Justin Baldoni’s legal team implored a federal judge Thursday to dismiss actor Blake Lively’s lawsuit related to their 2024 movie “It Ends With Us,” arguing that her sexual harassment case concerned nothing more than “trivial and petty grievances.”
Sigrid McCawley, one of Lively’s lawyers, rejected Baldoni’s lawyers’ premise and insisted the case revolved around “women feeling comfortable in their jobs and not being retaliated against.”
Lively, 38, accused Baldoni, 41, and his Wayfarer Studios production company of orchestrating a punitive “smear campaign” after she spoke out about the allegedly toxic work environment he created on the set of “It Ends With Us.” Baldoni directed the film and starred alongside Lively.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman is now weighing whether the high-profile case, filed in the Southern District of New York, should move forward. He heard arguments from both sides Thursday morning, presiding over an occasionally fiery hearing.
Jonathan Bach, one of Baldoni’s lawyers, argued Lively knowingly agreed to co-star in a movie that would feature “hot and sexy scenes” as well as a “steamy and turbulent romance” adapted from the eponymous novel by Colleen Hoover.
Liman interrupted Bach to say that acting in the project “does not mean you subject yourself to sexual harassment.”
Esra Hudson, another one of Lively’s lawyers, detailed the actor’s sexual harassment allegations against Baldoni, saying her client was “kissed, nuzzled and touched” without her consent. Baldoni was “consistently inappropriate” and crossed “boundaries” on set, Hudson argued.
The hearing came after thousands of pages of documents were made public this week, including a filing that includes Lively’s claim that Baldoni pressured her to simulate nudity in a scene depicting her character giving birth.
The documents also include a record of Lively’s text messages with one of her close friends, the pop superstar Taylor Swift, who used an expletive to describe Baldoni.
“I think this bitch knows something is coming because he’s gotten out his tiny violin,” Swift wrote in one text, referring to Baldoni, according to a document filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Swift’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment this week.
Lively initially filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department on Dec. 20, 2024, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation. She then filed a federal civil lawsuit against him on Dec. 31, 2024.
In late February, she filed an amended complaint against him as well as his company, the firm’s chief executive and other defendants. He filed a countersuit against her seeking $400 million, though a federal judge tossed that case.
Lively’s amended complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages, but it does not specify a dollar figure. It alleges Baldoni constructed a “multi-tiered plan” to tarnish her public reputation.
“It Ends With Us” stars Lively as a flower shop owner who marries a neurosurgeon played by Baldoni. The film chronicles Lively’s character’s experiences with domestic abuse.