NEED TO KNOW
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Blake Lively shared a message on Instagram June 9 to speak out after Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against her was dismissed by a judge
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“I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us,” she wrote
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Her lawyers have called the judge’s decision a “total victory and a complete vindication” for the actress
Blake Lively is opening up about the “pain” she was caused by Justin Baldoni‘s countersuit, which she declares has been “defeated” with the judge’s dismissal.
“Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us,” the actress, 37, wrote on her Instagram Stories on Monday, June 9. “While the suit against me was defeated, so many don’t have the resources to fight back.”
Lively added that 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.
As part of the post, Lively shared a list of organizations for relevant resources and information: California Employment Lawyers Association; California Women’s Law Center; CHILD USA; Coalition Against Trafficking in Women; Equal Rights Advocates; Esperanza United; Her Justice; Herunivercity Inc.; National Network to End Domestic Violence; National Organization for Women; National Organization for Women NYC; New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault; New York Cyber Abuse Task Force; New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition; Sanctuary for Families; Urban Resource Institute; Women’s Equal Justice; and Women’s Justice NOW.
Among these organizations were groups and experts that recently filed amicus briefs in the ongoing case, sounding the alarm on what they called Baldoni’s “attempt to dismantle a law designed to protect women who speak up,” a spokesperson for Lively said in a previous statement.
On June 9, Judge Lewis J. Liman granted motions to dismiss the $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, which alleged extortion and defamation, plus Baldoni’s $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.
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Her lawyers hailed the decision as a “total victory and a complete vindication” for the actress. In their statement after the dismissal news, Lively’s attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb noted, “As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it.”
They added that they “look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages” against Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties, who “perpetrated this abusive litigation.”
Judge Liman noted in his June 9 filing that Baldoni’s legal team can still amend the claims for breach of implied covenant and tortious interference with contract if they choose to move forward, with a deadline of June 23.
Lively sued her It Ends With Us director-costar Baldoni, 41, plus others in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation, which he has denied. She recently agreed to drop two of her claims against Baldoni — intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress — in a move her legal team described as a “routine part of the litigation process” for “streamlining and focusing” their case.
In March, Freedman spoke out after Lively filed a motion to dismiss their countersuit, saying the actress’ attempt to “dismiss herself from the self-concocted disaster she initiated is one of the most abhorrent examples of abusing our legal system.”
He added at the time, “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.”
Their trial is set for March 2026.
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The post Blake Lively Speaks Out in Emotional Statement After Justin Baldoni Lawsuit Is ‘Defeated’: ‘I’ve Felt the Pain’ appeared first on People.
