Latest news with #IsabelaFerrer
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Science
- Time of India
Experience the last blood moon of 2025: Where to watch the Sept. 7 ‘Blood Moon' total lunar eclipse
Skywatchers will have a treat this September when the second and last blood moon of 2025 illuminates the night sky. There will be a dramatic total lunar eclipse on the night of September 7-8. At its peak, the moon will turn a bright red color. This unusual astronomical event will last more than five hours, with 82 minutes of totality, which is when the moon is completely covered by Earth's shadow. A lot of people in the Western Hemisphere won't be able to see this time, but billions of people in Asia, Western Australia, Europe, and Africa will have front-row seats, as per a report by LiveScience. There are online streams for people who can't see it in person, so no one will miss out on this amazing cosmic show. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Kirkwall: If You Were Born Between 1945-1974 You Could Be Eligible For This British Seniors Undo Where will you be able to see the Blood Moon? The eclipse starts on September 7 at 11:28 a.m. EDT (15:28 UTC). By that time, the moon will have already set in North and South America, so most people in the Western Hemisphere will miss it. Over 6 billion people, or almost 77% of the world's population, will be able to see the whole eclipse from Asia and Western Australia, as per a report by LiveScience. Live Events People in Europe and Africa will also be able to see the amazing sight, but only parts of it will be visible in some places. At 20:55 UTC, the eclipse will be over for everyone. ALSO READ: Orca attack mystery: What really happened to marine trainer Jessica Radcliffe How can people in North America see the eclipse? People in the U.S. and most of the Americas won't be able to see it directly, but there is still a way to join in. The Virtual Telescope Project in Italy will stream live for free starting at 1:45 p.m. EDT (17:45 UTC). From there, people can see the moon enter totality about 45 minutes later, when it rises in Italy, as per a report by LiveScience. Why does the moon turn red when there is an eclipse? Rayleigh scattering is what makes the blood moon look like it has a fiery red glow. When sunlight hits the Earth's atmosphere, the shorter blue wavelengths scatter, and the longer red wavelengths bend and pass through. This makes the moon look red. This is why the full moon looks blood-red during totality, as per a report by LiveScience. ALSO READ : 3 zodiac signs are about to attract major financial success before summer 2025 wraps up! Here's what's in store for you What happens after the Blood Moon? There is always a solar eclipse when there is a lunar eclipse, and this year is no different. On September 21, just two weeks later, there will be a partial solar eclipse. In some parts of New Zealand, Australia, and Antarctica, up to 80% of the sun will be covered. In the Pacific islands of Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, a smaller version of the event will happen. ALSO READ : Isabela Ferrer accuses Justin Baldoni of harassment amid 'It Ends With Us' legal battle FAQs Who can see the lunar eclipse on September 7? People in Asia, Western Australia, most of Europe, and Africa will be able to see it. Is it possible for people in the U.S. to see the eclipse? Not directly, but the event will be streamed live for free online.
