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Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Blake Lively battle takes fresh twist as Julia Fox enters feud with 'inhumane' claim
In a somewhat bizarre twist, actress Julia Fox has entered the on-going legal feud between Blake Lively and . On Monday, a judge dismissed Baldoni's $400 million defamation suit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, the New York Times, her publicist Leslie Sloane and her PR firm Vision in a major setback for the actor.
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Justin Baldoni's $400M defamation lawsuit just got thrown out by a judge: Blake Lively's damning reaction
Easily the biggest update on the Blake versus Baldoni legal drama, the latter's defamation countersuit against his former co-star, worth $400 million, has been dismissed by a New York judge. The countersuit, alleging extortion, defamation and other allegations, was thrown out by Judge Lewis Liman on Monday. For context, Blake and Justin had previously collaborated on the doomed 2024 film It Ends With Us, the official adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel. Following the film's release, Blake filed a lawsuit against Justin and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, alleging sexual harassment and claiming he initiated a preemptive smear campaign. Justin denied the accusations and responded with a $400 million countersuit against Blake, her husband Ryan, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and her agency Vision PR, Inc., alleging defamation, civil extortion, and other charges. So why did the judge side with Blake? Here's a breakdown. The kingpin of Justin's countersuit was the fact that Blake "stole the film" from him and his production company, by threatening not to promote it, in tow with the 'false' sexual assault narrative fueled against him. So as far as extortion goes, Judge Liman cleared that Justin and his legal counsel "have not adequately alleged that Lively's threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions". As far as defamation goes, Judge Liman asserted, that "Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements" (in her lawsuit), which are of a privileged nature. Additionally, there appears to be no concrete way of proving that the New York Times article, alleging Blake's version of events, was published with any "actual malice" — "The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened. The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively's version of events", wrote Judge Liman. Following this development, Blake shared her official statement on the manner, echoing her legal counsel's statement to the US media, an excerpt from which asserted "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". Excerpts from Blake's personal statement read, "Like so many others, I've felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break the suit against me was defeated, so many don't have the resources to fight back". She concluded that moving on, she was "more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman's right to have a voice in protecting themselves". Justin is yet to address the development.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blake Lively accused of pressuring Taylor Swift amid legal battle with Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively's friendship with music superstar Taylor Swift is now at the center of her legal battle with her former "It Ends With Us" co-star Justin Baldoni. In a new court filing Wednesday, attorneys for Baldoni claim Lively pressured Swift to get involved in the legal back and forth, which first began in December. That month, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of "It Ends With Us," which he also directed. Lively and Baldoni subsequently launched dueling lawsuits against each other, with Lively alleging that Baldoni and key stakeholders of the film sexually harassed her and attempted, along with Baldoni's production company and crisis PR company, The Agency Group PR, to orchestrate a smear campaign against her. Baldoni denied the allegations via a statement from his attorney, who called Lively's actions "shameful" for making "serious and categorically false accusations" against Baldoni. Baldoni later sued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, the couple's publicist Leslie Sloane, and Sloane's public relations company, Vision PR, for extortion and defamation, among other things. Lively's lawyers called Baldoni's lawsuit "another chapter in the abuser playbook" and accused Baldoni of "trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni." Earlier this month, Swift was subpoenaed by Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman. Lawyers for Lively and Reynolds responded by trying to block the subpoena, which Baldoni's attorneys argued was necessary. Citing "a source," Baldoni's legal team claims in Wednesday's court filing that Lively's attorney "demanded that Ms. Swift release a statement of support for Ms. Lively" amid the legal scuffle, alleging that "if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively's possession would be released." Baldoni's attorneys allege in the new filing that, "Lively requested that Taylor Swift delete their text messages." The court filing also claims that "a representative of Ms. Swift addressed these inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats in at least one written communication." In response, Lively's lawyer, Mike Gottlieb, asked the court to strike the documents as "unnecessary, improper and abusive." Gottleib said in a statement to ABC News Wednesday that the allegations made in Baldoni's court filing are "categorically false." "This is categorically false. We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality," Gottlieb said. "This is what we have come to expect from the Wayfarer parties' lawyers, who appear to love nothing more than shooting first, without any evidence, and with no care for the people they are harming in the process. We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here." Taylor Swift spokesperson responds to subpoena in Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal feud Baldoni's initial complaint against Lively, filed in January, detailed a text message he allegedly received from Lively in which Baldoni claims Lively referred to Swift and Reynolds as her "dragons." The complaint claimed Lively leveraged her relationships with high profile individuals like Swift and Reynolds to exert her influence over the film. Swift has not responded to ABC News' request for comment about the latest court filing. In response to being subpoenaed, a spokesperson for Swift said she was only involved in licensing her song "My Tears Ricochet" for the film and was never on set. "Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history," the spokesperson said. "The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, 'My Tears Ricochet.'" The spokesperson added, "Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case." Lively and Baldoni are due to appear in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 9, 2026. Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends with Us' legal battle: A timeline Read more about the Lively-Baldoni legal battle here. Blake Lively accused of pressuring Taylor Swift amid legal battle with Justin Baldoni originally appeared on
