Justin Baldoni won’t let Blake Lively off the hook without a fight!
The Gossip Girl alum filed a motion to dismiss herself from her It Ends With Us co-star/director’s $400 million defamation lawsuit on Thursday, arguing that he has violated a California law that protects victims of sexual harassment from retaliatory legal action after speaking out. Dragging Justin, she called his suit “vengeful and rambling” and a “profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court.” Intense!
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If Blake can successfully convince a judge that she’s protected under this law, Justin and his other colleagues attached to the lawsuit could be forced to pay her attorneys’ fees and damages! There’s a lot at stake!
But Justin’s lawyer Bryan Freedman is already going on the defense — and insisting this won’t be enough to get her out of the legal trouble! Absolutely ripping into the actress, the attorney told TMZ shortly after the filing on Thursday:
“Ms. Lively’s recent motion to dismiss herself from the self-concocted disaster she initiated is one of the most abhorrent examples of abusing our legal system. Stringent rules are put into place to protect the innocent and allow individuals to rightfully defend themselves. Laws are not meant to be twisted and curated by privileged elites to fit their own personal agenda.”
Damn! Her “self-concocted disaster”? Brutal!
Blake’s not the only one trying to get dismissed from the pricey suit. Her hubby Ryan Reynolds also submitted his own request to the court — only for a very different reason. He’s making the claim that he never said anything defamatory about the Jane the Virgin alum and instead stated his opinion, things he thought were really true, such as that Justin is a “predator.” The filmmaker’s team is going after him just as hard as Blake, Bryan reiterated:
“As we said yesterday in response to Mr. Reynolds’ same cowardly measures, we will continue to hold Ms. Lively accountable for her actions of pure malice which include falsely accusing my clients of harassment and retaliation. Her fantastical claims will be swiftly debunked as discovery moves forward, easily disproved with actual, evidentiary proof.”
Oof!
Unless somehow Blake or Ryan pull out a win, they’re expected to face off against the director in a trial beginning on March 9, 2026. But a lot can happen from now until then!
Do U think Blake is twisting the law in her favor? Or could she actually have a point here? Sound OFF (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN & Soul Boom w/ Rainn Wilson/YouTube]
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