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Shock twist in Justin Baldoni and Lively legal battle as actress Isabela Ferrer accuses actor of ‘harassment'
Justin Baldoni has hit back at actress Isabela Ferrer's allegations that he's 'harassing' her in his ongoing legal battle with Blake Lively. Ferrer, who portrayed the younger version of Lively's character in It Ends with Us, had her messages to Lively's sexual harassment allegations subpoenaed by Baldoni's legal team in the lawsuit Lively filed that alleges misconduct, accusations that Baldoni has denied. After Baldoni issued a subpoena to Ferrer in July, his lawyers filed a motion last week claiming that Ferrer has been 'unresponsive'. On Monday, lawyers representing Baldoni argued that Ferrer's 'opposition is primarily an inappropriate attack upon Mr. Baldoni and his counsel relating to matters not before the Court and irrelevant' to whether the actress should receive a subpoena. In Ferrer's counter-response, her legal representatives alleged that Baldoni has 'engaged in bad faith tactics' and submitted his motion 'for improper purposes and with the aim of harassing' Ferrer. The actress has also asked the court to both deny Baldoni's motion and impose sanctions on him. The latest development comes after Baldoni's lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and their publicist, as well as his lawsuit against the New York Times, was been tossed out by a judge, in a shocking legal twist. Judge Lewis J Liman granted the motion to dismiss the US$400 (A$615m) million lawsuit filed by Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios in a major blow to the It Ends With Us director. Lively's lawyers said it was a 'total victory and a complete vindication', and Lively herself has now spoken out on social media. She wrote on her Instagram stories that she is '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.' 'Like so many others, I've felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us,' she wrote. Lively finished her message by thanking 'the many who stood by me, many of you I know. Many of you I don't.' The judge ultimately found that Lively and her co-defendants had not defamed Baldoni because their allegations were all made only in their legal complaints – which are protected by US law. Defamation also requires the plaintiff to prove the defendant knowingly made false claims about them, which the judge also said Baldoni's team provided no evidence to support.
NZ Herald
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
It Ends With Us actor Isabela Ferrer accuses Justin Baldoni of harassment amid his legal battle with Blake Lively
It Ends With Us actor Isabela Ferrer has accused the flick's director Justin Baldoni of 'harassing' her for information after she was subpoenaed amid his legal battle with Blake Lively. Lively filed a lawsuit in December against Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios team, with their publicist and crisis PR representatives,
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Justin Baldoni hits back at Isabela Ferrer's harassment claims amid Blake Lively legal battle
Justin Baldoni has responded to actress Isabela Ferrer 's harassment allegations as the Blake Lively legal battle rolls on over their film It Ends With Us. Baldoni, 41, has denied the claims by 24-year-old actress Ferrer who filed a fiery legal rebuttal to director-star over alleged repeated attempts to subpoena her. Daily Mail has obtained documents filed by Baldoni's team on Monday in which they claimed they were issued a subpoena for Ferrer to obtain 'documents that she either neglected to produce or were not requested' by Lively's Team. His legal team said in the documents that they had reached out to the Ferrer's lawyers 'twice' to communicate in regards to the subpoena but they claim to have been 'ignored.' Ferrer's team had claimed that process servers had failed to catch her at addresses in Brooklyn and Sag Harbor and Justin's legal team asked the judge to approve 'alternative service,' and her attorney Sanford Michelman blasted them for listing 'addresses [in motion] that could have been Ms. Ferrer's home.' Baldoni's lawyers also claim that they did not harass the actress as they were not the firs to issue her a summons as Lively, 37, originally had. The docs read: 'Ms. Lively should not be permitted to obtain discovery from Ms. Ferrer, while Ms. Ferrer and her counsel frustrate all effort by the Wayfarer Parties to obtain the discovery critical to the preparation of their defense. 