A federal judge has dismissed Blake Lively's sexual harassment claims against Justin Baldoni while allowing her retaliation lawsuit to proceed to trial. In a 152-page ruling, Judge Lewis J. Liman of Federal District Court in Manhattan determined that while some of Lively's harassment allegations were legally insufficient, her claims that Baldoni's team waged a retaliatory campaign against her after she raised complaints can be heard by a jury.

Lively accused Baldoni and his business partner Jamey Heath of inappropriate behavior on the set of the 2024 film "It Ends With Us." The judge found that certain incidents, including Baldoni commenting in front of crew members that Lively had never watched pornography, were sufficient to support her retaliation claim. Baldoni's lawyers have maintained that Lively used minor grievances to sideline him from his own film and that he hired a crisis management firm to protect his reputation, not to smear her.

The case has exposed Hollywood's inner workings, with evidence including communications between Lively and Taylor Swift, as well as messages between the actress and her husband Ryan Reynolds and Matt Damon. The trial over Lively's remaining claims is scheduled for May, with a key question being whether negative online commentary against Lively was organic or influenced by Baldoni's communications team.