Blake Lively wants out of Justin Baldoni‘s lawsuit, just like her hubby! What’s her argument? It’s an unlawful attempt at revenge! Damn!
The Gossip Girl star filed the scathing new motion to dismiss on Thursday, alleging that her It Ends With Us co-star/director violated California law by suing her after she made sexual harassment and retaliation claims against him.
In her lengthy new filing, her lawyers argued that nothing in Justin’s amended complaint “resembles an actionable legal claim.” Her legal team, led by Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, argued:
“It is, instead, a blunt public relations instrument designed to further the Wayfarer Parties’ sinister campaign to ‘bury’ and ‘destroy’ Ms. Lively for speaking out about sexual harassment and retaliation. The Court should dismiss the FAC and—as required by California law—hold further proceedings to calculate an appropriate award of Ms. Lively’s attorneys’ fees, treble damages for the harm this meritless lawsuit has inflicted on her, and punitive damages against each of the Wayfarer Parties.”
Yeah, you read that right: she’s coming for his money! Now they not only want Blake to be dismissed from the $400 million suit but for Justin to pay her legal fees and damages so far!
Related: Is Colleen Hoover Crashing Out On Social Media??
But how does his suit go against the law??
Specifically, the team pointed to Assembly Bill 933, which went into effect in 2024. It was put in place to protect those who speak out about sexual harassment from being silenced or retaliated against via defamation lawsuits. Addressing this, the A Simple Favor star’s team BLASTED Justin:
“The Wayfarer Parties’ vengeful and rambling lawsuit against Blake Lively is a profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court. The law prohibits weaponizing defamation lawsuits, like this one, to retaliate against individuals who have filed legal claims or have publicly spoken out about sexual harassment and retaliation. The right to seek legal redress and the right of the press to report on it are sacred principles that are protected by multiple privileges, including the litigation and fair report privileges, which are absolute.”
Whoa! So once she said he sexually harassed her, he was powerless? We get the spirit of the law there, but… doesn’t that seem strange that he wouldn’t be able to share his side? Is this what the law says?? They continue:
“Moreover, by choosing to bring their claims under California law, the Wayfarer Parties have voluntarily subjected their entire lawsuit to the sexual harassment privilege in the recently enacted California Civil Code Section 47.1 (‘Section 47.1’), which bars retaliatory lawsuits based on public disclosures of sexual harassment and related allegations, including disclosures to the press. Given all of these protections, the Wayfarer Parties’ chief complaint that Ms. Lively and others supposedly ‘conspired’ with The New York Times is barred as a matter of law — she was legally entitled to file her complaint and disclose it to the public.”
In simpler terms: she argued that her sexual harassment allegations are protected under this Cali Civil Code, and the NYT did nothing wrong by publishing her complaints! Justin, on the other hand, is supposedly violating the law just by filing his suit!
Her lawyers called out Justin and his team for having “created more liability for themselves by their malicious efforts to sue Ms. Lively ‘into oblivion.'” Throwing shots, the docs noted:
“Steve Sarowitz [Justin’s billionaire pal] may indeed make good on his threat to spend ‘$100 million’ litigating against Ms. Lively, but perhaps not in the way he planned.”
LMFAO!
A spokesperson for Blake added in a statement to People:
“The painful reality is that Ms. Lively is not alone in being sued for defamation after speaking up about workplace sexual harassment. That is exactly why California recently enacted AB 933, which codified Civil Code Section 47.1. While Ms. Lively has suffered greatly for speaking up and pursuing legal claims, it is important for others to know that they have legal protections. There is a specific law that shields them from being silenced or financially ruined simply because they had the courage to tell their truth.”
As Perezcious readers know, this comes days after Ryan Reynolds’ filed his own motion to dismiss, claiming that he never made any defamatory comments about Justin and was instead just stating his opinion. Blake’s publicist Leslie Sloane has also asked to be removed from the suit, which Justin has fought back against.
So far, Justin’s team has not reacted to Blake’s filing, but we have a feeling they’re not gonna be happy with it!
Thoughts? Do U think she has a point? Tell us (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN & Access Hollywood/YouTube]
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