Blake Lively scored a major win in her ongoing legal saga against her It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni when a federal judge shockingly dismissed his $400 million countersuit against her earlier this week (you can learn more about that here).
The actress was seen looking elated on a red carpet after the suit was tossed, and she also took a victory lap on social media. But are all the celebrations premature? On Wednesday’s show, Megyn explained the looming legal battle Lively still faces and, beyond that, why she believes she is losing in the court of public opinion.
Megyn’s Take
“[Blake Lively] is acting like she won the case in chief against him. She didn’t, nor did the judge find that Justin’s allegations are untrue. The judge basically said, ‘You can’t sue her for allegations she makes in a complaint she filed with the Civil Rights Department. You can’t sue her for defamation for that. It is covered by privilege.’ He didn’t say what she said was true. He didn’t say, ‘Justin is likely to lose this case at trial.’ But she is acting like the judge did, and it is a lie…
An ‘insider’ told People she has been crying with relief and feels vindicated. Well, I really think her days of feeling relieved and super happy about this case are numbered. And to be honest, I don’t think they are as joyful as she is portraying and her PR people are portraying in the media right now…
As a practical matter, what is going to happen going forward is Justin is now the defendant and Blake is now the plaintiff. That is a very simple formula. It is a very simple case now of he said, she said. There are no more cross claims; no more New York Times; no more press people. It is her vs. him. And on the merits of that case, I believe she will lose in this court of law.
She is going to get Amber Heard-ed, and it is going to be brutal. Mark my words: It is not going to be pretty when she gets crossed-examined by [attorney] Bryan Freedman.
I don’t know, but I don’t believe either side is in the mood to settle. It is possible because, don’t forget, she lost a major piece of her complaint, too, earlier last week when her claims for emotional distress had to be thrown out. If they are going to settle, now would be the time…
But what I believe, as of now anyway, is that both sides are so dug in they are likely to barrel forward to trial. Bryan Friedman wants to get Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds under deposition and force them to respond to some of the very, very strong evidence he has that they are liars – that, at least, she is a liar and he has been misled deeply by his troubled wife.
So, I think that is probably where I put my bet. And I believe when this goes to trial, she will lose.
But the point I want to make is: She has already lost this case. This whole case was about PR. I believe it began because when they launched this movie, which is about domestic abuse, she suffered a round of unflattering press. She suffered that round of press, I believe, thanks to her own terrible personality, and bad behavior, and bullying tactics – both against reporters and against Justin Baldoni and others on that set – which started to leak and turned the public on her.
She was inappropriate in promoting the movie, which is about sexual battery of women, and she kept smiling, and laughing, and pimping her hair company and her weird flowers. Her affect was too light, and she seemed like she didn’t understand what actual victims of abuse go through.
She unfollowed Justin on all of his social accounts before the premiere. She relegated him to a basement. She was clearly trying to gin up questions about what had happened between the two of them, and then, boom, she dropped the hammer a couple months later with this complaint that mysteriously, miraculously wound up in The New York Times.
This was, in my opinion, Blake Lively trying to redeem herself in the public eye because she couldn’t stand the round of bad publicity she suffered that she brought upon herself… She thought she was going to be able to bully Justin Baldoni, that this was 2018 again, that he would cower on the receiving end of these #MeToo allegations she leaked… And this hasn’t worked out well for Blake Lively because he did not cower. He did not hide in the basement. He did not roll over. He hired Bryan Friedman, who fought back against Blake Lively. She looks like a craven liar. Her reputation is in tatters…
Good luck getting your next big Hollywood blockbuster role. You guys are going to be dining off of Ryan Reynolds’ money from here to eternity, and she knows it… But it’s not about money for her. She wants to be a star. She wants to be cast. Do you think it is tough to find a lot of beautiful, blonde Hollywood actresses who really would like to star in a film and don’t have a reputation of being a complete diva? Good luck to her.
She has already ruined her own career. This fight was always a PR one. She was trying to drag him to improve her own standing. He fought back, and he has done what he needed to do already. People know. No one will ever look at her the same…
So, she is not in a good position… She cares about her reputation and her ability to get cast in future films, and I am sure she would love for Justin Baldoni to never be able to make a movie again. And she has failed at both goals.”
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,091 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.