Blake Lively's Lawsuit Against Justin Baldoni Only Narrowed Down To Its Core Claims, 'Harmed Her...'

It Ends With Us co-stars, Justin Baldini and Blake Lively, have been in the headlines for quite some time owing to their legal battle, which started in December 2024. According to reports, it all began with creative differences between the duo while they were filming the Coleen Hoover adaptation. At the time, Blake accused Justin of sexual harassment in addition to fat shaming. Well, recently, a judge dismissed 10 of 13 claims Blake made against Justin. Irrespective of this, Blake's legal team claims that the core of the lawsuit remains intact. 

Blake Lively's lawyer claims the court held that the actress provided sufficient evidence against Justin Baldoni 

On April 3, 2026, Blake Lively's lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, opened up about the ongoing legal battle between his client and her It Ends With Us co-star, Justin Baldoni. While speaking with TMZ, he claimed that Justin's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, did not really understand the judge's Thursday, April 2, 2026, ruling. This was especially the case since he "had to bring in another law firm for the trial, and just last week was reprimanded by the court for having filed legally frivolous claims." 

According to Michael, the judge has merely decided to narrow the case down to its core claims. This involves Blake having spoken out "against what she believed was sexual harassment on the set, and suffered retaliation that harmed her reputation as a result." He further claimed that the court believes Blake has provided sufficient evidence that she was the real victim on set owing to Justin and producer, Jamey Heath's behaviour. This behaviour, Blake had felt, was "unlawful sexual harassment."

Not only this, Michael further claimed that the court has acknowledged the actress's evidence to prove "Baldoni, Heath, and Wayfarer Studios understood that her claims amount to sexual harassment allegations." He said that even after understanding the same, they chose to cross the line in response and took the kind of steps which were detrimental to Blake's reputation and career. Micheal said that Blak's claims were the "beating heart" of the case. He added: 

"The Court’s ruling that Ms. Lively’s state and federal harassment claims could not go to trial was about legal issues rather than an endorsement of the defendants’ conduct. The court held that Ms. Lively’s sexual harassment claims could not go to a jury because Ms. Lively did not sign a contract, that she is an independent contractor instead of an employee, and that the offensive conduct occurred in New Jersey instead of California. The fact that Bryan Freedman is claiming exoneration based on legal technicalities while facing trial next month tells you everything you need to know." 

Justin Baldoni's attorneys said it was pleasing that the allegations brought against Justin Baldoni and others were dismissed  

As we have previously mentioned, 10 out of Blake Lively's 13 claims have been dismissed by the judge. The 3 remaining claims are breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retaliation. Following the dismissal of the claims, Justin's attorneys, Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach, reacted to the same. In a Daily Mail interview, they said it was pleasing that the majority of the serious allegations against Justin and the others were dismissed after the court carefully reviewed the facts. To quote their words: 

"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 next trial date in the case has reportedly been set for May 18, 2026, with both Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal teams having no plans to back down.  

Also read: Taylor Frankie Paul's Ex, Dakota Mortensen, Edited Out Of 'Vanderpump Villa' S3, 'We Don't Want..' 

AWESOME NEWS! Now you can download BollywoodShaadis app and never miss a story. Get App

AWESOME NEWS! Now you can download BollywoodShaadis app and never miss a story. Choose your device Android or IOS (Apple)