Blake Lively has joined her husband Ryan Reynolds in filing a motion to be dismissed from Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit, calling Baldoni’s claims a “profound abuse” of the legal system.
What did Blake Lively’s motion for dismissal say?
According to a new motion filed by Lively and her legal team (via Deadline), Lively cites a California misconduct law that protects individuals who report sexual misconduct from retaliatory lawsuits. Lively’s legal team claim that their motion fits perfectly into that, noting that Baldoni is “weaponizing” his defamation lawsuit.
“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 motion reads, in part.
The motion also argues that Baldoni’s countersuit is nothing but the filmmaker being vindictive against Lively, a move her legal team describes as an “abuse of the legal process.”
“This lawsuit is a profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court,” Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, attorneys for Lively, said in a statement. “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 exact law they are citing in the motion, Assembly Bill 933, was added to California law in 2023 and protects individuals who make statements about harassment, assault, or discrimination from defamation claims unless they acted with genuine malice. Should the court grant Lively’s motion, Baldoni’s lawsuit would be dismissed and the filmmaker would be forced to pay for Lively’s legal fees as well.
Reynolds filed to dismiss the suit this week
In a motion to dismiss filed this week (via Deadline), Reynolds and his legal team said that Baldoni’s entire reason for suing Reynolds are based around two times where Reynolds allegedly called Baldoni a “predator,” as well as the appearance of “Nicepool” in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, a character that Baldoni claims was made and included to mock him.
“The entirety of Plaintiffs’ defamation claim appears to be based on two times that Mr. Reynolds allegedly called Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’” the motion reads, in part. “But, the FAC alleges no plausible facts that suggest Mr. Reynolds did not believe this comment to be true.”
Reynolds’ legal team, led by Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, continued to tear down Baldoni’s lawsuit, calling it nothing more of a “gossip rag” filled with “thin-skinned outrage” than an actual legal document. Although Reynolds’ motion doesn’t exactly deny Reynolds calling Baldoni a predator, it does say that even if that happened, it doesn’t constitute defamation if Reynolds actually believes it.
“The entirety of Mr. Baldoni’s case appears to be based on Mr. Reynolds allegedly privately calling Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’ but here is the problem, that is not defamation unless they can show that Mr. Reynolds did not believe that statement to be true,” the motion states. “The complaint doesn’t allege that, and just the opposite, the allegations in the complaint suggest that Mr. Reynolds genuinely believes Mr. Baldoni is a predator.
“Mr. Reynolds’ wife has accused Mr. Baldoni — privately and in multiple complaints — of sexual harassment and retaliation, and as pointed out by Mr. Reynolds’ motion, Mr. Baldoni has also openly spoken about his past of mistreating women and pushing the boundaries of consent. Mr. Reynolds has a First Amendment right to express his opinion of Mr. Baldoni, which should be comforting to a group of people who have repeatedly called Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds ‘bullies’ and other names over the past year.”