'Given the circumstances, the Wayfarer Parties are willing to stipulate that none of the parties will use any communication to, from or concerning Ms. Ferrer, or any testimony from her, in any manner in this action.' Baldoni's legal team concluded the filing by asking Judge J. Liman to 'grant' their request to serve Ferrer 'via alternative means.' Meanwhile, in legal docs obtained by People, Ferrer's lawyers alleged Baldoni 'engaged in bad faith tactics' and filed his motion 'for improper purposes and with the aim of harassing' and 'exerting pressure on' her. When the granddaughter of Rosemary Clooney and José Ferrer responded to Blake's subpoena in February, she invoked an indemnification clause in her It Ends with Us acting contract with Wayfarer Studios requiring them to pay her legal fees. Michelman alleged that Wayfarer agreed only on the 'serious' condition that Isabela 'confirm that she will "surrender control"' of her response, and she's since hired private counsel. The legal docs read: 'Baldoni made no effort to tailor the subpoena towards the production of new or different materials, demonstrating that the real aim of the Baldoni subpoena, as well as the pending motion, is to harass Ms. Ferrer.' Michelman asked Judge Lewis J. Liman to 'deny the motion in its entirety and impose appropriate sanctions against Baldoni.' Daily Mail has obtained documents filed by Baldoni's team on Monday in which they claimed they were issued a subpoena for Ferrer to obtain 'documents that she either neglected to produce or were not requested' by Lively's Team (Lively is seen in New York in June) The Daily Mail has reached out to the reps of Ferrer and Baldoni for comment on her August 12th filing. The Wayfarer Studios co-founder selected the native New Yorker to make her big-screen acting debut as the young Lily Bloom in 2023 following a nationwide open casting call and an alleged thumbs up from Taylor Swift. Blake alleged that after Justin filmed the scene of young Lily losing her virginity for a flashback, he approached the actors and said: 'I know I'm not supposed to say this, but that was hot.' But when asked about Baldoni during an EPK promotional interview in 2023, Isabela gushed that he 'has a really great method of just being able to keep things positive' on set. 'I feel like that's, as an actor who's also first starting, when you're trying to get used to everything, it's really important to have someone go, "That's really good. Okay, now let's look at this,"' Ferrer continued. 'And there's no patronizing, there's no, I don't feel not heard. I always feel like I can go up to him and ask for anything. I mean, our first phone call after I got this job, it was a FaceTime, and the first thing he said to be was like, whatever you need wherever, call me. I immediately had his number. There was an immediate understanding that literally, whatever, if I needed anything, I knew that I could reach out to him.' Two weeks after production wrapped that same year, the former restaurant worker thanked the Man Enough podcaster for 'an incredible experience on my first film' as documented on his website. 'I still can't shake the feeling of it all because it truly was life changing for me,' Isabela gushed via text. 'You are such a wonderful, smart, and sincere director and you created such a comfortable, safe space for me to feel like I could fully step into this role. I couldn't have asked for a more welcoming environment. It will stay with me for the rest of my life!' But once Ferrer began promoting the movie alongside Lively (born Brown), the actress allegedly poisoned her and the cast as well as author Colleen Hoover against Justin just like she once did with her Gossip Girl leading man Penn Badgley. Last year, the Another Simple Favor actress jokingly called herself Isabela's 'stage mom' and they even share the same mole, telling THR: 'The film is my side hustle. Isabela is my main priority.' Ferrer enjoyed sleepovers with 'angel' mentor Blake, who styled her for the premieres, and told People last year: 'To be able to connect with the person that you're sharing a role with is huge, and she's just a really good person.' 'How she manages four children with the businesses that she has and [her] career as an actor and a producer and everything else,' the Carnegie Mellon University grad marveled. 'I mean, she is Wonder Woman. I don't know how she does it. It's crazy.' Lively faced substantial outrage over her treatment of journalists, sarcastically answering questions about DV in her movie, and floral-filled Barbie-style promotion directly tied to her haircare and booze brands. The domestic violence drama's marketing was all masterminded by the LA-born mother-of-four's husband Ryan Reynolds through his company, Maximum Effort. As more evidence is revealed, Blake - who requires 'authorship' on all her films - appears to have masterminded a takeover of the It Ends with Us script, wardrobe, score, and editing departments by threatening to pull out of promoting it. Lively and Baldoni are scheduled to face off in Manhattan US District Court for a sexual harassment and defamation trial beginning March 2026, but the general public have already sided with him. Last June, Judge Liman made the controversial decision to dismiss both of Justin's $400M and $250M libel lawsuits against Lively, Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloane, and the New York Times. The Secrets of the Penguins narrator has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliating against her with a smear campaign, and her legal team has issued over 100 subpoenas to content creators accusing them of being on his payroll. Ironically, Blake leaked her CCRD complaint to the New York Times to publish a one-sided article last December, which exposed Wayfarer publicist Jennifer Abel's text messages dubiously obtained through a subpoena stemming from a sham lawsuit filed by Reynolds' company Vanzan.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Isabela Ferrer accuses Justin Baldoni of attempting to harass her during 'It Ends With Us' Blake Lively legal battle. How we got here.
