Blake Lively is “looking forward” to facing Justin Baldoni in court during their upcoming trial — despite all but three of her claims being thrown out on Thursday.
“This case has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial,” Sigrid McCawley, a member of Lively’s legal team, told Page Six in a statement on Thursday.
McCawley added that for Lively, “the greatest measure of justice is that the people and the playbook behind these coordinated digital attacks have been exposed and are already being held accountable by other women they’ve targeted,” and said the “Gossip Girl” alum “looks forward to testifying at trial and continuing to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation so that it becomes easier to detect and fight.”
The attorney concluded by clarifying, “Sexual harassment isn’t going forward not because the defendants did nothing wrong but because the court determined Blake Lively was an independent contractor, not an employee.”
Following the news on Thursday, in which a judge dismissed all of Lively’s sexual harassment claims, but allowed her claims of breach of contract, retaliation and aiding and abetting in retaliation to proceed — attorneys for Baldoni also spoke out.
“We’re very pleased the Court dismissed all sexual harassment claims and every claim brought against the individual defendants: Justin Baldoni, Jamey Heath, Steve Sarowitz, Melissa Nathan, and Jennifer Abel,” Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach told Page Six in a statement.
“These were very serious allegations, and we are grateful to the Court for its careful review of the facts, law and voluminous evidence that was provided.”
They concluded, “What’s left is a significantly narrowed case, and we look forward to presenting our defense to the remaining claims in court.”
This is a developing story…
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