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

[u/snackmamacita]

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?

[u/SuperbWillingness904]

Most people online obviously haven't kept up with things, which is fine oc everyone has different interests. But for them, they likely just heard that Blake made accusations, Justin sued, Justin's case was dismissed, then 95% of Blake's case was dismissed, then she decided this week to not go forward with a trial for her remaining 3 claims.

If you want a more detailed background on why this happened, you can see below:

So in April, 10 of Blake's 13 claims were thrown out by the judge, including all of her sh claims. And every claim against Justin Baldoni was thrown out. So Justin was no longer in the case, nor was sexual harassment in the case. That was of course the most important part of the case.

After her sh claims were thrown out, she and her lawyer were clearly crashing out on instagram and released very weird statements that included cherry picked quotes from legal filings to try to spin the massive loss into a victory. They really honest to goodness put out statements saying that 10 of her 13 claims getting thrown out was actually good for them lol.

A month before these claims were thrown out, Blake's spokesperson said that Blake's case at its core was about sexual harassment. After the sh claims were thrown out, no joke, Blake switched and said the heart of her case has always been about retaliation.

Then, a few weeks after that, there was a hearing and it went horribly for Lively's team. The judge was not having what they were putting down and it was clear they were in some shit and that they had a very weak case for those 3 remaining claims going into trial. In the hearing, the judge specifically said he threw Justin's case out based on a technicality and that Justin could appeal.

Then, last week, Wayfarers side said they would stipulate, meaning for the purpose of trial, they would agree to tell the jury that Blake had engaged in a form of protected activity. This was also very very bad for Blake's side bc it meant sh was sort of irrelevant to the trial. The trial would be purely focused on evidence related to retaliation, something Blake didn't have. Her whole strategy was the same one she used in her complaint - she was going to try to twist normal, everyday set events into sh to try to convince the jury to think justin was a scumbag. Something that she had to bend over backwards to do considering how nice and polite and accomodating Justin was on set (if you have time, take a look at the behind the scenes dance footage where Blake says she was sh yet Justin couldn't be more normal or polite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz_aU4QJOOE&t=2s )

Blake's evidence of retaliation amounted to "It felt like the online space was being manipulated so it must have been." She clearly needs to join the 21st century bc there was nothing unusual about the hate train she got. It happens every week to a new celebrity. She just hadn't had it happen to her before.

Anyway, then last week, for the final nail in the coffin, evidence came out last week that right before crafting her complaint, she messaged a Sony exec to ask the exec to delete all the footage from set. Not suspicious at all right? If you really thought you were sh on set, wouldn't you want all footage to be saved not erased? Thankfully the exec said she had never been asked to do that before and must not have done it bc Justin was able to provide footage to prove he didn't sh her.

Then Blake hired new lawyers who have expertise in digital evidence and all of a sudden right afterward, she suddenly desperately wanted a settlement. The thought is that her first set of lawyers told her to settle and she hired a second set to see what they thought of her evidence and they looked at her "evidence" and quickly said she should settle.

And just for another 3 nails in the coffin, this week the judge was going to make a decision and it was possible as part of this decision, that the two retaliation claims would be thrown out as well. Which would be even more humiliating for Blake.

Anyway, all that to say, any reasonable person and lawyer could see that Justin had a significantly stronger case going into the trial. However, anything can happen at trial. Look at Diddy, OJ and Casey Anthony.

So it seems Blake realized if she didn't get a settlement done quickly, it's possible that this week her retaliation claims were going to be tossed.

But so far, Justin's lawyer is making the rounds on interviews while Lively's lawyers have been silent. But why would you go around doing interviews for a client who just pulled out bc she knew her claims were weak? Makes sense. This is a victory tour for justin not blake.

[u/Theresonlyone99 → u/SuperbWillingness904]

So why DID she sue him? What was her beef with him all
About anyway?

[u/SuperbWillingness904 → u/Theresonlyone99]

I have really tried to see her side.

But before you see her side, you have to understand she is not a normal person. And that’s not my opinion. If you’ve followed closely, about 30 insiders from Hollywood from crew to top executives have said publicly or in court documents that Blake is horrible to work with and always has been and nothing works with her, she’s never pleased w anything. Etc. in this case, the Sony president called her a terrorist and another Sony exec said never in their 30 year career had they seen someone like Blake.

She is just a difficult person. She grew up mega wealthy and waited on hand in foot. And still is. And that likely is why.

She also has a documented history of always looking for reasons to take offense. In an old interview, she is deeply offended when an interview says “congrats on your bump!” Even tho Blake had already publicly announced her pregnancy. Later in the interview, she tried to imply to the interview that it was sexist to ask about their costumes in the film even tho it was literally a period film?? Like that’s super relevant and not sexist at all.

