Insurer Seeks to Deny Coverage for Legal Fees, Citing Pre-Policy Misconduct Claims and Lack of Disclosure in Blake Lively Battle
Justin Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer, may have to pay a lot of money in legal fees because of the persistent sexual harassment claims that came out on the set of their movie, It Ends With Us. On Monday, Harco National Insurance, Wayfarer’s insurance carrier for the movie, filed a complaint in a federal court in New York. They want the court to say that they don’t have to pay for the production company’s or its officials’ legal fees.
Harco National Insurance says that the alleged wrongdoing happened before their insurance went into force. The insurance company also says that it wasn’t told about Blake Lively’s objections, which are the start of the long legal battle, when the movie was being filmed.
This action makes the already complicated legal and public relations fights around the making of It Ends With Us even more complicated. The legal battle started when Blake Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment. She also said that he and his crew were working together to hurt her reputation since she spoke out about the alleged bad behavior on site. Baldoni then filed a huge $400 million countersuit, saying that Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, had set up a smear campaign against him. For months, Hollywood has been fascinated by the high-profile battle, which has involved a lot of legal maneuvering as both sides try to get an edge in court.
Bryan Freedman, a well-known and aggressive lawyer known for his tough litigation techniques, is representing Baldoni. Freedman’s strategic maneuvers have included suing Wayfarer’s former publicist for breaking the terms of their contract and even bringing Taylor Swift to court, claiming that Lively was trying to extort her.
Harco’s complaint on Monday said that Wayfarer has two one-year policies that covered the manufacturing from July 2023 to 2025. Lively’s main case was filed in December 2024, but Harco says that her claims of sexual harassment happened between April and June 2023, which is before their insurance policy went into effect.
Wayfarer’s apparent refusal to tell the insurance about Lively’s objections is a major source of contention, even though these complaints came up when the production was insured. According to the lawsuit, Lively’s lawyers sent Wayfarer an email in November 2023 with these objections.
When the production firm asked to renew its coverage in July 2024, it was told to tell the insurance company about any known situations that could lead to a lawsuit. The policy clearly says that Harco “will not cover claims or incidents that the applicant knows about before the start date of any coverage that is offered and accepted.”
“Even though Lively sent this notice and made more allegations of sexual harassment at a meeting in January 2024, Wayfarer’s 2024 Renewal Application told Harco that there had been no claim, notice of a possible claim, or any situation that could lead to a claim in the last 12 months,” wrote Evan Shapiro, a lawyer for Harco, in the complaint.
The lawsuit says that Wayfarer had a $2 million policy for its directors and officers and the same amount for employment practices and third-party liabilities. Wayfarer has not yet replied to requests for comment. In April, the production company told Harco about Lively’s lawsuit and asked for coverage under the 2024 insurance. However, Harco refuted the claim, saying in a letter from June that some conditions might make coverage less than full or complete.
If a court agrees with Harco’s request and says that it doesn’t have to pay Wayfarer’s legal bills, the production company and Justin Baldoni could have to pay six figures to keep fighting these issues in court. Steve Sarowitz, Wayfarer’s millionaire co-founder, is said to be supporting Baldoni, while Ryan Reynolds is said to be supporting Lively. This might turn the legal struggle into a test of who can last longer financially.