A federal judge has dismissed 10 of the 13 charges brought by Justin Baldoni against Blake Lively, including sexual harassment, conspiracy, and defamation, marking a victory for the director and star of "It Ends With Us" in his legal battle with his co-star.
Following Judge Lewis Liman's ruling, the options for the famous actress are narrowing, but she still claims that Baldoni is behind an online retaliatory campaign spreading negative information about her.
Lively's attorney, Sigrid McCawley, commented: "This case has always been and remains focused on retaliation and the unbelievable acts committed to destroy Blake Lively's name, simply because she sought her safety on the set. That is why we went to court.
For Lively, the most important measure of justice is that the background of these coordinated digital attacks be exposed and that those responsible are now being asked to apologize to the other women they have targeted."
As she added, "the sexual harassment charges were dismissed" not due to an error by the defense team, but because the court determined that Blake Lively was not an employee, but an external collaborator.
Last summer, Lively dropped two lawsuits against Baldoni for moral damages. At the same time, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, in which Baldoni sought $400 million in damages.
The film "It Ends with Us," based on the book of the same name by Colleen Hoover and a true story of family violence from her mother, had a strong commercial release in theaters but was quickly overshadowed by the legal dispute between its protagonists, which also involved other famous figures, such as Taylor Swift and Ben Affleck.