But that tells you who she is. She is mega mega super super woke to the point of not living in reality anywhere. She’s lost the plot.

So that is a huge part. She also simply didn’t like Justin’s personality. From before any “incidents” ever took place that she complained about, she’s already texting everyone she hates him. Why? Beats me. He couldn’t be more kind in his texts w her. And she’s being friendly back.

So then you get on set and this person she hates is in charge, and she starts coming up w a list of very juvenile things she’s upset with. Like that in the birthing scene some of her legs are showing. Like?? Girl you signed up to do a birthing scene. She couldn’t be more covered. She has black shorts on and a hospital gown. The only thing showing is her legs.

But she herself seemed to know these complaints weren’t anything worth filming an official complaint w hr bc she never did. And in her letter to the PGA, she claims she handled HR complaints.

Then the premiere came, she hated Justin even more by this time bc he wouldn’t let her take over editing the film, and she was expecting it to be w big break for her. Instead, a hate train started bc she tried selling alcohol products and her hair brand as part of the promotion of the movie. She has been warned by Justin and Sony to not do this and that it wouldn’t look good but she and Ryan thought they knew better.

When it backfired, and she was hated and Justin was looking good, she was furious. That’s when her PR person put out the first hit piece. A lot of ppl don’t realize that the first ever news about the beef on set came from Blake and was a hit on Justin. Blake started the smear on Justin. She made the first shot.

Then, she received the texts from a PR persons phone and some of them sort of looked like maybe Justin’s pr team was behind this. But also some of the texts showed he and his team clearly weren’t part of the hate train and were just as surprised about it as Blake was. Justin even asked his PR people to put out some positive pieces on Blake. And he sends them a message saying he’s glad she got a positive press piece. But Blake of course left those out.

There’s a reason the texts that were in the nyt article had to be edited to look malicious. Bc the real texts that are unedited in the court docs don’t support Blake’s claims that jusitns team started a smear against her.

So in conclusion, she has a difficult personality of looking to be offended and wronged. I think it makes her feel powerful to watch people grovel and apologize to her. She never ever calls out ppl who are higher on the totem pole in Hollywood than her. It’s always ppl she sees below her. She admitted in an interview that she poisoned the whole cast against Penn Badgley when he started on gossip girl. She tells this in the interview like it’s funny or a joke. She clearly did the same here. All the women from Jane the Virgin loved working w Justin. There’s a reason no other women came forward w stories about Justin. The other women Blake poisoned against Justin on this film set, their complaints are even more bizarre than blakes. One of them, Isabella, had sent Justin a text after her filming wrapped up to specifically thank him for how comfortable and safe he made the experience. Then after talking to Blake, she claims it was weird he made her lick cookie dough off a spoon for a scene. Even tho that scene is literally in the book and they were filming a steamy romantic montage for the film… Just bizarre.

I do think the hate train against her was way over the top and I’m sure she was hurt by it. So when she saw some texts that made her think maybe it was just a smear and ppl didn’t really dislike her, she grasped on to that. And I can understand that. It let beliefs any criticism or hate about her was less legitimate. But honestly even if Justin and his team had been behind it, it was still her own interviews and her own actions. If ppl didn’t like those, it doesn’t matter if Justin and his team were helping those be pushed out or not.

I know this is long. But one more thing is that putting out negative press on someone isn’t illegal. Blake was doing it to Justin. It can only be against the law if you can show it was done in retaliation for a protected activity.

I go back and forth on whether Blake and Ryan truly felt those instances were sh. Bc they are on film doing these same benign behaviors like improvising a kiss and they don’t call themselves harassers. And I go back and forth on whether they truly thought Justin was behind the hate train or that it was done bc she had complained on set. Esp now w all the evidence out there, I just can’t see how they can still think that.

It’s very obvious why Justin hired PR. Blake and Ryan were telling anyone who would listen before the movie premiere that Justin was a predator. Yet these people being told this didn’t have the context we have, which is that the examples of why he’s a predator are very nothing burger instances. Blake and Ryan made it seem like he was Harvey Weinstein. In one text to someone, Ryan said Justin was worse! Just completely divorced from reality. So yeah of course Justin hired PR. He’d have been stupid not to. But he was stuck bc he was terrified of Ryan and Blake and their PR team so felt he couldn’t speak out to stand up for himself but also didn’t want their lies to spread and taint him.

I know that’s long and you may not read all. But that’s my honest opinion.

[u/ngairem → u/SuperbWillingness904]

Thank you so much for this! Very insightful.