Manatt Secures Important Settlement for Blake Lively

A Manatt team, led by Employment and Labor Leader , secured a favorable and critically important settlement for Blake Lively in her case against Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.

Lively’s claims focused on alleged retaliation and related misconduct arising after she raised concerns about inappropriate behavior during production of the film It Ends With Us. As the case progressed, the court preserved her core retaliation claims, finding that key factual questions warranted consideration by a jury. Lively’s affirmative claims were resolved in the settlement, which was announced in a of the parties. The settlement preserved one motion that is currently before the court, relating to Lively’s claims under the Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits Act, codified in California Civil Code Section 47.1, which shields individuals who speak out about sexual assault, harassment or discrimination from retaliatory defamation claims.

The motion arises from Lively’s successful defense, led by Manatt, against Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit, which the court dismissed last year. Section 47.1 imposes severe and mandatory penalties against plaintiffs, like Baldoni and the other Wayfarer Parties, who unsuccessfully file retaliatory defamation actions against sexual harassment and retaliation complainants, like Lively. The parties agreed to submit the imposition of penalties – including attorneys’ fees and costs, treble damages and punitive damages – to the court for final and binding adjudication, as the last step in the litigation and settlement process.  

“This settlement is a resounding victory for Blake Lively. By agreeing to this settlement, and waiving their right to appeal, Justin Baldoni and every individual defendant now face personal liability for abusing the legal system to silence and intimidate Ms. Lively,” said Hudson and co-counsel Michael Gottlieb of Willkie, Farr and Gallagher. “And by admitting that Ms. Lively’s concerns ‘deserved to be heard,’ the defendants have ended once and for all the fiction that Ms. Lively ‘fabricated’ claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. From day one Blake Lively’s mission was clear: expose and hold accountable those who weaponize smear campaigns and retaliatory lawsuits to intimidate and silence survivors. That mission continues.”

The Manatt team, led by Hudson, included partners , , and , and associates , , , and .

Learn more about the settlement .