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
Blake Lively accused of pressuring Taylor Swift amid legal battle with Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively's friendship with music superstar Taylor Swift is now at the center of her legal battle with her former "It Ends With Us" co-star Justin Baldoni. In a new court filing Wednesday, attorneys for Baldoni claim Lively pressured Swift to get involved in the legal back and forth, which first began in December. That month, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of "It Ends With Us," which he also directed. Lively and Baldoni subsequently launched dueling lawsuits against each other, with Lively alleging that Baldoni and key stakeholders of the film sexually harassed her and attempted, along with Baldoni's production company and crisis PR company, The Agency Group PR, to orchestrate a smear campaign against her. Baldoni denied the allegations via a statement from his attorney, who called Lively's actions "shameful" for making "serious and categorically false accusations" against Baldoni. Baldoni later sued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, the couple's publicist Leslie Sloane, and Sloane's public relations company, Vision PR, for extortion and defamation, among other things. Lively's lawyers called Baldoni's lawsuit "another chapter in the abuser playbook" and accused Baldoni of "trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni." Earlier this month, Swift was subpoenaed by Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman. Lawyers for Lively and Reynolds responded by trying to block the subpoena, which Baldoni's attorneys argued was necessary. Citing "a source," Baldoni's legal team claims in Wednesday's court filing that Lively's attorney "demanded that Ms. Swift release a statement of support for Ms. Lively" amid the legal scuffle, alleging that "if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively's possession would be released." Baldoni's attorneys allege in the new filing that, "Lively requested that Taylor Swift delete their text messages." The court filing also claims that "a representative of Ms. Swift addressed these inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats in at least one written communication." In response, Lively's lawyer, Mike Gottlieb, asked the court to strike the documents as "unnecessary, improper and abusive." Gottleib said in a statement to ABC News Wednesday that the allegations made in Baldoni's court filing are "categorically false." "This is categorically false. We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality," Gottlieb said. "This is what we have come to expect from the Wayfarer parties' lawyers, who appear to love nothing more than shooting first, without any evidence, and with no care for the people they are harming in the process. We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here." Baldoni's initial complaint against Lively, filed in January, detailed a text message he allegedly received from Lively in which Baldoni claims Lively referred to Swift and Reynolds as her "dragons." The complaint claimed Lively leveraged her relationships with high profile individuals like Swift and Reynolds to exert her influence over the film. Swift has not responded to ABC News' request for comment about the latest court filing. In response to being subpoenaed, a spokesperson for Swift said she was only involved in licensing her song "My Tears Ricochet" for the film and was never on set. "Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history," the spokesperson said. "The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, 'My Tears Ricochet.'" The spokesperson added, "Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case." Lively and Baldoni are due to appear in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 9, 2026.
Hindustan Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Blake Lively will be taking the stand against Justin Baldoni in March 2026 trial, shares her lawyer
Blake Lively is owning her narrative. The Another Simple Favor actor and Gossip Girl alum, during a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, made the first straightforward public acknowledgement of her long-standing tussle with former collaboraor Justin Baldoni. And now, her legal counsel is making it known that Blake will in fact, continue to speak up for herself, even in court: "Yes. The ultimate moment for a plaintiff's story to be told is at trial. We expect that to be the case here. So we would, of course, expect her to be a witness at her trial. Of course she's going to testify", said her lawyer Mike Gottlieb in an exclusive byte to PEOPLE. Additionally, Blake isn't the only one who'll be taking the stand. Mike elaborated, "There are individuals that were witnesses to or experienced misconduct that is relevant to Ms. Lively's claims. We expect their testimony, particularly about what took place on set, will come out through live witness testimony". That being said, it is unclear if husband Ryan Reynolds will be taking the stand as well. Mike also made it known that the overflow of public conjecture surrounding the case is actually isolating the core aspects that instead deserve attention. He added, "We think there have been a lot of distractions put up to deflect attention from the retaliation campaign that was launched against he. And we expect and hope that in discovery we'll have an opportunity to really focus on what we believe to be the core part of the case, which is that this retaliation campaign was launched against Ms. Lively for her having raised concerns about sexual harassment". Blake and Justin had previously collaborated on the doomed 2024 film It Ends With Us, the official adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel. Following the film's release, Blake filed a lawsuit against Justin and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, alleging sexual harassment and claiming he initiated a preemptive smear campaign. Justin denied the accusations and responded with a $400 million countersuit against Blake, her husband Ryan, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and her agency Vision PR, Inc., alleging defamation, civil extortion, and other charges. The trial is scheduled for March 2026. So are you team Blake or Baldoni?
