⁠What is ‘scorched earth litigation’? Blake Lively’s latest accusation against Justin Baldoni in their ongoing legal battle explored

Blake Lively is doubling down on her s*xual assault allegations against It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni amid the ongoing legal drama.

According to Us Weekly, Blake Lively's legal team has accused Baldoni of using “scorched earth litigation” to prevent anyone from speaking up against alleged s*xual abusers. Lively's legal counsel, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, alleged to the outlet in a statement that Baldoni has been trying to "tear down" laws that protect victims.

According to an April 2020 article from the Daily Breeze, the definition of “scorched earth litigation” is

conduct whose goal is to wear down the other side, create excessive amounts of work, and act relentless.

The article further states that

tactics may also involve a level of underhandedness. [...] It is a way of trying to “crush” the other side and not surprisingly, such behavior is neither respected in the profession nor by the Courts.

New details in Blake Lively's case against Justin Baldoni explored:

In a statement to Us Weekly, Blake Lively's lawyers said:

“Mr. Baldoni has gone from monetizing a brand devoted to believing and supporting women, to leading the charge to tear down the very law that protects women who come forward about sexual assault, harassment and discrimination. California’s sexual harassment privilege, AB 933, was enacted to stop perpetrators of sexual harassment from abusing defamation lawsuits to sue their accusers into oblivion.”

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni worked together for the It Ends With Us film, and their legal drama began shortly after, in December 2024. At the time, the former levied allegations of s*xual harassment and orchestrating a "smear campaign" against her.

Later that month, Baldoni fired back with a $400 million lawsuit against the New York Times, which reported the allegations. He also slammed Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her longtime publicist Leslie Sloane for defamation, among other claims. All parties involved in the ongoing suit have categorically denied the claims against them.

In their statement from this Thursday, Hudson and Gottlieb claimed that Baldoni's legal team's tactics indicate a "chilling message.”

“The chilling message scorched earth litigation sends to victims is stay silent or be destroyed,” the statement reads. “As demonstrated in the reply brief Ms. Lively filed today, the Wayfarer Parties’ attempt to slap Ms. Lively with a retaliatory lawsuit for her decision to speak out against the sexual harassment she experienced on set has not only failed miserably but exposes them to substantial economic damages. Ms. Lively will continue to show all victims that they are not alone, that they do not have to stay silent, and that the law is on their side.”

Just last month, Blake Lively's lawyers filed a motion to have Baldoni's suit thrown out, claiming in documents, as reported by the outlet, that

“Wayfarer Parties have tied themselves in knots trying to state a defamation claim against Ms. Lively that is not barred by the statute of limitations or wholly contained within her Legal Complaints, which they concede cannot form the basis of any actionable claims.”

At the time, they also rubbished Baldoni's claims as “vengeful and rambling," accusing him of abusing the legal system.

However, Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, responded to these sentiments via a motion filed on Thursday, April 3, by defending Baldoni with a complaint that allegedly outlines details of

“Lively’s calculated efforts first to extort and manipulate”

Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios production team

“into ceding total control over the film It Ends with Us and then to defame and scapegoat them when her plan backfired.”

“Ms. Lively and her circle of Hollywood elites cannot prevent my clients from exercising their constitutional right to petition the court to clear their names from her false and harmful claims,” read Freedman’s statement on April 3. “What Ms. Lively is attempting to do is to set a dangerous precedent by barring the courthouse doors to my clients and punishing them for having their day in court, a right protected by the First Amendment.”

The response continued:

“This right protects not only Mr. Baldoni and the Wayfarer parties in this particular case, but all Americans in the future who have false accusations levied against them and seek relief from our justice system. This must stop here, and we will continue to fight against this blatant attempt to block access to the court system and to weaken our nation’s Constitution to serve those who are in the position of power.”

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Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively's legal woes come after months of intense speculation online pertaining to tensions between the two during the promotion of their film, seeing as they did press separately and failed to pose together.

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