u/30265Red

Making a post as I don't know which tread to ask this: what's going on with Sloane's and Reynolds' side quests for attorney fees and sanctions?

The Times filed their complaint in state court, but I'm not sure what happened with these two. If I recall correctly, Sloane sought around $1 million in compensation in federal court, but the judge denied her motion. I can't remember whether the judge left the door open for her to pursue those claims in another court, and if so, whether she has filed anything since.

As for Reynolds, didn't he file a joint motion for attorney fees and sanctions with Lively? If that's right, was that motion resolved by the settlement and/ or by the judge's ruling on the 47.1 motion? I don't think it was, since the judge didn't addressing it in rulling, did he?

I have a feeling Wayfarer is about to be hit with lawsuits from every direction. They're already dealing with The Times, SJ, and the insurance dispute. I wouldn't be surprised if Sloane and Reynolds are next. I also wouldn't be shocked if Blake and Ryan are rallying their dragons/minions to bring additional claims, not because they expect Wayfarer to pay anything damages, but because it would cause them pain and generate more headlines - at someone else's expense. It's a win-win strategy for a vicious couple thirsty for blood and revenge, specially after a major loss. That narc injury will never heal.

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NAL, so this is bound to be full of holes and terminology issues, but hear me out.

One of the most telling things the judge said towards the end was: "I'm not sure how to make the statute work except as a counterclaim." That makes a lot of sense (to me at least) because a defendant can either defeat a claim at the MTD stage and then countersue for punitive damages, or fight the lawsuit through to the end, win, and then seek punitive damages as the prevailing party.

Blake being Blake, she wants to have her cake and eat it too. She wants to bypass trial, avoid scrutiny of the evidence, and still collect punitive damages. Tripled. Decided by a judge.

Thinking about Wayfarer's strategy versus Blake's strategy is interesting. Wayfarer chose to respond to and fight Blake's claims, go through discovery, and only at the very end file their MJOP and MSJ. It was a risky strategy, and they were heavily criticized for it. But let's face it: it was brilliant. The evidence was overwhelmingly on their side, and they achieved exactly what they set out to achieve: absolution in the court of public opinion (or at least among the vast majority of it).

Blake could have responded to and fought the Wayfarer lawsuit. Instead, she chose to get it dismissed on the law/pleading deficiencies before discovery, rather than on the merits. So yes, in a sense she is the prevailing party. But the premise that Wayfarer's lawsuit was retaliatory and meritless was never proven. The issues of privilege and malice were never decided. Damages were never determined, let alone calculated.

My (limited) understanding is these matters are crucial to determine whether 47.1 apply but none could realistically have been decided at the MTD stage because they involve questions of fact rather than questions of law alone. If the court were to start making those determinations at this stage, it would create obvious appellate issues, which is particularly problematic in this case given the settlement terms of the consolidated case.

So the judge is very right to be concerned about effectively deciding the merits without evidentiary hearings or a trial. He damn well should be, in a case where factual issues were never developed through discovery, tested through evidence, or resolved by a factfinder, the last thing a court should be doing is making findings that everyone is then expected to accept as definitive.

Thinking about what this law is actually trying to achieve: it exists to discourage abusers from burying victims in expensive litigation for engaging in protected activity in good faith. What I don't think it was intended to do is prevent people who have been wrongly accused from defending themselves.

I think 47.1 is a well-meaning statute that was poorly written and insufficiently thought through. And that’s probably because people are often reluctant to acknowledge that malicious actors can and do make false allegations of SH and SA for personal gain. The law seems to have been written with only one type of bad actor in mind. Can it be fixed? Again, I’m NAL but I should hope so. Maybe if it’s determined that the statute applies in these circumstances:

1. A prevailing defendant in a lawsuit where good-faith claims were protected under 47.1, and where damages have been proven and determined by the court through MSJ or trial. In that case, the statute automatically applies when damages are awarded.
2. A prevailing defendant in a case dismissed under Rule 12(b), who then becomes the prevailing plaintiff in a countersuit involving claims protected under 47.1, and where damages have been proven and determined by the court through MSJ or trial. In that case, the statute applies when damages are awarded to the countersuit plaintiff.

However, if a defendant chooses to have a lawsuit dismissed under Rule 12(b) AND decides not to file a countersuit, then they would have waived the right to seek punitive damages under the statute.

Would that be a way to prevent 47.1 being applied against those who wish nothing but the right to defend themselves?

For now, the judge can simply do what the California federal judge Ellen cited did and say: look, I didn't dismiss Wayfarer's case based on 47.1, so it doesn't automatically apply. And I'm certainly not going to entertain applying it now when there has been no trial to determine factual issues such as malice and damages. If you want to pursue those claims, file a countersuit in the proper estate court. But get the hell out of here, because I'm not about to reopen discovery in a case that has already been consolidated into another case, settled with zero damages awarded, and where neither party can appeal.