Legal reps for the actress, who played young Lily in the film, claims that "this sort of conduct from Baldoni is not new." The Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni drama is the he said, she said case heard around Hollywood, with accusations flying on both sides. Now more people are being dragged into the case — including Isabela Ferrer, who portrayed a younger version of Lively's character Lily in It Ends With Us, at the center of the battle. Lively and Baldoni are entangled in a legal battle over what may or may not have happened on the set of the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel It Ends With Us, with Lively accusing her director and costar on the film of sexual harassment and a subsequent retaliatory campaign against her. Since then, the two have communicated through warring legal teams and the press as they head toward their March 2026 court case. Baldoni has denied all allegations and said that Lively's claims were false and designed to help Lively gain creative control of It Ends With Us. In response to Lively's allegations, which were reported by the New York Times and included texts between Baldoni and members of his team, he filed a $400 million countersuit alleging defamation and extortion against the actress, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloane. He filed a separate $250 million defamation suit against the New York Times. But on June 9, Judge Lewis Liman threw out Baldoni's lawsuit, ruling that the statements at the center of the suits were either privileged or lacked the necessary legal basis for defamation — a legal victory for Lively, her team later said in a statement. Baldoni's team was given the chance to amend certain claims and refile by June 23, but chose not to. Instead, Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman confirmed they are abandoning that strategy in favor of other legal options. One of those legal options appears to involve Ferrer, who got close with Lively during the production and promotion of It Ends With Us. In August, Baldoni's team subpoenaed the 24-year-old actress over communication with Lively, but claimed that she failed to respond. Now, in court filings, Ferrer's team argues that Baldoni is using subpoenas and motions to pressure her and control how her communications are presented, arguing that Ferrer's subpoena overlaps with the ones already filed by Lively, making them unnecessary and redundant. In the filings, the team stated the action was an attempt by Baldoni to "harass" Ferrer, who they claim has tried to stay out of the Lively-Baldoni conflict as much as possible. They declare Baldoni's motion against Ferrer 'another attempt to manipulate the press, to create havoc on a young, up-and-coming and talented actress,' and 'the latest in a broader pattern of conduct by Baldoni to bully Ms. Ferrer.' They also allege that Baldoni's production company, Wayfarer Studios, failed to honor a clause in her contract that was supposed to cover her legal costs, leading to financial pressure on the actress. They also note that Baldoni's team publicly shared home addresses that could have been Ferrer's home, potentially putting her at risk. "This sort of conduct from Baldoni is not new," Ferrer's legal team argued. On Aug. 18, Baldoni's attorneys responded to Ferrer's claims. They stated that Ferrer's filings were an "inappropriate attack" on Baldoni that are 'relating to matters not before the Court" and that they are irrelevant to whether she should be served a subpoena. It's all very messy — and with the case headed to court in March 2026, there is almost certainly going to be more developments. But how did It Ends With Us go from being a highly anticipated adaptation of a popular BookTok novel to being one of the entertainment industry's biggest rifts to date? Here's what to know. Skip ahead: How it all began Blake Lively speaks out Justin Baldoni pushes back How Taylor Swift got involved Where Deadpool comes in Blake Lively breaks her silence in 2025 Lively drops her emotional distress claim Lively speaks out after Baldoni's case is dismissed How it all began Lively and Baldoni starred together in 2024's It Ends With Us, based on Hoover's 2016 romance novel about a woman breaking out of the cycle of domestic violence. Baldoni, who initially got the rights to the book through his production company, Wayfarer Studios, also directed the film, while Lively was also an executive producer on the project. When the movie came out in August 2024, fans noticed that Lively and Baldoni — who played a couple in the film — did not do interviews together or pose for photos at the movie's premiere, fueling speculation that there was a rift between the two. During the film's press tour, Lively faced backlash for downplaying the story's central theme of domestic violence, instead emphasizing female empowerment and the film's floral aesthetic and even weaving in promotion for her newly launched hair care line. Social media buzz turned critical against the star as old interviews resurfaced