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Justin Baldoni’s legal team is pushing back against Blake Lively’s attempt to have his defamation lawsuit dismissed, arguing that Lively’s allegations of harassment were fabricated and malicious. Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit in January against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, claiming they aimed to damage his career and take over his movie It Ends with Us through false harassment accusations.
Blake Lively’s lawyers had previously sought to dismiss the suit, citing California’s Protecting Survivors from Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits Act, a law that shields harassment accusers from retaliatory defamation suits. They argued that Lively’s allegations are protected by litigation privilege. However, Baldoni’s team contended that the law only applies if the harassment claims are made in good faith and without malice. They argue that Lively exaggerated or fabricated interactions to damage Baldoni’s career and seize control of the film, especially following a series of public missteps that hurt her image.
Baldoni’s lawyers also argued that litigation privilege should not apply in this case because Lively made her harassment allegations before filing a civil rights complaint. They further referenced a 2022 interview with Lively at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit, using it to support their claim that the actress attempted to take creative control of the movie.
The case is ongoing, and the dispute highlights a tense legal battle over defamation, harassment claims, and creative control.