The company providing liability insurance to Justin Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios has filed a lawsuit against them in federal court, saying that its policies don’t cover the claims asserted by Blake Lively in her sexual harassment lawsuit stemming from the making of It Ends With Us.
Harco National Insurance Company filed the lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It is seeking a declaration that its two policies issued to Wayfarer — one effective from July 15, 2023-July 15, 2024 and one effective from July 15, 2024-July 15, 2025 — were signed after “Lively and others complained of sexual harassment during pre-production and production of the Film,” as early as May 2023, outside the time parameters of the policy.
More from Deadline
“Despite the acknowledged pre-July 2023 complaints by Lively and others, Wayfarer’s July 2023 Application for the 2023 Policy includes a letter from Wayfarer which warrants that no person or entity for whom the insurance is intended has any knowledge or information of any act, error, omission, fact or circumstance which may give rise to a claim which may fall within the Employment Practices Liability coverage if issued by Harco (the “2023 Warranty”),” the lawsuit states.
“The 2023 Warranty also states that “IT IS AGREED THAT IF SUCH KNOWLEDGE OR INFORMATION EXISTS, ANY CLAIM ARISING THEREFROM (WHETHER OR NOT DISCLOSED HEREIN), … IS EXCLUDED FROM THE PROPOSED COVERAGE.”
The defendants in North Carolina-based Harco’s suit include Baldoni, It Ends With Us Movie LLC, Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath and Wayfarer co-founder and co-chairman Steve Sarowitz.
Lively sued Baldoni, Wayfarer, his publicity team and others at the end of last year after she accused him of sexual harassment and retaliation on the set of It Ends With Us, which was released in August 2024 and grossed $351 million at the worldwide box office.
Baldoni filed a countersuit against her for defamation and extortion, with The New York Times also named as a defendant. A judge dismissed the latter claim in June.
Lively’s harassment suit is schedule to go to trial in March 2026 in New York.
Best of Deadline
Sign up for Deadline’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Source link
-
-
-
-