that portrayed the actress as catty or rude. Meanwhile, Baldoni — whose brand and podcast Man Enough is centered on untangling himself from toxic masculinity — received praise for including domestic violence as part of the larger conversation about the film. Blake Lively speaks out Lively had stayed quiet about her time on the It Ends With Us set and work with Baldoni — until December 2024, when she filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. In her complaint, she claimed Baldoni engaged in sexual harassment and created a hostile work environment during the film's production. Her complaint coincided with a New York Times exposé titled ''We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,' which detailed Lively's allegations — along with her legal complaint — and highlighted the alleged retaliatory actions by Baldoni's team. That included Baldoni encouraging publicists to drum up a smear campaign against the star, which Lively said was the driving force behind the sudden onslaught of negative social media comments about her. Lively was initially met with some public support following the New York Times piece — people like her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costars and her Another Simple Favor director Paul Feig spoke out in her favor — but in the weeks after the article, social media sentiment toward the actress remained negative. Justin Baldoni pushes back On Dec. 31, 2024, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against the New York Times. The actor claimed that the article crafted a misleading narrative that damaged his reputation using cherry-picked communications — like, say, a quoted text message that omitted an emoji indicating sarcasm. The New York Times stood by its reporting and in February 2025 filed to dismiss the lawsuit. On Jan. 16, 2025, Baldoni and his team — including Wayfarer Studios, producer Jamey Heath and PR reps Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel — filed a lawsuit in New York federal court. They accused Lively, her husband Reynolds and her publicist Sloane of defamation and other contract violations, while seeking a whopping $400 million in damages. In Baldoni's version of events, Lively and Reynolds wanted to gain control over the making of It Ends With Us, and, when met with resistance, attempted to damage Baldoni's reputation with a harassment claim. In the days after his lawsuit filing, Baldoni's team released footage from the It Ends With Us set in order to contradict some of Lively's complaints about harassment. Later, in March, he launched a website with information about the situation for the public to view. Also in March, Lively sought to have Baldoni's lawsuit dismissed, citing California law on misconduct claims. How Taylor Swift got involved In May, pop superstar Taylor Swift was officially dragged into the mess, with a subpoena for the artist to appear in court. Swift is a longtime friend of Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and is also godmother to their four children. The artist entered the conversation when messages between Baldoni and Lively came to light in Baldoni's filing. In the lawsuit, she is referred to as Lively's 'megacelebrity friend,' and Baldoni claimed that Lively used her connection to Swift — whose song 'My Tears Ricochet' is in the film — as leverage to take control of the set. That is the reason Swift was subpoenaed. According to text messages between Baldoni and Lively, Swift was allegedly with Lively when she and Baldoni were discussing a scene from It Ends With Us that Lively wanted to change. In one text exchange between her and Baldoni, Lively wrote of Swift and husband Reynolds, 'If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you'll appreciate that I'm Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.' Swift's reps, however, say that the singer's only involvement in the film was allowing her song to be used in the movie. 'Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history,' her reps said in a statement to the press, stating that the subpoena was 'designed to use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.' Though Swift's team said her only role in the film was providing a song for it, as other artists who were not subpoenaed had done, Baldoni previously stated that she had a larger impact. He told reporters that Swift had watched a video of Isabela Ferrer, who plays a younger version of Lively's character, and encouraged the casting decision — something that Ferrer also shared with the press. In addition to Swift, her longtime law firm Venable was also subpoenaed. The subpoena, initially served April 29, demanded all communications between Venable and Lively, Reynolds and their attorney Michael Gottlieb. It specifically named Douglas Baldridge, a Venable partner who has represented Swift since 2013. On May 12, Venable filed a motion to dismiss it, according to documents obtained by Billboard, calling it a 'fishing expedition.' The firm stated that Venable is in no way involved in the lawsuit, and that any information Baldoni seeks should be sourced from Lively and Reynolds themselves. 