Blake Lively Knew She Would Face 'Backlash' Over Justin Baldoni Legal Battle And Was 'Prepared'

Yahoo

13-04-2025

Blake Lively is unfazed by the criticism that has plagued her in the wake of her sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin Baldoni.
The actress reportedly "knew there would be backlash" and had prepared herself "mentally" to face them.
This comes after Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni of using "scorched earth" tactics in an attempt to silence her.
Lively is fully convinced she made the right call by pursuing legal action against her "It Ends With Us" co-star and director, Baldoni.
The "Gossip Girl" actress filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni in December, claiming that he also embarked on a retaliatory smear campaign to tarnish her image.
Baldoni has since countersued the actress, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane, alleging that they tried to take creative control of his movie, as well as extort him.
The move has plunged both stars into a contentious court battle that's set to kick off next year.
However, a source told People Magazine that Lively has "no regret" about the whole thing and is seemingly ready to fight till the end.
"This wasn't a decision made on a whim — it was months in the making," the source shared. "She knew there would be backlash, and she prepared herself for how mentally and emotionally difficult it would be."
"But she can't go through life knowing she didn't stand up to something she believed was wrong," the insider added.
According to People, the source shared that Lively, who is mom to daughters James, Inez, and Betty, plus son Olin, has her children's best interests prioritized throughout the legal process.
"As a mom, she never wants her daughters to stay silent in the face of injustice," says the source. "Right now, she's taking it one day at a time and staying focused on her No. 1 priority: her family."
Lively raised eyebrows on Monday when she took to her Instagram Stories to post a cryptic message about "looking for sunshine" amid her court battle with Baldoni.
She shared an image of flowers on a tree branch covered in water droplets, writing in the caption, "It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine," attributing the quote to Winnie the Pooh's Eeyore.
Speculations were rife that the 37-year-old actress had started experiencing "regrets" over her decision to sue Baldoni as she broke cover at a farm located in New York earlier this week.
The "A Simple Favor" actress looked "forlorn" at the location after becoming more of a reclusive figure in the past months amid her standoff with Baldoni.
"Blake is striving for normalcy in her life, but the past few weeks have been incredibly challenging," an insider told the Daily Mail.
They added, "It seems like every move she makes is now under constant criticism. She feels like her entire life has been turned upside down."
Lively reportedly hopes she and her husband can go back to the way things were before her legal triggers started off.
"As the lawsuit rages on... Blake and Ryan have been trying to think about getting back some of their life they had before the allegations took over their world," another insider told the news outlet.
They continued, "Ryan was on a tremendous high with the success of [his 2024 movie] Deadpool, and Blake was living a pretty wonderful life herself. Whether it is found that they are in the right or not [in the fight with Baldoni], this will have repercussions for years to come."
Lively's team has recently accused Baldoni and his legal team of using "scorched earth litigation" tactics to silence her over her sexual harassment lawsuit against him.
The allegations come from a provision in California law that was put in place to protect victims from being sued "into oblivion" by their perpetrators.
"Mr. Baldoni has gone from monetizing a brand devoted to believing and supporting women, to leading the charge to tear down the very law that protects women who come forward about sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination," they wrote.
"California's sexual harassment privilege, AB 933, was enacted to stop perpetrators of sexual harassment from abusing defamation lawsuits to sue their accusers into oblivion," the statement continued.
"The chilling message scorched earth litigation sends to victims is stay silent or be destroyed," Lively's team said.