Baldoni said in court filings the alleged behavior amounted to “no more than miscommunications and awkward comments,” and some of the conversations were relevant since the movie grappled with intimate adult themes. Regardless, the production team listened to Lively’s concerns at the time and implemented changes she requested, he said.

Lively alleged Baldoni and his team “weaponize[d] a digital army” after the movie’s release to shift the narrative against her.

“To safeguard against the risk of Ms. Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the Baldoni-Wayfarer team created, planted, amplified, and boosted content designed to eviscerate Ms. Lively’s credibility,” she wrote in her complaint. “They engaged in the same techniques to bolster Mr. Baldoni’s credibility and suppress any negative content about him.”

In court filings, Baldoni’s lawyers argued his public relations team engaged in legal, standard activity after Lively “set out to destroy his reputation.”

“It was not illegal for Baldoni to promote positive content about himself or truthful narratives about various events. That Lively’s reputation may have suffered is a result of her own ill-advised public statements and actions,” his attorneys wrote. “This is a dispute about Hollywood reputations, not genuine legal wrongs.”

In January 2025, Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively and her superstar husband Ryan Reynolds, alleging they “hijacked” his film and attempted to destroy his career. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in June. The judge’s ruling did not address the merits of Baldoni’s complaint but rather held that Lively’s sexual harassment claims were protected by law and could not form the basis of a defamation claim.

The legal battle between the Hollywood stars has often played out in the public eye. In February 2025, Baldoni’s team published a website containing texts and an alleged timeline relating to Lively’s claims. In January, the court unsealed evidence including dozens of texts between Lively and her close friend Taylor Swift.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.