'Venable had nothing to do with the film at issue or any of the claims or defenses asserted in the underlying lawsuit,' the firm wrote, arguing the subpoena was designed 'to distract from the facts of the case and impose undue burden and expense on a non-party.' In a May 13 court filing, Reynolds and Lively supported Venable's motion, calling it an 'abuse of the discovery process.' On May 14, however, Baldoni's lawyer Freedman came back with a letter to the judge in the case, per People, stating that the decision to subpoena Swift was necessary under the circumstances. Freedman wrote that the team received a tip from what he believes to be a highly credible source that claimed that Lively urged Swift to delete text messages between the two of them. The letter also alleged that Lively's lawyer demanded that Swift release a statement of support for Lively over the Baldoni situation, suggesting that if the singer refused, 'private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively's possession would be released,' the letter from Baldoni's attorney read. In a statement to People on May 14, Lively's attorney Gottlieb denied the allegations, which he called 'categorically false' and 'cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality.' 'This is what we have come to expect from the Wayfarer parties' lawyers, who appear to love nothing more than shooting first, without any evidence, and with no care for the people they are harming in the process,' he continued. 'We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here.' On May 18, Lively's team filed a motion in New York's Southern District Court that alleged Baldoni's lawyer made the claim that she extorted Swift as a way "to seed harassing media narratives" against the actress. 'These public attacks, combined with the Rule 11 Plaintiffs filing numerous claims against Ms. Lively without any basis in law or fact, is willfully improper and warrants sanctions,' the legal document read, per the Wrap. Lively's team also filed a second motion to compel Wayfarer Studios to hand over documents and recordings from what they call a "disingenuous charade" of an investigation into her sexual harassment on the It Ends With Us set. The filing accuses Wayfarer of failing to properly investigate her allegations, which include Baldoni allegedly discussing his sex life and staging improvised intimacy scenes without her consent. Her team argues that if a real investigation had taken place in 2023, it would have validated her claims — and that Lively would have been "spared the retaliatory smear campaign" she alleges Baldoni incited in its wake. However, on May 22, the subpoena against Swift was dropped. A spokesperson for Lively confirmed that Baldoni's legal team has withdrawn subpoenas issued to Swift and her legal counsel — a move the spokesperson says they are pleased with. "We supported the efforts of Taylor's team to quash these inappropriate subpoenas directed to her counsel, and we will continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process," the spokesperson said in a statement obtained by People. The statement also criticized the Baldoni and Wayfarer team's handling of the case, suggesting they had attempted to use Swift's fame for strategic advantage. "The Baldoni and Wayfarer team have tried to put Taylor Swift, a woman who has been an inspiration for tens of millions across the globe, at the center of this case since day one," the spokesperson said. "Exploiting Taylor Swift's celebrity was the original plan in Melissa Nathan's scenario planning document, and it continues to this day. Faced with having to justify themselves in federal court, they folded. At some point they will run out of distractions from the actual claims of sexual harassment and retaliation they are facing." Where Deadpool comes in Baldoni also called out Reynolds's Marvel movie for allegedly attempting to damage his reputation — specifically with the character of Nicepool, portrayed by Reynolds but credited under the name 'Gordon Reynolds.' In the film Deadpool & Wolverine, Nicepool is an alternative version of Reynolds's sarcastic superhero Deadpool who sports long hair and a bun similar to a style worn by Baldoni in the past. Nicepool also calls himself a feminist and remarks on Lively's character Ladypool's postpartum body. 