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Justin Baldoni won’t have to face most of the lawsuits brought by Blake Lively over alleged sexual harassment while filming his movie. And it ends with us. The decision significantly narrows the scope of the case as it heads toward trial.
U.S. District Judge Louis Lehman on Thursday dismissed the majority of Lively’s case, including claims of defamation, conspiracy and sexual harassment. Absent a last-minute settlement, the trial will focus on allegations of breach of contract, retaliation by Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer, and aiding and abetting retaliation by the public relations shop hired by the director.
Lively is scheduled to testify at the trial scheduled for May. It will pit the conflicting narratives presented by the actress and Baldoni against each other. One tells the story of sexual harassment and revenge by a film director backed by a billionaire who funds an unscrupulous network of public relations professionals. The other is the story of an A-list actress who, with the help of some of the world’s biggest celebrities including husband Ryan Reynolds and girlfriend Taylor Swift, plots to wrest control of the director’s passion project and destroy his reputation.
While the underlying claim of sexual harassment would not be considered by the jury, the court noted that the actions taken by Baldoni’s camp in the wake of the allegations could be problematic.
“At least some of the behavior could be said to have crossed the line,” Lehman wrote. He added: “There are limits to the response an accused can make in response to allegations of harassment. There comes a point where the accused simply stops defending himself and begins taking actions that a reasonable jury could view as retaliation for the fact that the accused had the audacity to press charges.”
Lively alleged in her lawsuit that Baldoni orchestrated a campaign of retaliation in the press and on social media after she published allegations of sexual harassment on the film set.
while And it ends with us The director has the right to protect his reputation, and the court found that some of the allegations made by Baldoni could constitute an attack on Lively’s reputation. The report noted the key messaging points of Baldoni’s PR campaign were that the actress had a “less than positive reputation in the industry.”[ning] Contracts,” and that “production members lost their jobs because of” her alleged takeover of the film. There is evidence that could lead the jury to conclude that Wayfarer planned more aggressive moves intended to destroy her career, according to the ruling.
According to court documents, Melissa Nathan, Baldoni’s crisis communications specialist, said she couldn’t send certain documents that “could get us into a lot of trouble” because of concerns they would end up “in the wrong hands.” “You know we can bury anyone,” she added. Wayfarer founder Steve Sarewitz similarly stated, “There’s going to be two dead bodies when I’m done.”
Wayfarer has maintained that any actions it took were intended to defend itself and that it never ended up taking many of the offensive actions the company contemplated, although the court said some of those plans were put into action. This includes Baldoni asking his PR representatives to amplify a video criticizing Lively as insensitive to domestic violence survivors.
The dismissal of the sexual harassment claim stems from Lively’s failure to meet legal requirements, some of which relate to contracts governing production.
“Ultimately, Lively fails to confront the central dilemma of her claim,” Lehman wrote, adding that the actress “cannot determine exactly when there was an agreement and what that agreement specified.”
Sigrid McCauley, Lively’s attorney, said in a statement that the case “has and will always focus on the devastating retaliation and extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for her safety on set.” “For Blake Lively, the greatest measure of justice is that the people and rules of the game behind these coordinated digital attacks have been exposed and actually been held accountable by the other women they targeted,” she added.
Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach, Baldoni’s lawyers, confirmed in a statement that the court rejected the sexual harassment allegations, as well as all lawsuits filed against director Sarewitz, Nathan, and others. “What remains is a largely narrow case,” they said.
