Justin Baldoni's lawyer says Blake Lively's ‘declaration of victory is false' after judge tosses $400 million lawsuit
Baldoni was suing Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, and The New York Times for defamation. In the lawsuit, Baldoni alleged they tried to destroy his career using false allegations of sexual harassment.
'Ms. Lively and her team's predictable declaration of victory is false, so let us be clear about the latest ruling. While the court dismissed the defamation-related claims, the court has invited us to amend four out of the seven claims against Ms. Lively, which will showcase additional evidence and refined allegations,' Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told TheWrap in a statement on Tuesday.
'This case is about false accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign, which Ms. Lively's own team conveniently describes as 'untraceable' because they cannot prove what never happened,' he continued. 'Most importantly, Ms. Lively's own claims are no truer today than they were yesterday, and with the facts on our side, we march forward with the same confidence that we had when Ms. Lively and her cohorts initiated this battle and look forward to her forthcoming deposition, which I will be taking.'
'We are grateful for the organic show of support from the public and for the dedication of the Internet sleuth community who continue to cover the case with discernment and integrity.'
New York federal Judge Lewis J. Liman decided to dismiss the lawsuit — which also included allegations of extortion — finding that Lively's accusations of sexual harassment were legally protected. The judge allowed Baldoni to amend and refile some of the actor's allegations regarding interference with contracts, imposing a deadline of June 23.
Lively and her legal team both spoke out shortly after the judge's ruling.
"Like so many others, I've felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us," the It Ends With Us actor wrote June 9 on her Instagram Stories. "While the suit against me was defeated, so many don't have the resources to fight back."
Lively added she is now "more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman's right to have a voice in protecting themselves, including their safety, their integrity, their dignity and their story.
"With love and gratitude for the many who stood by me, many of you I know. Many of you I don't. But I will never stop appreciating or advocating for you," she wrote.
Hours after the judge's ruling, Lively was seen at the Chanel Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner. She walked the red carpet in a white crochet dress, Christian Louboutin heels, and a Chanel bag, ring, and earrings. Lively draped a denim jacket over her shoulders and sported a big smile.
In a statement to The Independent, Lively's lawyers said, 'Today's opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times.'
'As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it. We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.'
The legal battle between Baldoni and Lively stems from It Ends With Us, their 2024 film based on the TikTok sensation novel by Colleen Hoover. Lively played Lily Bloom in the film. Baldoni, who also directed the film, stars as Ryle Kincaid, her abusive partner.
Rumors of an on-set feud had been percolating online as the pair appeared to avoid each other during the film's promotional tour. Author Hoover also appeared to distance herself from Baldoni at the time.
Lively then filed a lawsuit in December 2024 alleging Baldoni sexually harassed her and exhibited behavior that caused her 'severe emotional distress.'
Lively nearly stopped working on the film, she claimed. However, she agreed to continue to work give a series of requirements that – according to the lawsuit cited by TMZ – included 'no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni's alleged previous 'pornography addiction,' no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew's genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake's weight and no further mention of Blake's dead father.'
She also alleged that Baldoni was behind an alleged smear campaign designed to 'bury' her, which included fan backlash as part of a carefully orchestrated effort by Baldoni's PR team.
Baldoni's countersuit, filed in early 2025 just days after Lively's, was the one dismissed by the judge Monday.
