Did Blake Lively begin her amended lawsuit with a Justin Baldoni quote? Details emerge as actress adds new defamation allegations against co-star

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle has recently witnessed a new development as the former has now filed an amended lawsuit on February 18, 2025, based on the allegations she imposed against Baldoni last year. While the amended case features new accusations aimed at Justin, it grabbed attention for another reason.

The beginning of the legal documents included a quote from Baldoni's speech he gave while appearing in a TED Talk episode in 2018 and it reads:

"Are you confident enough to listen to the women in your life? To hear their ideas and their solutions? To hold their anguish and actually believe them, even if what they're saying is against you? And… will you actually stand up and do something so that one day we don't have to live in a world where a woman has to risk everything and come forward to say the words 'me too?'"

Blake Lively's amended lawsuit features evidence to prove the claims she has previously made against Justin Baldoni. According to People magazine, a spokesperson for Lively said that the new lawsuit includes details about other women who spoke to the actress about how they felt uncomfortable and were scared to speak up on the same.

The legal documents also feature a defamation claim referring to the alleged false claims made by the defendants about Blake after she originally filed the lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

The news comes after Baldoni also amended the lawsuit he filed against Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, the duo's publicist, and The New York Times.

Justin also alleged in a complaint last month that Lively did not read the book based on which the film It Ends With Us was made. Baldoni additionally claimed in his complaint that Blake allegedly tried to have control during the film's making and attempted to intervene in the production process simultaneously.

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Blake Lively's amended lawsuit featured the experience of two actresses with Justin Baldoni

According to The Hollywood Reporter, two actresses have allegedly decided to open up about their experience with Justin Baldoni in the past. The names of the actresses have not been added to the amended lawsuit to protect their privacy.

On the other hand, Blake's spokesperson also told The Hollywood Reporter that the alleged victims have given their consent to "share their communications" in the amended lawsuit. While speaking to the outlet on February 19, Lively's lawyers, Hudson and Gottlieb said in a statement that reads in part:

"The complaint includes significant contemporaneous evidence that Ms. Lively was not alone in raising allegations of on-set misconduct more than a year before the film was edited; as well as evidence detailing the threats, harassment, and intimidation of not just Ms. Lively, but numerous innocent bystanders that have followed defendants' retaliatory campaign."

The court documents disclosed that Blake Lively had once gotten in touch with a woman, who also shared a close friendship with Justin Baldoni, around two years ago, and told her:

"I was gonna invite you to set tomorrow. These people. Whoa … It's like HR nuts today. The both of them. I wasn't expecting that turn. I mean it's been present but today I came home and cried."

Furthermore, Blake Lively later approached Sony employee Ange Gianetti to address the alleged behavior of Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios partner, Jamey Heath. Apart from the woman Lively spoke to, another cast member opened up about her similar experience with Baldoni and Heath, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

The legal documents also stated that Steve Sarowitz, the co-founder of Wayfarer Studios, reportedly told one of the alleged witnesses that he would save his company just like how "Israel protected itself from Hamas." Apart from this, the amended lawsuit also added two more defendants, including Jed Wallace and his company Street Relations.

Meanwhile, Justin Baldoni is yet to share a response to the amended lawsuit, and a comment from Blake Lively is currently awaited.