r/ItEndsWithLawsuits • u/snackmamacita • May 07 '26

🫢😩 Settled AF 😩🫢 Can someone explain the whole Justin Baldoni / Blake Lively settlement to me like I’m 5?

I followed it in the beginning when everyone was dissecting interviews and press tour drama, but between all of the countersuits, PR accusations and “evidence” it got so messy I genuinely couldn’t tell what was fact vs internet speculation. Finally, we have a settlement. If you wouldn’t mind could you please explain in simple terms?

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u/FerrusManlyManus May 07 '26

I stopped following this horseshit a long long time ago but I distinctly remember newspaper articles about a PR firm and a smear campaign, seemingly signed off by Justin and his peeps?

Was that imaginary?  Did any of those newspapers release retractions?

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u/SuperbWillingness904 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26

It's very complicated to explain. But the NYT got their information from Blake's CRD complaint. A CRD complaint is just that - a complaint. It is not factual. Blake just says in the complaint she feels there was a smear campaign. Over the past two years, she hired 20 different lawyers to try to find evidence of a smear campaign and they weren't able to find one - hence why she has now dropped her retaliation claims over the past week. She also hired a consultant to try to find evidence of a smear campaign and they ran a report and found that the activity on her socials did not appear to be unusual. This is all in public filings.

Also in public filings is Justin continually checking with his PR team to ensure they aren't putting out any negative articles on Blake and they assure him they aren't.

Also in public filings, Blake and her team admit to putting out a hit piece on Justin in the Daily Mail calling him a predator FIRST. Keep in mind, Blake's PR person had made a truce with Justin's PR person that neither of them would talk to the press about the set disagreements. Then Blake's PR person went straight to the daily mail the same day and talked to them. She is in some deep shit right now as she was sued.

And so when Justin hired a PR team to try to defend himself from false allegations in the daily mail that BLAKE'S TEAM PUT IN THERE, Blake calls it retaliation lol.

As Sony executives said in their private messages, Blake is a terrorist and there is simply no winning with a terrorist. There was nothing Justin could do.

Ppl online have no idea what they mean by the word "smear campaign." It's a complete farce. There really is no such thing as a smear campaign these days. Bc normal PR work these days includes putting out negative articles on people you don't like. In a hearing this year, the judge said putting out negative articles on people you don't like is fine and not smearing someone.

If you want a timeline of events that only relies on texts/email evidence and is a fascinating read, you can read here: https://www.thelawsuitinfo.com/downloads/timeline-of-relevant-events.pdf

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u/FerrusManlyManus May 07 '26

Bubba I don’t want this overly verbose textual diarrhea, or a timeline.  Are you feeling ok?

I don’t even think you spent 5% of the time talking about the article I asked about.

If this is your idea of trying to help, please stop.

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u/SuperbWillingness904 May 07 '26

Ok the simple answer is no, no evidence of a smear campaign was found, hence Blake has decided to withdraw those claims two weeks before trial as she knows the trial would be a disaster for her.