Blake Lively is still preparing for a trial after a judge threw out her sexual harassment claims against Justin Baldoni on Thursday.
Her agency, WME, which parted ways with Baldoni after the accusations surrounding the production of “It Ends With Us,” issued a statement of support for Lively and her remaining claims on Friday, saying “she has helped expose the devastating harm caused by covert digital takedown campaigns.”
“In an industry that too often asks women to absorb the damage and stay quiet, Blake Lively chose to stand up for herself, her castmates, and those without the ability to fight back,” WME’s statement said. “She has met this moment with courage, moral clarity, and extraordinary determination. Even as others have tried to turn this case into a spectacle, she has kept the focus where it belongs: on facts, accountability, and the right to speak up without fear of retaliation. In doing so, she has helped expose the devastating harm caused by covert digital takedown campaigns designed to intimidate, discredit, and drown out the truth. She and her family have our full support as this case moves to trial.”
Lively has claimed that she was sexually harassed during the production, and that Baldoni and others launched a digital smear campaign to ruin her reputation after she complained about it.
On Thursday, Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of the 13 claims in Lively’s lawsuit, including the claims of sexual harassment, defamation and conspiracy. He allowed three claims to proceed to trial: retaliation, aiding and abetting in retaliation, and breach of contract.
A magistrate judge ordered both sides to call in on Monday to discuss their updated settlement positions. The magistrate presided over a mandatory settlement conference in February that went nowhere, but the judge’s recent ruling may have altered the playing field.
In a statement on Thursday, Lively’s attorney Sigrid McCawley hinted that Lively may have already achieved what she was aiming for.
“For Blake Lively, the greatest measure of justice is that the people and the playbook behind these coordinated digital attacks have been exposed and are already being held accountable by other women they’ve targeted,” McCawley said.
She added, however, that Lively was looking forward to testifying at the trial in May, “and continuing to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation so that it becomes easier to detect and fight.”
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