Latest news with #WayfarerStudios'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blake Lively Issued a Powerful Statement After a Judge Dismissed Justin Baldoni's Lawsuit Against Her
Getty Images On Monday, June 9, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios' countersuit against Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, in which he accused them of defamation and extortion. He also dismissed the defamation suit against the New York Times, which reported on Lively's original complaint against Baldoni (here's a longer recap of the various allegations between the It Ends With Us co-stars). To say this is a win for Blake Lively is an understatement. It doesn't mean that she will necessarily win her suit against Baldoni—the trial is still set for March 2026—but it's gotta feel good to no longer have the specter of a $400 million lawsuit hanging over your head. On Instagram, Lively released a statement thanking the many organizations that voiced their support for her motion to dismiss his case against her. '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. I'm 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,' she wrote. The day the news of the dismissal broke, an insider revealed to People that Lively had "cried with relief" after hearing of the dismissal. "She's obviously relieved. They both are," said another source, referring to Lively and Reynolds, adding, "She feels vindicated" and that 'Everyone [on the legal team] is happy.' In a statement, Lively's lawyers said, 'today's opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication…as we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it. We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages.' Originally Appeared on Glamour
Global News
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Global News
Justin Baldoni's $400M lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds dismissed
A judge dismissed Justin Baldoni's US$400-million defamation claim against It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds on Monday after finding that her accusations of sexual harassment were legally protected, making them exempt from libel claims. Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios' lawsuit, which also alleged extortion, but allowed him and his legal team to amend the complaint to change the 'allegations relevant to the claims of tortious interference with contract and breach of implied covenant,' with a deadline of June 23. Liman also ruled that Baldoni's claims that Lively stole creative control of the film didn't count as extortion under California law. 'The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged,' Liman wrote in the opinion and order filing, viewed by People . 'The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and [publicist Leslie] Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign. Story continues below advertisement 'But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law. 'The Wayfarer Parties' additional claims also fail. Accordingly, the Amended Complaint must be dismissed in its entirety.' The judge also dismissed Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, which had reported on Lively's sexual harassment allegations. Lively's lawyers called the dismissal 'a total victory and complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times.' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it. 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's lawyers said in a statement. Story continues below advertisement Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer representing Lively's publicist Sloane, said, 'Leslie Sloane has consistently said that she never defamed Baldoni or the Wayfarer Parties and she was wrongfully dragged into this lawsuit because the Wayfarer Parties wanted to actively harm Sloane's reputation.' 'Today's decision by the Court makes clear that Sloane did nothing wrong. Sloane stands fully vindicated, and justice has been served,' McCawley added. Baldoni and his legal team have not released a statement following the dismissal of the suit, which was filed in January. Baldoni's suit was seeking at least $400 million for damages that include lost future income. The lawsuit from Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios, which also named Sloane as a defendant, came about two weeks after Lively sued Baldoni and several others tied to the film, alleging harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack her reputation for coming forward about her treatment on the set. That lawsuit came the same day that Baldoni sued the New York Times for libel, alleging the paper worked with Lively to smear him. Baldoni's lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, said the plaintiffs did not want to file the suit, but that Lively 'has unequivocally left them with no choice, not only to set the record straight in response to Lively's accusations, but also to put the spotlight on the parts of Hollywood that they have dedicated their careers to being the antithesis of.' Story continues below advertisement In late March, Lively asked a judge to dismiss Baldoni's countersuit, calling his claims 'vengeful and rambling,' after she filed the lawsuit against him for sexual harassment and retaliation. Lively's lawyers, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, wrote in papers filed in Manhattan federal court that Baldoni and his production company's claims that they were defamed were a 'profound abuse of the legal process.' 'The law prohibits weaponizing defamation lawsuits, like this one, to retaliate against individuals who have filed legal claims or have publicly spoken out about sexual harassment and retaliation,' the lawyers said. 'The right to seek legal redress and the right of the press to report on it are sacred principles that are protected by multiple privileges, including the litigation and fair report privileges, which are absolute.' Story continues below advertisement Lively's legal team also referred to Baldoni's lawsuit as part of a 'sinister campaign to bury and destroy' her for speaking out about sexual harassment against him. Her lawyers invoked a California law that protects sexual harassment accusers, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed, in response to defamation lawsuits brought on during the #MeToo movement. Lively's lawyers said the law entitles her to claim legal fees and damages from Baldoni once his suit is thrown out. 'In other words, in an epic self-own, the Wayfarer Parties have created more liability for themselves by their malicious efforts to sue Ms. Lively 'into oblivion,'' the motion states. Lively's lawyers added that the Gossip Girl actor 'suffered greatly' by speaking up about Baldoni's alleged harassment. 'The painful reality is that Ms. Lively is not alone in being sued for defamation after speaking up about being sexually harassed at work,' Lively's lawyers said. 