Blake Lively Slams Justin Baldoni For Contradicting His Advocacy For Women

News18

11 hours ago

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Blake's team slammed him for challenging all the women's organisations who have spoken out against him.
In a recent turn in the legal feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, the actress has sharply criticised her It Ends With Her co-star for undermining his long-standing image as a women's rights advocate. In a statement released by her team on Thursday, June 5, Blake condemned Baldoni for publicly challenging the credibility of several women's organisations that have spoken out against him.
'19 leading survivors and organisations devoted to women's rights, children's rights and domestic violence have now signed onto four separate amicus briefs," said Blake's team in a statement to Us Weekly. These groups include the National Organisation for Women, Women's Justice NOW and the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
They said that these organisations are 'united" in opposing Justin's move to 'dismantle a law designed to protect women who speak up — simply to protect himself." Blake's team also said, 'Rather than defend his case on the facts, Baldoni is now contradicting years of his own public persona — abandoning the message of his #MeToo YouTube's, podcasts, TED Talks, and interviews."
They continued that Justin, in the past, used to urge men 'to listen to the women in your life … to hold their anguish and actually believe them, even if what they're saying is against you,'" her team stated in the statement, pointing out how his team was challenging the amicus briefs of these organisations. 'These women and organisations are sounding the alarm about his DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) tactics and the chilling effect they could have well beyond this case," the actress' team concluded.
The new update came just days after Judge Lewis J. Liman of the Southern District of New York denied Blake's motion to dismiss the emotional distress claims against the 41-year-old actor-director. This happened after Justin's lawyers asked to see her medical records, and his team said that she was backing out of her initial claims. But Blake claimed that she had no plans to drop the claims of emotional distress.
In a statement to the aforementioned media outlet, Blake's lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said, 'The court denied Wayfarer's motion. He told the parties to continue their discussions about the technicalities of how 2 of the 15 claims will be voluntarily dismissed. Ms. Lively has offered to dismiss those claims because they are no longer necessary, and she will continue to pursue emotional distress damages through other claims in her lawsuit, including sexual harassment and retaliation."
The legal fight between Blake and Justin began in December 2024, with the actress' complaint against the latter, where she accused him of sexual harassment and a smear campaign against her. Justin, in response, denied the claims and filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against her, her husband, Ryan Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane. The case is expected to go on trial in March 2026.
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