On Thursday, in a filing in Manhattan federal court, Lively’s legal team said Baldoni’s $400 million defamation suit against the couple, Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, and the New York Times, is part of a “sinister campaign to bury and destroy” Lively for speaking out about sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us. Specifically, they cite a new California statute that was signed into law in 2023 and protects survivors of sexual assault from defamation lawsuits. They argue this law applies because Baldoni cited California law in his suit.
“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,” the motion reads. That law also includes a “mandatory fee shifting provision” which would mean, if Lively’s motion is successful, Baldoni and his Wayfarer partners would have to pay triple in damages and punitive damages.
“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,” her lawyers write, adding that the suit is “meritless and retaliatory.”
The motion further states that the “vengeful and rambling” suit is a “profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court,” adding that, with regards to the $400 million in damages, Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs from Wayfarer Studios “do not even try to explain its basis, much less specifically allege their so-called injuries.”
In December, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging Baldoni had sexually harassed her on the set of It Ends With Us. The complaint was revealed in a sprawling 4,000-word expose published by the New York Times that also detailed Baldoni’s actions on set—which included making inappropriate sexual remarks, walking in on Lively while breastfeeding, and talking repeatedly about his porn addiction. The story also revealed how Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, hired publicists to launch a smear campaign against Lively.
A few days after this, Lively filed an official lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and the publicists, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, in New York Federal Court, for severe emotional distress, lost wages, and mental pain and anguish, as well as retaliating against her for speaking up about sexual misconduct. On the same day, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against the Times, accusing them of “quietly working in concert with Lively’s team for weeks or months.” Less than two weeks later, Baldoni filed the aforementioned $400 million lawsuit in the Southern District of New York.
In Reynolds’ own motion to dismiss this week, he argued that Baldoni can’t sue him for saying he’s a sexual predator because, “while Mr. Baldoni ‘may not appreciate being called’ a predator, those hurt feelings do not give rise to legal claims.” In response, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told Page Six that Reynolds is “sending a clear message that bullying is acceptable.”
“While Ms. Lively has suffered greatly by speaking up and pursuing legal claims,” Lively’s reps said in a statement. “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.”
