Justin Baldoni‘s attorney has some thoughts on Blake Lively‘s reaction to their settlement!
As you know, their contentious legal battle came to a close (or so we all thought) on Monday after the former It Ends With Us co-stars agreed to settle just two weeks before their trial. Who won in the end? It depends on who you ask! Both sides are declaring “victory” now! Yes, even Blake! However, Justin’s lawyer is slamming that notion!
Related: Blake Lively BLASTED By IEWU Actor For ‘Insulting’ Justin Baldoni Lawsuit
On Thursday, Bryan Freedman told TMZ the “real reason” Blake settled is because she was too scared to go to trial, take the witness stand, and get her “lies” exposed:
“Part of the reason Blake settled is because she was scared to take the witness stand at trial. She did not want to face cross examination by anyone because that would require her to tell the truth. Blake lied about telling Sony to destroy the dailies. She lied that she never told Colleen Hoover to unfollow Justin Baldoni. In her deposition, Colleen said Blake asked her to unfollow him. And there were more lies.”
And while Blake may say she won, Freedman would say otherwise! Calling out how she received “nothing” from their settlement, he continued:
“Bottom line … Blake filed a claim for $300 million and she ended up with nothing. If this is a resounding victory, what does a defeat look like?”
Damn! And Freedman isn’t done taking shots at Blake! He added:
“If she’s doing this for survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment and retaliation as she says, then why don’t you take the stand at trial and prove it to the world? A trial would have exposed her lies and the entire smear she was talking about in her interviews that she did.”
What does the Gossip Girl alum think about these comments? Her legal team fired back in a brief statement to TMZ that same day:
“I guess he’s no longer ‘ecstatic’ about the settlement.”
Oof!
Despite reaching a settlement agreement, their battle is actually NOT over! As we previously reported, the actress can still fight for legal fees and damages against Justin and the Wayfarer parties under California Civil Code Section 47.1, which protects people who report sexual harassment or discrimination from retaliatory defamation lawsuits. The Jane the Virgin alum countersued Blake for $400 million after she sued him for sexual harassment, defamation, breach of contract, retaliation, and more in December 2024. However, his suit was dismissed entirely less than a year later.
Because of the countersuit, she can now fight for money from Justin and Wayfarer! And she is! According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Thursday, Blake claimed she is “entitled” to damages for the “harm” she suffered from a “retaliatory defamation action” by Justin and Wayfarer Studios. She requested “‘reasonable attorney’s fees and costs for successfully defending [herself] in the litigation,’ treble damages for the harm caused by the Wayfarer Parties’ retaliatory ‘defamation action’ against her and punitive damages sufficient to deter the Wayfarer Parties from engaging in such conduct in the future.”
Wow!
Freedman’s reaction? Speaking to Entertainment Tonight on Thursday, he admitted he is shocked she is going after a payout following the settlement!
“I think they have their own interpretation of what they think is the law. I think it’s a procedural motion that’s left in the case. It’s pretty standard. But when you want to parade around and call a loss a victory, this is your attempt to do so. It seems like more nonsense from Ms. Lively.”
He then slammed Blake for not taking “responsibility” for her actions:
“I think it’s impossible for Ms. Lively to take responsibility for any part of her actions. If one can’t see themselves, one can’t honestly, realistically, look at their part in things, it makes for a troubled existence.”
As for whether Justin will pay Blake to end their legal drama for good, Freedman replied:
“I wouldn’t want to reveal whatever my client’s confidences are, but from day one, we’ve been saying we would never settle this case, and Justin has been saying we would never settle this case if it involved an allegation of sexual harassment.”
Ultimately, the attorney said they’ll leave it up to the judge:
“We’ll see how the judge rules on that. I have a feeling Ms. Lively will probably continue to go back into court. … At some point, somebody’s got to look in the mirror and take responsibility for their own actions. That’s yet to happen.”
It ends with a headache! Oof! It’s just never-ending with these two! Watch the interview (below):
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Sound off in the comments…
[Image via CBS Mornings/TODAY/YouTube]
