Judge dismisses most of Blake Lively claims in harassment suit against Baldoni

BBC News · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · Apr 02, 2026 · 736 words · By Madeline Halpert

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What to know about Judge dismisses most of Blake Lively claims in harassment suit against Baldoni

Judge dismisses most of Blake Lively's claims in harassment lawsuit against Baldoni A federal judge has dismissed most of the claims in a sexual harassment lawsuit that actress Blake Lively filed against her It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni.

Claims checked 13

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of 13 allegations in Lively's case, including harassment and defamation.

Common ground

He left in place three claims - breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation - which will now go to a civil trial in New York on 18 May.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Judge dismisses most of Blake Lively claims in harassment suit against Baldoni?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The Hollywood legal battle began in 2024 when Lively sued Baldoni, accusing him of harassment and a smear campaign on the set of their hit movie?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ex59yy4j2o

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 7

schedule Pending 3

check_circle Corroborated 2

verified Verified By Reference 1

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Claim 1: “The Hollywood legal battle began in 2024 when Lively sued Baldoni, accusing him of harassment and a smear campaign on the set of their hit movie”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 2: “Lively was ineligible to bring certain claims of harassment and retaliation because she was an independent contractor rather than an employee”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 3: “Judge Liman listed a host of reasons for dismissing the many allegations against Baldoni”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 4: “The case stems from interactions between Baldoni and Lively on the set of It Ends With Us, an adaption of a best-selling Colleen Hoover novel”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 5: “A judge last year dismissed Baldoni's $400m counter-lawsuit against Lively, which alleged civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 6: “Evidence in the legal battle has involved texts between Lively and Taylor Swift about Baldoni”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 7: “Lively's legal team have accused Baldoni and his film studio, Wayfarer, of planning to wreck her reputation, including by social media manipulation and using friendly journalists to sow certain narratives”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 8: “Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of 13 allegations in Lively's case, including harassment and defamation”

CORROBORATED

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it corroborated based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lewis Jeffrey Liman (born in 1960) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_J._Liman

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The production of the 2024 American film It Ends with Us, starring American actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, has been the subject of controversy due to highly publicized disputes and litigation…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Ends_with_Us_controversy

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lawrence Grecco (born November 16, 1959), known as Larry Ray, is an American criminal who was convicted of sex trafficking, extortion, forced labor, conspiracy, money laundering, and other offenses.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ray_(criminal)

+ 1 more evidence source

help

Claim 9: “Harassment claims Lively brought against Baldoni under California law did not hold up because the filming - where the misconduct allegedly occurred - took place in New Jersey”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 10: “Judge Liman said some of the retaliation claims Lively brought, in which she accuses Baldoni and his public relations team of engaging in a 'co-ordinated campaign' to attack her character and reputation, were worthy of trial”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 11: “Judge dismisses most of Blake Lively's claims in harassment lawsuit against Baldoni”

CORROBORATED

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it corroborated based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — It Ends with Us is a 2024 American romantic drama film directed by Justin Baldoni and written by Christy Hall, based on the 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover. The film stars Blake Lively alongside Baldoni,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Ends_with_Us_(film)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Justin Louis Baldoni (born January 24, 1984) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing Rafael Solano on the CW telenovela Jane the Virgin (2014–2019) and for starring in and dire…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Baldoni

+ 2 more evidence sources

help

Claim 12: “Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, alleging he sexually harassed her on set and retaliated against her for bringing those complaints, among other allegations”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 13: “He left in place three claims - breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation - which will now go to a civil trial in New York on 18 May”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it verified by reference based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States. It is located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — There are 62 counties in the U.S. state of New York. The first 12 counties were created in 1683 soon after the British took over the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam; two of these counties were later abo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_counties_in_New_York

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Manhattan is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.