Court documents state Lively is now seeking damages under a California law introduced in 2023.<\/p>\n
Her attorney, Michael Gottlieb, argued in a legal filing the legislation permits \u201csevere and mandatory penalties against any party who files unsuccessful retaliatory defamation actions against sexual harassment and retaliation complainants\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to the filing, Lively\u2019s claim is based on provisions designed to protect individuals who come forward with allegations of misconduct from retaliatory legal action.<\/p>\n
Gottlieb wrote: \u201cThe California Legislature intended for [the law] to deter litigation that would otherwise force survivors to defend against a long and expensive retaliatory defamation lawsuit by imposing \u2018significant remedies for successful defendants in defamation claims\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also described Baldoni\u2019s legal action as the \u201cprototypical suit\u201d the legislation was designed to address.<\/p>\n
The dispute follows Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit, dismissed due to privileged communications. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Gottlieb added: \u201cThus, as the prevailing defendant, Ms Lively is entitled not just to attorneys\u2019 fees and costs, but also compensatory damages tripled, and punitive damages.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hearing will take place in federal court in Manhattan, with each side expected to receive 30 minutes to present arguments.<\/p>\n
Neither Lively nor Baldoni is expected to attend in person.<\/p>\n
The pair\u2019s initial legal dispute began after Lively sued Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment and accusing him of orchestrating a \u201csmear campaign\u201d following her complaints about alleged conduct during the production of It Ends With Us.<\/p>\n
Baldoni subsequently filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds and The New York Times in January 2025, arguing the allegations against him were false.<\/p>\n
According to reports, the lawsuit was later dismissed because Lively\u2019s original allegations had been made to the California Civil Rights Department and were therefore considered privileged communications.<\/p>\n
The legal fight has reportedly generated enormous costs, with estimates suggesting both sides have collectively spent around $60 million on lawyers throughout the dispute.<\/p>\n
The case has also prompted debate among legal experts regarding the broader implications of the California statute.<\/p>\n
Dustin Pusch, a lawyer specialising in First Amendment cases, told The New York Times: \u201cIf you\u2019ve been falsely accused of something as serious as sexual assault, sexual harassment, and you actually feel you have a strong lawsuit, this law is going to make you think twice about taking this to court and trying to defend your reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to reports, another unusual feature of the proceedings is that once the judge issues a ruling, neither side will have the right to appeal the decision.<\/p>\n
The hearing is expected to determine whether Lively is entitled to damages and legal costs following the dismissal of Baldoni\u2019s defamation claim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Court documents state Lively is now seeking damages under a California law introduced in 2023. Her attorney, Michael…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[85777,5837,54174,1121,8474,1349,22427,156,78,17468,700,6712,85776,9523,111,139,69,13382,6443,40249,61,102],"class_list":["post-456686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-baldoni","tag-battle","tag-blake","tag-case","tag-chapter","tag-court","tag-damages","tag-entertainment","tag-in","tag-justin","tag-latest","tag-legal","tag-lively","tag-longrunning","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-returning","tag-returns","tag-seeking","tag-to","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}