Topics: Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, Entertainment, Hollywood
Justin Baldoni has responded after Blake Lively says she's celebrating a 'victory' following a judge dismissing his $400,000,000 lawsuit.
Lively and Baldoni both starred in the 2024 movie It Ends With Us, and have since been embroiled in a lengthy legal battle.
The Gossip Girl star was the first to launch legal action in December last year, where she accused her co-star of sexual harassment.
Lively also claimed that Baldoni and his PR team had gone out of their way to create a smear campaign against her.
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Baldoni later retaliated by filing a $400,000,000 defamation suit against her and husband Ryan Reynolds, though this week a judge threw the case out.
Apparently celebrating the move, Lively and her legal team said the lawsuit was a 'sham' to begin with and that the decision to remove it was a 'victory'.
However, a statement issued by Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman counteracts that statement, saying Lively and her team have made a 'predictable declaration of victory' that is 'false.'
The judge has allowed Baldoni to amend and refile his allegations regarding contract interference, and he was given a deadline of June 23 to do so.
“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," the statement issued to Entertainment Tonight read.
“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.
“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.”
The response comes as Lively had made her own statement on social media, stating she had stood 'proudly' to defend 'women's rights to speak up for their safety.'
"Like so many others, I've felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us. While the suit against me was defeated, so many don't have the resources to fight back," she continued.
Lively went on: "I'm 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."
The 37-year-old ended her statement with: "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."
Meanwhile, her lawyers had said in a statement that read in part: "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."
The trial is still set for March 2026.
UNILAD has previously contacted Baldoni and Lively's reps for comment.