The trial is scheduled for March 2026.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
13 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
Netflix Is Hungry to Turn ‘KPop Demon Hunters' Into Its Next Everything Franchise
It's been a little over a month since Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix released KPop Demon Hunters, but you wouldn't be able to tell given how much staying power the movie has had online. Now, as if answering fans' hanging questions on when the streamer will announce a sequel, a new report has revealed that Netflix and Sony intend to strike while the iron is hot on KPop Demon Hunters' meteoric acclaim with plans to expand the film in the early stages. According to a new report from The Wrap, Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix plan on expanding the film into multiple projects, including sequels and a live-action movie. During a second-quarter earnings call earlier this month, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos spotlighted the film, calling it 'a phenomenal success out of the gate… And the fact that people are in love with this film and in love with the music from this film, that will keep it going for a long time. So we're really thrilled. And now the next beat is, where does it go from here?' Although those next steps have immediately included the production of a vinyl and plushie release, Sony and Netflix seek to stay true to their reference to KPop Demon Hunters as its Frozen, with plans for projects like a stage musical, live-action remake, TV series, and sequel films to expand the series into a trilogy. Persons familiar with the situation also told The Wrap that a short film for KPop Demon Hunters is being discussed to further 'bridge content' between films, similar to Frozen. Granted, all of these lofty plans to ramp up KPop Demon Hunters projects have yet to be accompanied by the official announcement that its co-directors, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, have been signed on to helm the projects. As The Wrap notes, Netflix owning the rights to KPop Demon Hunters IP gives them credence to do whatever they want with the series, with or without Sony Pictures Animation. Regardless, sources close to the matter indicate that Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation intend to collaborate on the franchise. Still, as Kang said in a recent interview with The Ankler, it would be a missed opportunity not to pursue expanding the film. 'Most movies end with a possibility because you always want to keep that door open. There's a lot of stories that we can tell. There's a lot of backstories that we haven't fleshed out,' Kang told The Ankler. 'There's a lot of things that we can do, whether we're officially doing it, we don't know. It's only been five weeks, so it's still pretty early.' Announced in 2021, KPop Demon Hunters was released on Netflix on June 20. The film follows Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, a girl group named Huntr/x, who must balance their skyrocketing superstardom with their secret identity as demon hunters. They use the power of music and magical girl action to protect their fans from an impending demonic invasion. However, their challenges escalate when demons concoct a plan to create a rival boy band called the Saja Boys to swoop in and steal their fandom. Ironically, KPop Demon Hunters experienced a sudden, surprising, and explosive popularity, similar to that of its girl group. As of the time of writing, the film has amassed over 26.3 million views, making history as Netflix's most-watched animated film ever, according to the streamer. After weeks of being in the top 10 in all countries, KPop Demon Hunters is on the cusp of entering Netflix's all-time top 10 within a week or so, according to The Wrap. In addition to its original songs, which were produced by K-pop label Black Label and featured lyricists behind BTS hits, and performed by Twice's Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung, bolstering their earworm nature, KPop Demon Hunters' tracks were also rising on the Billboard charts. According to The Wrap, 'Golden' recently returned to the number one spot on the Billboard Global 200. The animated film's OST also caught the Academy's attention on Twitter, leading to the submission of the track for award nominations at the Academy Awards. In an interview with The Wrap, Kang discussed what sets KPop Demon Hunters apart from other animated projects, emphasizing its portrayal of Korean culture and the strong female characters, who are as goofy and fallible as anyone else, as a defining characteristic of the film. 'There was a space in the superhero area, where I felt like women were not really depicted the way that I wanted to see them,' Kang told The Wrap. 'I wanted to see women who are allowed to be silly and crass and make stupid faces and not be so pretty all the time and have their imperfections. Those are all the ingredients that just came together.' While the plotline of a sequel is still in the hypothetical planning stages, speaking with io9, actor Ji-young Yoo said she already has a pitch in mind for what a sequel film would be: her character and Huntr/x's resident rapper and lyricist, Zoey. 'When the movie comes out, I do actually have a very specific pitch that I've already told [directors] Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans about,' Yoo told io9. 'For Zoey, some of the stuff she's going through being the only Asian American in the group [where] she feels out of place some of the time, which I think is very resonant with anyone. I would love to see her find a place where she doesn't feel like she needs to please as much. She spends a lot of her energy trying to make sure everyone else is okay, and I want Zoey to check in on whether Zoey is okay. Maybe that's the sequel.' Kpop Demon Hunters is streaming on Netflix. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
