Overview
- Judge Lewis J. Liman, in a Thursday ruling, dismissed 10 of 13 claims in Lively’s case, including sexual harassment, defamation, and conspiracy, while allowing breach of contract, retaliation, and complicity in retaliation to proceed.
- The court said California statutes did not apply because the alleged conduct occurred in New Jersey and found Lively was an independent contractor, a status that undercut her harassment-based claims.
- The remaining claims go to a jury trial on May 18 in Manhattan, where jurors will weigh allegations of a retaliatory campaign that the judge said a reasonable jury could view as crossing the line from defense to punishment.
- Baldoni’s attorneys praised the decision as a major narrowing of the case, while Lively’s team called the dismissals a legal technicality and said they will focus on proving retaliation.
- The dispute grew out of the 2024 hit It Ends With Us and follows failed February settlement talks and earlier dismissals of some of Baldoni’s large counterclaims, keeping the fight centered now on retaliation and contract issues.