With just weeks until trial, Justin Baldoni PR firm loses bid to toss Blake Lively suit

MANHATTAN (CN) — The Agency Group — a crisis public-relations firm accused by actress Blake Lively of carrying out a retaliatory smear campaign against her after she accused director Justin Baldoni of on-set sexual harassment — failed to persuade a New York federal judge to throw out Lively’s claims against the company, which are now scheduled to go to trial in just three weeks.

The denial of the company’s summary judgment motion on Thursday was the latest legal volley in Lively and Baldoni’s heated legal war, which started amid the release of the 2024 film “It Ends With Us.”

Lively starred in the picture, while Baldoni directed and co-starred. Coincidentally, the film centers on themes of abuse and misconduct.

Earlier this month,  U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman, a Donald Trump appointee, drastically trimmed Lively’s actionable claims against Baldoni, tossing out all but three of her causes of action.

In his 152-page order, Liman dismissed ten claims including sexual harassment, defamation and civil conspiracy. He advanced claims for retaliation, aiding and abetting retaliation and breach of contract, which will proceed to the May 18 trial.

Lively, who famously starred in the teen drama series “Gossip Girl,” accuses The Agency Group and its founder, Melissa Nathan, of planting false narratives online and in traditional media outlets.

Lively says the narratives aimed to portray her as a “bully” and “mean girl.” She says they worked with others, including crisis-communications specialist Jed Wallace and his firm Street Relations, to amplify negative content about her online, all in an attempt to “bury” her for engaging in protected activity.

After Liman’s order, Lively’s seventh cause of action — aiding and abetting retaliation in violation of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act — was the only claim remaining against the Agency Group.

The company filed a renewed pretrial motion for summary judgment, arguing the activities at issue in the case fall outside FEHA’s scope and are therefore unregulated by the statute.

Liman, however, was not moved by the Agency Group’s arguments for summary judgment. He concluded the renewed motion must also be denied.

“It makes little sense to say that FEHA’s aiding-and-abetting provision is intended only to prevent employers from aiding and abetting employment discrimination committed by third parties … rather than preventing third parties from aiding and abetting employment discrimination committed by employers,” the judge wrote in his opinion. And per Lively’s legal theories, the Agency Group would be a third party aiding and abetting violations by “It Ends With Us” employers.

Central to Liman’s reasoning was an understanding of how the movie business works — and why negative rumors and news stories could have particularly insidious effects on an actor.

Because the industry places a “heavy emphasis on personal and professional marketability,” attacks on Lively’s character could be reasonably seen as an attempt to disrupt her career by “damaging her professional reputation and livelihood.” And while the Agency Group disputes this view, Liman noted he had already rejected similar arguments from Wayfarer Studios and It Ends With Us Movie LLC.

Representatives for the Agency Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday afternoon.

Several high-profile celebrities have been involved in the grueling legal fight, including Lively’s husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, who Baldoni claims conspired with Lively to “steal an entire film” away from him. Taylor Swift, a friend of Lively’s who disparaged Baldoni in a 2024 text, has also been involved.

“I think this bitch knows something is coming because he’s gotten out his tiny violin,” Swift texted Lively.

Multiple mediation attempts, including behind-closed-doors meetings with a magistrate judge in the Manhattan federal courthouse in April 2026, have not yet produced a private settlement deal that would avert a lengthy civil trial.

“It Ends With Us” was a box office hit, grossing more than $350 million worldwide.

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