Justin Baldoni, the "It Ends With Us" lead and director facing sexual harassment claims from co-star Blake Lively, asked a New York federal court to dismiss an insurer's lawsuit seeking to avoid coverage, noting that he and other insureds have already filed a similar coverage action in California state court.

In their motion to dismiss Harco National Insurance Co.'s July declaratory action, Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios LLC, Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, who serves as Wayfarer's co-chairman alongside Baldoni, said Friday it would be "significantly more efficient for Harco to join the California lawsuit."

In that coverage action, Baldoni and the others said they sued New York Marine and General Insurance Co., QBE Insurance Group Ltd. and certain underwriters Lloyd's of London, and, had Harco not filed its own action, it too would be named in the California lawsuit.

"There is no question that California is an available forum and that a California court is well-suited to address issues under policies sold and delivered in California to California insureds," Baldoni and the other defendants argued, which also include It Ends With Us Movie LLC. "Continuing this action while another action with overlapping issues is presently being adjudicated in state court would waste judicial resources, risk prejudicing the insureds by forcing them to litigate similar issues in two jurisdictions and risk inconsistent results."

They further urged the New York federal court to at least stay Harco's action pending the resolution of the California coverage action under the so-called Brillhart/Wilton doctrine, per the U.S. Supreme Court's 1942 decision in Brillhart v. Excess Insurance Co. of America and 1995 decision in Wilton v. Seven Falls Co.

When a federal district court faces a declaratory action when there's ongoing state court litigation, the "essential question the court must ask is 'whether the questions in controversy between the parties to the federal suit ... can better be settled in the proceeding pending in the state court,'" the insureds said.

According to court filings, the coverage dispute stemmed from Lively's December lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz and others, most recently amended this past July after the dispute made its way to New York federal court, accusing Baldoni and Heath of sexually harassing Lively while on set.

Lively's lawsuit alleged that such harassment included improvised, unwanted kissing scenes, repeated unannounced entries into Lively's trailer while she was undressed and inappropriate discussion of personal sexual experiences. As for Sarowitz, Lively accused him of helping participate in a public smear campaign against her.

Baldoni in turn filed separate defamation lawsuits in January against Lively and The New York Times over its reporting on Lively's allegations, but those two lawsuits were dismissed in June.

Harco kicked off the present coverage litigation in July, specifically seeking to avoid covering Baldoni and the others under a management liability policy issued to the company spanning from July 15, 2023, to July 15, 2024, and a renewal policy spanning from July 15, 2024, to July 15, 2025.

The policies contained both a directors and officers coverage part, along with a separate part for employment practices and third-party liability coverage, or EPL coverage, Harco said.

Even though the insurer said the Wayfarer insureds first provided it written notice of Lively's lawsuit in April 2025, the insurer argued that Lively first asserted a "claim" under the policy in November 2023, when she said her lawyers demanded to Wayfarer's attorneys that there be changes made on set to protect her. The movie premiered in August 2024.

"Although the November 2023 demand was sent to Wayfarer during the 2023 policy period, it was not reported to Harco within the time set forth in the 2023 policy as a condition precedent to coverage," Harco said.

As for the 2024 policy, Baldoni and the other insureds were alleged to have known of Lively's claims by the time they applied to renew the 2023 policy but falsely attested they had no knowledge of a potential claim, Harco said, citing "prior knowledge" exclusions.

Baldoni and the other Wayfarer insureds, meanwhile, filed their coverage action in California state court roughly a week after Harco filed its action, court records show.

On Friday, Baldoni and the other insureds added that the California litigation is "more than capable of encompassing Harco as an additional defendant" and that they further "intend to bring claims against Harco in the California lawsuit upon the dismissal of this lawsuit."

They also accused Harco of forum shopping by filing its declaratory action in New York federal court, highlighting that "all but one" of the present defendants are California citizens and that "both of the businesses implicated have their primary headquarters in California."

Representatives of the parties did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Harco is represented by Evan Shapiro and Sarah F. Voutyras of Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP.

Baldoni and the other defendants are represented by Aleksandra Kaplun, Kirk Pasich and Eliza J. Logan of McGuireWoods LLP.

The case is Harco National Insurance Co. v. Wayfarer Studios LLC et al., case number 1:25-cv-05949, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.