Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni feud: Judge guidelines in favour of It Ends with Us director, her misery case faces setback

The lawsuit, which centres across the making of the movie It Ends with Us, features a sequence of allegations from Blake in opposition to Justin and his manufacturing firm, Wayfarer Studios. Blake had initially sought to incorporate emotional misery claims within the lawsuit, however not too long ago moved to withdraw these claims.

However, Judge Lewis J Liman of the Southern District of New York shut down Blake’s request on Tuesday, ruling that the claims wouldn’t be dismissed with out prejudice until each events agreed to the phrases.

In a succinct order, Judge Liman wrote, “The motion to compel … is denied based on Plaintiff’s representation that the relevant claims will be withdrawn.”

According to Deadline, he additional clarified that Blake’s request to have the claims dismissed was denied “without prejudice to renewal,” that means that Blake’s authorized crew would want to file a proper movement for dismissal in the event that they want to proceed with that plan of action.

The choose’s ruling added additional weight to the scenario by stating that if Blake’s emotional misery claims will not be dismissed, she could be precluded from presenting any proof associated to emotional misery within the case.

“For avoidance of doubt, if the claims are not dismissed, the Court will preclude Blake from offering any evidence of emotional distress,” Judge Liman acknowledged, as quoted by Deadline.

Blake’s authorized crew, led by attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, responded to the ruling with an announcement expressing their disappointment with the result.

As per Deadline, they emphasised that Blake was nonetheless pursuing emotional misery damages by way of different claims within the lawsuit, together with allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation.

“The court denied Wayfarer’s motion,” stated Blake’s legal professionals of their assertion, including, “He told the parties to continue their discussions about the technicalities of how two of the 15 claims will be voluntarily dismissed. Ms Lively has offered to dismiss those claims because they are no longer necessary, and she will continue to pursue emotional distress damages through other claims in her lawsuit.”

The legal professionals additionally accused Justin and Wayfarer Studios of retaliatory ways, arguing that these actions might expose them to important authorized and monetary repercussions below California regulation.

“This is exactly where both parties were before the Baldoni-Wayfarer Parties rushed to file this utterly pointless motion to compel, all searching for yet another press moment,” they added, as quoted by Deadline.

The case between Blake and Justin started making headlines in December 2024 when Blake filed a proper criticism accusing Justin and his associates of sexual harassment and retaliation.

The criticism, filed with the California Civil Rights Department, was adopted by a defamation and extortion lawsuit from Justin in opposition to Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their public relations crew.

As the authorized battle unfolded, the scenario grew extra advanced, with a number of lawsuits filed on each side.

Blake’s authorized battles have included accusations of mistreatment through the manufacturing of It Ends with Us, a movie that was marketed as addressing critical themes of home violence.

The movie did properly on the field workplace, however experiences of pressure throughout its press tour and premiere shortly surfaced. 

Despite the continued drama, sources near the case have made it clear {that a} settlement is unlikely.

Both Blake and Justin have expressed their intention to battle the matter out in court docket, and the case now entails high-profile figures, together with Blake’s well-known husband and Hollywood powerhouses comparable to Taylor Swift, Disney, and Marvel, all of whom have been drawn into the authorized net.

With the trial scheduled to start on March 9, 2025, the case between Blake and Justin is predicted to accentuate within the coming months.

The trial will happen in New York City, in the identical courthouse the place the high-profile sex-trafficking case in opposition to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs can be being heard.