'Reynolds portrayed Nicepool as a vicious caricature of a 'woke' feminist before concluding the character's arc with his violent shooting death at the hands of 'Ladypool,' a character voiced by Blake Lively,' the suit states. It calls the character a 'transparent and mocking portrayal of Reynolds' warped perception of Baldoni.' The It Ends With Us credits also thank 'Gordon Reynolds.' Blake Lively breaks her silence in 2025 Lively and Reynolds kept a relatively low profile in the immediate wake of the lawsuit. However, the two have recently hinted at the drama at public events, one of which includes Lively and Reynolds's February appearance at the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary on Feb. 16 — their first public appearance together since the lawsuit broke. When asked how things were going by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Reynolds jokingly responded with 'Why? What have you heard?' Baldoni's lawyer Freedman addressed the moment on Billy Bush's podcast, calling it 'surprising' that they would joke about such serious matters. At the 2025 Time100 Gala on April 24, where Lively was an honored guest after making its list of most influential people, she spoke about using her voice for good, saying, 'Who and what we stand up for, and what we stay silent about, what we monetize versus what we actually live, matters.' She also hinted at her legal battle, stating, 'I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum.' In a May appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers to promote Another Simple Favor, Lively also spoke about using her voice for change. 'What I can say without getting too much into it is that this year has been full of the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life,' Lively told Meyers. 'And I see so many women around, afraid to speak — especially right now — afraid to share their experiences. And fear is by design. It's what keeps us silent. But I also acknowledge that many people don't have the opportunity to speak. So I do feel fortunate that I've been able to. It's the women who have had the ability to use their voice that's kept me strong and helped me in my belief and my fight for the world to be safer for women and girls.' Lively drops her emotional distress claim According to court documents, on June 2, Lively chose to withdraw her emotional distress claims against Baldoni, which came after the director's legal team requested access to Lively's medical records. They argued the records were central to her allegations of emotional distress. Baldoni's team stated that rather than hand over her records, Lively is withdrawing her emotional distress claim, court papers cited by Variety stated. However, Lively wants to withdraw the claims without prejudice, meaning she could refile them later should she change her mind — something that Baldoni's team has pushed back against. Baldoni's team argued that Lively is both refusing to disclose the documents needed to disprove that she suffered emotional distress, and/or that Baldoni and his production company were the cause. However, at the same time, she is maintaining the right to refile the claim "at an unknown time in this or some other court after the discovery window has closed.' As of now, they have reached an impasse. Lively's lawyers refuted that, stating that Baldoni's lawyers are not accurate in Lively refusing to hand over these documents. Instead, they said the team is "intentionally misleading to the Court" and that their "intended audience" for this "false record" was the public, alleging that Baldoni's lawyers are using this as a way to spin negative press about the actress. They stated that they are dropping the emotional distress claim to focus on other charges in court. 'Once again, this is a routine part of the litigation process that is being used as a press stunt. We are doing what trial lawyers do: preparing our case for trial by streamlining and focusing it; they are doing what they do: desperately seeking another tired round of tabloid coverage,' they said, according to TMZ. Lively's team stated that Lively still 'alleged emotional distress, as part of numerous other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and massive additional compensatory damages on all of her claims.' Lively speaks out after Baldoni's case is dismissed Following the June 9 dismissal of Baldoni's lawsuit, Lively and her team declared a "victory." In a statement to Deadline, Lively's lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb called the ruling "a total victory and a complete vindication" for Lively, as well as Reynolds, Sloane and the New York Times. 'As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it," they said. "We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation." Lively also reacted to the news on June 9, writing in a post on Instagram, "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." She added that she is "more resolved than ever" 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 actress noted that "there are protections out there," and linked to "incredible organizations" that offer information and resources. Meanwhile, on June 10, Baldoni's lawyer Freedman said in a statement to People that while the defamation-related claims were dismissed, the court has still invited them to "amend four out of the seven claims" against Lively, which Freedman alleges will "showcase additional evidence and refined allegations." He added, "This case is about false accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign, which Ms. Lively's own team conveniently describes as 'untraceable' because they cannot prove what never happened."
