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A federal judge has dismissed most claims brought by actress Blake Lively in her sexual harassment lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, significantly narrowing the scope of the case.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman struck down 10 of the 13 allegations in Lively’s complaint, including claims of harassment and defamation.

Three claims remain — breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retaliation — and are scheduled to proceed to a civil trial in New York on 18 May.

The dispute dates back to 2024, when Lively filed suit against Baldoni, accusing him of harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign during production of their successful film. Baldoni denied the accusations and filed a countersuit.

Sigrid McCawley, a member of Lively’s legal team, told CBS, a partner of the BBC, that the case “has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy” the actress’ reputation.

She emphasized that the dismissal of the sexual harassment claims was due to a legal technicality, “not because the defendants did nothing wrong”.

According to McCawley, Lively intends to testify at trial and will continue “to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation”.

The BBC has reached out to Baldoni’s attorneys for comment.

In a related development last year, the judge also dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million (£295 million) countersuit against Lively, which included allegations of civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.

The case centers on interactions between the two actors during the filming of It Ends With Us, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel.

In the film, Lively portrays Lily Bloom, a woman who grew up witnessing domestic abuse and later finds herself confronting similar circumstances in adulthood.

Lively’s legal team has alleged that Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer, engaged in efforts to damage her reputation, including manipulating social media narratives and working with sympathetic journalists to shape public perception.

The actress first publicly detailed her claims in a New York Times article published prior to filing the lawsuit.

Lively formally filed her lawsuit against Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on set and retaliating after she raised concerns, among other allegations.

In his 152-page ruling issued Thursday, Liman outlined multiple reasons for dismissing the majority of the claims.

He noted that Lively’s harassment claims, filed under California law, were not applicable because the alleged misconduct occurred during filming in New Jersey.

“None of these acts or occurrences provides the 'substantial connection' to California needed to sustain Lively's sexual harassment claims,” Liman wrote.

The judge further ruled that Lively could not pursue certain harassment and retaliation claims because she worked as an independent contractor rather than an employee.

Lively had also accused Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, of defamation based on a series of public statements.

However, Liman determined that because those remarks directly addressed allegations already part of ongoing litigation, they did not meet the threshold for defamation.

“To be sure, much of what Lively complains about is not actionable. The Wayfarer Parties were entitled to engage public relations and crisis management specialists to protect their reputations,” Liman wrote. “However, certain conduct at least arguably crossed the line.”

The judge concluded that some retaliation allegations — including claims that Baldoni participated in a “co-ordinated campaign” to undermine Lively’s reputation — warrant further examination at trial.

Shortly after Lively filed her complaint, Baldoni initiated separate defamation lawsuits against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, alleging they sought to damage his career and reputation. He also filed a case against the New York Times.

In those filings, Baldoni claimed Lively “stole the film” by threatening to withhold promotion and asserted that she and others spread a false narrative that he had harassed her and carried out a smear campaign.

In June, Liman dismissed Baldoni’s lawsuit, stating his legal team had “not adequately alleged that Lively's threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions”.

The legal battle has also included evidence such as text messages exchanged between Lively and singer Taylor Swift regarding Baldoni.