Blake Lively files motion to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s ‘vengeful’ lawsuit, citing this California law

Plus, what “It Ends With Us” star Jenny Slate had to say when asked about the Lively-Baldoni drama.

Blake Lively filed to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit. The move comes two days after her husband, Ryan Reynolds, asked the court to do the same.

In the motion to dismiss, Lively’s legal team cited a California law that protects individuals from retaliatory lawsuits if they report allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct. If successful, Baldoni could be on the hook to cover Reynolds and Lively’s legal fees.

“This lawsuit is a profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court. California law now expressly prohibits suing victims who make the decision to speak out against sexual harassment or retaliation, whether in a lawsuit or in the press,” attorneys Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson told Yahoo Entertainment in a statement.

“This meritless and retaliatory lawsuit runs head first into three legal obstacles, including the litigation, fair report and sexual harassment privileges, the latter of which contains a mandatory fee shifting provision that will require the likes of billionaire Steve Sarowitz, Wayfarer Studios and others that brought frivolous defamation claims against Ms. Lively to pay damages,” Gottlieb and Hudson continued. “In other words, in an epic self-own, the Wayfarer Parties’ attempt to sue Ms. Lively ‘into oblivion’ has only created more liability for them, and deservedly so, given what they have done.”

A spokesperson for Lively said it’s “a painful reality” that the actress is “not alone in being sued for defamation after speaking up about being sexually harassed at work.”

“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,” the rep added, citing California’s recently enacted AB 933 that gives victims legal protection.

Lively’s motion, which was obtained by Yahoo, slammed Baldoni’s “vengeful and rambling lawsuit.” The complaint claimed Baldoni’s countersuit “is a profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court.” It also called out Baldoni and his co-defendants’ “bizarre theories” about the actress’s intentions.

“On the one hand, the Wayfarer Parties insist that Ms. Lively is an immensely powerful Hollywood superstar who, along with her influential husband, wielded power to steal creative control over the Film; but on the other hand, they claim she was so powerless that the only way she could have any power was by manufacturing sexual harassment allegations almost a year in advance in a Machiavellian long game,” the complaint stated. “These two concepts contradict each other and therefore cannot coexist.”

The complaint once again reiterated many of Lively’s sexual harassment allegations she claimed to have experienced while filming It Ends With Us. It alleges that Baldoni’s lawsuit is “full of admissions that the incidents underlying Ms. Lively’s sexual harassment claims occurred.”

Some of the examples set forth are that a simulated nude scene was filmed without an intimacy coordinator present, Baldoni discussed orgasming while having sex with his wife and that he improvised while filming romantic scenes.

It Ends With Us star Jenny Slate has stayed above the fray, aside from releasing a statement of support for Lively early on in December 2024.

During an interview with the Hollywood Reporter published on Thursday, Slate — who played Baldoni’s sister in the film — was asked about the ongoing drama.