By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Justin Baldoni asked a U.S. judge to dismiss Blake Lively’s lawsuit accusing the actor of sexually harassing and waging a smear campaign against her in connection with their 2024 movie “It Ends With Us.”

In a Thursday court filing, lawyers for Baldoni said he resolved Lively’s concerns about sporadic misunderstandings and “awkward comments” on the set of the film, including over her physical appearance, as soon as she raised them.

They also said Baldoni had a right to hire a crisis management firm to defend his reputation after Lively began disparaging him publicly.

“This is a dispute about Hollywood reputations, not genuine legal wrongs,” the lawyers for Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios said in the Manhattan federal court filing.

“No reasonable

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