The judge presiding over Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s increasingly contentious court fight has dealt the actor a significant blow, throwing out 10 of the 13 claims she filed against her former co-star and other defendants.
On April 2, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed most of Lively’s allegations—covering areas such as harassment, defamation, and conspiracy—while allowing a slimmer portion of the case to move forward, including a breach of contract claim and two claims tied to retaliation.
In his ruling, Judge Liman found that several of Lively’s claims could not continue “as a matter of law,” particularly where they depended on her being treated as an employee. However, he determined that parts of her case—most notably certain retaliation-related allegations—were supported well enough to proceed to trial.
The decision removed Lively’s Title VII retaliation claim and a California Labor Code retaliation claim, and also eliminated some claims aimed at individual defendants. Still, the court permitted her retaliation claim against production company Wayfarer and related entities to continue, with trial set for May 18.
The dispute traces back to December 2024, when Lively sued her It ends with us co-star Justin Baldoni, along with producer Jamey Heath, Wayfarer Studios, its co-founder Steve Sarowitz, publicist Jennifer Abel, and crisis publicist Melissa Nathan, based on allegations connected to sexual harassment.
Lively alleged that Baldoni sexually harassed her, and further claimed Baldoni and others coordinated a retaliatory effort intended ‘to destroy’ her reputation. She sought roughly $160 million in damages.
Baldoni has consistently denied wrongdoing and later filed a $400 million countersuit, accusing Lively of defamation and breach of contract. Judge Liman dismissed that countersuit in June 2025.
After the latest ruling, Sigrid McCawley of Lively’s legal team said in a statement: “This case has always been and will remain focused on the devasting [sic] 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.”
“For Blake 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,” continued the statement.
While the sexual harassment claims were dismissed, Lively’s team emphasized the court’s reasoning and added: “Sexual harassment isn’t going forward not because the defendants did nothing wrong but because the court determined Blake Lively was an independent contractor, not an employee.”
On the other side, Baldoni’s attorneys welcomed the outcome. Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach of Shapiro Arato Bach said: “We’re very pleased the Court dismissed all sexual harassment claims and every claim brought against the individual defendants: Justin Baldoni, Jamey Heath, Steve Sarowitz, Melissa Nathan, and Jennifer Abel.”
“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 concluded. “What’s left is a significantly narrowed case, and we look forward to presenting our defense to the remaining claims in court.”