'While Ms. Lively has suffered greatly by speaking up and pursuing legal claims, it is important for other people to know that they have protections and that there is a specific law that expressly protects them from being silenced or financially ruined by a defamation lawsuit because they had the courage to speak up.' Story continues below advertisement Baldoni's lawyers were quick to respond to Lively's first attempt to dismiss his lawsuit against her. 'Ms. Lively's recent motion to dismiss herself from the self-concocted disaster she initiated is one of the most abhorrent examples of abusing our legal system,' Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement. 'Stringent rules are put into place to protect the innocent and allow individuals to rightfully defend themselves. Laws are not meant to be twisted and curated by privileged elites to fit their own personal agenda.' Freedman said at the time that they would 'continue to hold Ms. Lively accountable for her actions of pure malice, which include falsely accusing my clients of harassment and retaliation.' 'Her fantastical claims will be swiftly debunked as discovery moves forward, easily disproved with actual, evidentiary proof,' Freedman said. Lively and Baldoni's trial is currently set to take place in March 2026. — With files from The Associated Press
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Justin Baldoni Breaks Silence, Returns to Instagram With Emotional Post
After a five-month hiatus, Justin Baldoni returned to Instagram with a heartfelt post in honor of Mother's Day. 'My mom gave us faith. My wife is the definition of it. Our children are growing up in the fortress of that love,' Baldoni, 41, wrote via an Instagram post on Sunday, May 11, alongside a photo of himself flanked by wife, Emily Baldoni, and mother, Sharon Baldoni, as the director's two children wrapped their arms around the smiling clan. 'Happy Mother's Day to all ❤️.' The last Instagram post shared by Baldon – who has been embroiled in a legal battle with his It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively since December 2024 when Lively, 37, filed a sexual harassment complaint against him — went live 10 days prior to Lively's December filing. (Baldoni has denied all accusations made against him by Lively.) Sunday's Instagram resurfacing, which attracted more than 40,000 likes in 15 minutes, drew a slew of supportive messages from Baldoni's fans. 'We stand with you Justin!!' wrote one of Baldoni's 4.2 million followers, while another wrote, 'We are thinking about you Justin ❤️ you and the family are adored ❤️.' Justin Baldoni Says He's 'Grateful to Be With the Family' Amid Blake Lively Lawsuit Drama The post made no reference to the latest developments in Baldoni's legal saga with Lively, which includes Lively's attorney's reportedly seeking access to Baldoni's financial records to determine if his defamation lawsuit against Lively, Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds and Lively's publicist Leslie Sloane can be proven. (After Lively's December 20, 2024, lawsuit was filed, Baldoni filed his own $400 million lawsuit against the trio on January 16.) Lively's initial lawsuit accused her former costar and director of creating a hostile work environment and engaging in sexual harassment. Her lawsuit alleged that Baldoni inflicted 'severe emotional distress' on Lively throughout the making of the film, of which Baldoni has also denied. Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios' $400 million defamation lawsuit saw Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman accusing the actress of a 'duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media.' Lively and Reynolds have both denied the accusations. Lively's recent request for access to Baldoni's financial records comes on the back of his lawyers subpoenaing Taylor Swift on Friday, May 9, for potential testimony in the forthcoming Baldoni-Lively trial, set to begin on March 9, 2026. Us Weekly obtained court documents in January in which Baldoni's legal team alleged that he and Lively exchanged text messages about Swift and Reynolds, purportedly offering feedback on the It Ends With Us' rooftop scene. Swift allowed her song 'My Tears Ricochet' to be used in the film. Blake Lively's Lawyers Seeking Access to Justin Baldoni's Financial Records: Report A spokesperson for Swift told Us in response to the subpoena, '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.' The statement concluded, 'The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, 'My Tears Ricochet.' Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.' The Baldoni-Lively trial's discovery period continues.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ryan Reynolds Doesn't Deny ‘Deadpool' Mocks Justin Baldoni, but Says He Can't Sue Over ‘Hurt Feelings'
In a motion to dismiss Justin Baldoni's and Wayfarer Studios' lawsuit against him and wife Blake Lively over 'mocking' him in 'Deadpool vs. Wolverine,' Ryan Reynolds said that the 'It Ends With Us' actor and director's complaints amount only to 'hurt feelings.' A key passage in the dismissal, obtained by TheWrap and filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, obtained by TheWrap, says that Baldoni's 'thin-skinned outrage over a movie character, the satirical 'woke' Nicepool, does not even pretend to be tied to any actual legal claims. 'Instead, the motion states, 'it falls into the [First Amended Complaint]'s general allegation of 'hurt feelings,' which in reality is nothing more than a desperate effort to advance the same curated 'bully' image that the Wayfarer Parties created and disseminated in the retaliation campaign they launched against Ms. Lively in August of 2024.' The dismissal also states that the Wayfarer suit 'fails to plead facts sufficient to establish a prima facie case as a matter of law' and failed to offer a 'single complete statement' proving defamation, 'because no such defamatory statement exists.' Reynolds' motion also repeated the assertion that Baldoni and his PR team 'launched a retaliatory 'social manipulation' campaign to 'destroy' and 'bury' her because she privately spoke up about sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct' during the making of 'It Ends With Us.' The document described Reynolds as merely 'being a supportive spouse who has witnessed firsthand the emotional, reputational, and financial devastation Ms. Lively has suffered.' It went on to state, 'Mr. Reynolds is a defendant in this action for one reason, and one reason only: because billionaire Plaintiff Steve Sarowitz [and Wayfarer co-founder] promised to spend up to $100 million to 'ruin' Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds.' The post Ryan Reynolds Doesn't Deny 'Deadpool' Mocks Justin Baldoni, but Says He Can't Sue Over 'Hurt Feelings' appeared first on TheWrap.
