There’s a distinct difference between drama and news. We try to ride that line at Nerdbot to bring you more news than drama. That’s one of the reasons why we haven’t done a lot of reporting on the drama between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. One of the only stories we did was about “Nicepool” from Deadpool and Wolverine. Baldoni claimed the character was based on him. Whether it was or not, its just been one of many allegations tossed back and forth in this case. Legal news in the entertainment world is a bit different from drama. Though, ironically enough, there was a pretty dramatic turn of events in that case on Thursday.
Baldoni Scores a Big Win
There’s a lot to unpack in the Lively/Baldoni case. We’re not going to go through all that. To summarize a chunk of it at least, something clearly went down during the filming of It Ends With Us. Lively has made numerous claims against Baldoni and his behavior. Among these are allegations of defamation, harassment, and conspiracy. In what was a major win for Baldoni though, 10 of the 13 claims being filed against him were dismissed. What remains, are claims of breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retalliation.
The dismissal of the sexual harassment claims is not a ruling that harassment didn’t take place though. Judge Lewis Liman dismissed those claims based on how and where they were raised. He stated that Lively had no federal standing to allege sexual harassment because as an “independent contractor” on the film, she’s not protected by federal harassment laws. This would fall to the jurisdiction of the state. However, the filming was done in New Jersey and she filed those claims in California.
The Case Continues
Despite this ruling having nothing to do with whether or not sexual harassment occurred, Baldoni’s lawyers certainly tried to spin it that way. “These were very serious allegations, and we are grateful to the court for its careful review of the facts, law and voluminous evidence that was provided,” said attorneys Alexandria Shapiro and Jonathan Bach.
What remains are the claims tied to the making and promotion of the film, and the alleged attacks against Lively’s character. Lively has asserted that Baldoni, unhappy with her input on the film, retaliated by trying to smear her name. Ultimately that’s what the jury will have to be deciding. It represents a huge win for Baldoni’s team given that these allegations are not nearly as severe as the sexual harassment ones. We’ll have to see how this continues to work its way through the court as the case moves forward.
