Last December, his It Ends With Us costar, Blake Lively, sued Justin (who also directed the movie), alleging sexual harassment. He denied the allegations and attempted to countersue her for $400 million, claiming defamation for one, but his suit against Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds was ultimately dismissed by a judge last month. Justin also filed separate suits against the New York Times and publicist Leslie Sloane, which were dismissed at the same time.
“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it,” a statement from Blake’s lawyers subsequently read. “We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages.”
Yesterday, Harco Insurance Company filed a lawsuit in New York against Justin, the production company he cofounded (Wayfarer Studios), and other related entities. The gist of their complaint is that the insurance company thinks that they shouldn’t have to pay any legal fees for Justin or Wayfarer in relation to Blake’s complaints as their agreement allegedly does “not provide coverage for the claims asserted by Blake.”
Why? Well, for one, they point to a section in Blake’s complaint where she says that she made complaints of sexual harassment in April through June of 2023. A separate now-dismissed lawsuit from Justin against Blake similarly acknowledges that Blake raised her complaints with Justin as early as May 2023.
The issue here is that Wayfarer allegedly first applied for insurance for the year after Blake made her complaints. According to Harco’s complaint, the studio didn’t tell the insurance company: “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.”
Furthermore, the insurance company claims that nobody told them about when Blake, Justin, and other execs met in early 2024 to discuss Blake’s allegations of sexual harassment on set. This was important when it came to them renewing their insurance for the following year. “The first page of the 2024 Renewal Application includes a notice, in all capitals which advised Wayfarer that it should report any currently known claims or circumstances that could result in a claim to its current insurer because ‘[HARCO] WILL NOT PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR CLAIMS OR INCIDENTS WHICH THE APPLICANT IS AWARE OF PRIOR TO THE INCEPTION DATE,'” the suit continues. “Wayfarer’s 2024 Renewal Application advised Harco that there was no claim, notice of potential claim, or any situation that may give rise to a claim within the last 12 months.”
In fact, Harco alleges that Wayfarer and Justin only told the insurance company about Blake’s legal action in April this year, when they allegedly “demanded that Harco provide them with a defense and indemnity.” When the insurance company told Justin et al. that they didn’t have coverage for Blake’s complaints, they apparently said that they “disagree.”
On the plus side for Justin, his Wayfarer Studios cofounder, billionaire Steven Sarowitz (who is also named as a defendant in the insurance lawsuit), previously said that he’d be willing to “spend $100 million to ruin the lives of Ms. Lively and her family.”
BuzzFeed has reached out to representatives for Justin and Steven, who have not responded at the time of publication.
