BREAKING NEWS Blake Lively finally breaks silence on Justin Baldoni's $400 million countersuit dismissal after It Ends With Us legal war

Daily Mail​

6 hours ago

Blake Lively is taking a victory lap.
The 37-year-old actress released a statement via Instagram Monday amid news that she was cleared in the $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit filed by her It Ends with Us collaborator Justin Baldoni.
'Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organizations united in defending women's rights to speak up for their safety,' Lively said. '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.'
Lively, who shares four children with husband Ryan Reynolds, vowed that she was '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 Gossip Girl alum wrapped up in thanking those in the public who have supported her amid the turbulent past year.
'With love and gratitude for the many who stood by me, many of you I know,' Lively said. 'Many of you I don't. But I will never stop appreciating or advocating for you.'
The It Ends With Us actress, whose legal battle with Justin Baldoni has had a significant impact on her friendship with Taylor Swift, added a list of groups that had publicly supported her amid the highly-publicized Tinseltown tussle.
Among them, in alphabetical order, were the California Employment Lawyers Association, California Women's Law Center, CHILD USA, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Equal Rights Advocates, Esperanza United, Her Justice, and Herunivercity Inc.
In a move that might have been a harbinger of changing momentum in the case, Lively took aim at Baldoni Thursday, saying that women's groups had abandoned him in droves.
A total of '19 leading survivors and organizations devoted to women's rights, children's rights and domestic violence have now signed onto four separate amicus briefs,' a spokesperson for the Another Simple Favor actress told Daily Mail in a statement.
The statement continued: 'All are united in opposing Justin Baldoni's attempt to dismantle a law designed to protect women who speak up — simply to protect himself.'
Lively's team said that Baldoni was going against his own playbook as the complicated legal case progresses, leaving himself open to increased scrutiny in the wake of his past public statements.
The star of films such as The Town and The Shallows posted a statement to her Instagram Stories amid Monday's momentous legal proceedings
Lively vowed that she was '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'
'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, where he once upon a time urged 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,' Lively's rep said.
Dailymail.com has reached out to reps for Baldoni for further comment on this story.
The statement wrapped up: 'These women and organizations are sounding the alarm about his DARVO tactics, and the chilling effect they could have well beyond this case.'
Lively has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment in a lawsuit; while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400 million suit - the latter of which was dismissed Monday.
Baldoni has denied the allegations brought about by Lively, while Lively, Reynolds and Sloane have denied the accusations made in litigation by Baldoni.
Lively in December sued Baldoni amid claims of sexual harassment during production of the motion picture. In her lawsuit, the Gossip Girl alum accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways - including body shaming her - and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.
Baldoni and his reps have said in response to the lawsuit that Lively twisted the meaning of text messages and mislead the public about their interactions while making the motion picture.
In her lawsuit, Lively named a number of Baldoni's collaborators, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio's CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel.
Baldoni subsequently sued the newspaper for $250 million in a defamation claim over a December 21 story titled '"We Can Bury Anyone": Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine ;' the newspaper has denied the allegations.
Baldoni on January 16 filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, alleging defamation and extortion. Baldoni told the court the trio had concocted 'false accusations of sexual harassment' against him.