KPop Demon Hunters 2 And 3 Are Heading To Netflix, Says Report
Everyone has been sitting around and waiting to see what Netflix was going to do with its surprise new uber-franchise, KPop Demon Hunters, the record-shattering, musical animated project. It turns out it's such a big hit, Netflix is still trying to process it. A new, lengthy report from The Wrap says that after seeing records like hitting #1 on multiple music charts for its KPop tracks and becoming Netflix's most-watched animated movie ever, that several ideas are in motion. The first and most obvious are two sequels, rounding out a KPop Demon Hunters movie trilogy that seems inevitable, given the success of the original. But other considerations are a live-action remake of the film (I'd be curious how or if the original voice cast would be involved) or even a stage musical. Cannot say I've ever heard of a Netflix series being possibly turned into a stage musical before, but KPop Demon Hunters has created unprecedented times. An interesting note is that Netflix believes they have found its 'Frozen,' an iconic animated feature that will become synonymous with its brand, hence the rapid expansion. Though since this is Netflix we're talking about, we're measuring in hours viewed, not box office receipts. And in that department, Frozen 1 made $1.2 billion worldwide and Frozen 2 made $1.4 billion. So, same concept but a bit apples and oranges given how success is measured in the streaming era. As recently as the last 24 hours, KPop Demon Hunters reached its peak viewership six weeks after launch, something that has never happened before, the same way it had never happened before when it was five weeks, last week. The film benefits from charting high with its soundtrack, then having people come check out the attached film. And you can also just watch the film on repeat as a visual album of all the great tracks, the highest performing of which have been Golden by the hero band HUNTR/X and Your Idol by villain band Saja Boys. Ironically, the plot of the movie has the two competing on the charts for the soul of the world. The film has a simple but strange concept of generations of musicians protecting the world from demons with the power of music and filling the hearts of listeners. But when demons decide to fight KPop with KPop, things begin to go awry. The film is from Sony Pictures Animation, the studio that gave us the game-changing Spider-Verse movies. One open question, one without an answer now, is how long exactly it's going to take for these sequels and other projects to emerge, and if the hype will still be there by then. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Black America Web
an hour ago
- Black America Web
Plastic To Fuel Inventor Julian Brown Found Safe After Alarming Posts Go Viral
Source: Victor LOCHON / Getty Atlanta inventor Julian Brown was confirmed safe by his mother, Nia Brown. The scientist went viral earlier this month after claiming he was 'under attack' in a video referencing mysterious occurrences connected to his invention that turns plastic into fuel. Read more about this news inside. After weeks of concern following a cryptic video that alarmed his 1.7 million Instagram followers, 21-year-old inventor Brown is safe and sound in a nondisclosed location. His mom, Nia Brown, confirmed the news. 'I can confirm Julian is safe, but in the best interest of his security, I'm not able to provide any more information,' Nia told The Daily Mail. Julian is the creator of Plastoline, a breakthrough product he says can convert plastic into usable fuels like diesel and gasoline. He also founded Nature Jab and developed 'Microwave Pyrolysis,' a patent-pending technology that fuses microwave heating with traditional pyrolysis plant functionality. His innovation and eco-conscious mission earned him a $100,000 grant from Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian and a spot as a 776 Climate Fellow. The safety concerns stemmed from a video Julian posted on July 9, which included a chilling caption: 'Something is happening, keep me in your prayers please. SCREEN RECORD THIS. I don't know.' In the video, he also stated, 'There is some very, very odd stuff going on. I'm certainly under attack right now in many different ways.' He assured followers that he was continuing his work despite the threats. Adding to the mystery, Julian previously shared a video of a low-flying helicopter allegedly tracking him in a remote location. 'A SECRET Helicopter found circled me in the middle of NOWHERE… and it gets even scarier – Pray for me please,' he wrote on July 3. Atlanta Police later reported no open missing persons investigation under his name, further fueling speculation online. Julian's work and passion are rooted in solving the global plastic crisis. 'What motivated me was seeing the large plastic issue at hand throughout the world,' he told Forbes earlier this year. 'It made me so upset that even though we are told we are recycling, plastic is clearly ending up in the oceans and landfills.' As the Internet breathes a cautious sigh of relief, questions still linger about Julian's well-being and the alleged threats he alluded to. For now, his supporters are just grateful he's alive and still building. We will share updates as this story develops. SEE ALSO Plastic To Fuel Inventor Julian Brown Found Safe After Alarming Posts Go Viral was originally published on