What the judge actually does and what happens next in this neverending court case is anyone's guess. But I am sure that very soon some advocacy group somewhere will be making an effort not to kill but to revisit 47.1 many problems. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that's Wayfarer's next move: once all of this is over, they end up fighting to preserve and improve the very law that was used against them. That would be a feel good ending to this saga, wouldn’t it?

I feel I need to retract my previous post, “It ends with the silence of an NDA”

I am still not a fan of the joint statement, but thinking about it, it was kind of genius. They only had to wait a few days for Blake’s (Ryan’s) insatiable need to annihilate Wayfarer to go nuclear and end up self-imploding. Again.

Now that we know the full terms of the settlement, there is no doubt it was a clear win for Wayfarer, but like any settlement it came with a few compromises. He gave up his right to appeal the countersuit, gave up on the public apology, and even gave Blake a way out: a joint statement vague enough that she could spin just enough to save face with the few people who wanted her to save face: her Hollywood friends, the studio execs who want Ryan to remain profitable, their circle of influential people who care more about fame and money than decency, and of course, the people who, for some reason, still think Blake was wronged by Wayfarer in some way.

I was disappointed with the joint statement exactly because of that, they didn’t hold her accountable for anything. Even though we all know Blake will never be fully redeemed in the court of public opinion, the joint statement gave her a way out. Yes, she would still have her haters, but if Lively had taken the sane route and quietly cut her losses, she could have survived this, and even used the opportunity to reinvent herself. And the idea she would get a pass after everything that happened was unbearable to me.

But kudos to Wayfarer, they knew fairly well this was never going to happen. They are painfully aware of Blake’s (Ryan’s) pattern of behaviour by now. They just needed to remain composed and ignore the veiled attacks and microaggressions from the Lively camp long enough for her (him) to go nuclear, only to backfire. Again.

She thought the Met Gala appearance hours after the statement was her victory lap. It didn’t occur to her she would come across as smug, tone-deaf, and completely contradictory to the image she was trying to sell. Blake wants us to think she is a delicate flower, but the only way she can be described as delicate is by likening her to a bomb. She thought she could pull off a “I’m just a relatable shy mum who does acquapainting with my kids”. But instead, she was seen as a shallow, vain, resentful woman trying to give a big “F you” to her opponents just as they were trying to declare peace. And the internet took notice. Again.

Meanwhile, BF was rising above, hinting about the NDA (or lack of), and assuring people would hear from Justin on his own terms, when he is ready. And that’s where she (he) couldn’t take it. Like the movie promotion, she can’t see she is getting heat for her own overexposure while Justin is benefiting simply from stepping away. Because she didn’t learn from previous mistakes, she goes all in when she should retreat, and commands her lawyers to put out that statement, burning the white flag Wayfarer was waving at them.

Blinded by misdirected rage, she(him) failed to see that this level of aggression in the middle of a ceasefire doesn’t land well, and again Wayfarer gains sympathy points just for acting like the bigger person in this shit show. Moreover, by weaponizing the joint statement both sides agreed upon, Lively gave Wayfarer free rein to clear the record straight: you got nothing and are calling this a victory? And so it’s confirmed what everyone suspected: the only thing Lively got out of the settlement was avoiding two weeks of embarrassment on the stand and having her case disproven in court.

Having seen Bryan and Kevin interviewed with so much joy by journalists and creators in the past couple of days has been rewarding. You can see interviewers rejoicing for them, treating them like Olympic champions talking openly and proudly about everything they had to endure to win the gold medal. That was the real victory lap, and I have no doubt this was their plan all along. They foresaw Blake (Ryan) trying to weaponize the joint statement beyond recognition, allowing them to counter the narrative with the truth behind the settlement. And with the truth came the vindication they deserved.

I feel I need to retract my previous post, “It ends with the silence of an NDA”

I am still not a fan of the joint statement, but thinking about it, it was kind of genius. They only had to wait a few days for Blake’s (Ryan’s) insatiable need to annihilate Wayfarer to go nuclear and end up self-imploding. Again.

Now that we know the full terms of the settlement, there is no doubt it was a clear win for Wayfarer, but like any settlement it came with a few compromises. He gave up his right to appeal the countersuit, gave up on the public apology, and even gave Blake a way out: a joint statement vague enough that she could spin just enough to save face with the few people who wanted her to save face: her Hollywood friends, the studio execs who want Ryan to remain profitable, their circle of influential people who care more about fame and money than decency, and of course, the people who, for some reason, still think Blake was wronged by Wayfarer in some way.

I was disappointed with the joint statement exactly because of that, they didn’t hold her accountable for anything. Even though we all know Blake will never be fully redeemed in the court of public opinion, the joint statement gave her a way out. Yes, she would still have her haters, but if Lively had taken the sane route and quietly cut her losses, she could have survived this, and even used the opportunity to reinvent herself. And the idea she would get a pass after everything that happened was unbearable to me.

But kudos to Wayfarer, they knew fairly well this was never going to happen. They are painfully aware of Blake’s (Ryan’s) pattern of behaviour by now. They just needed to remain composed and ignore the veiled attacks and microaggressions from the Lively camp long enough for her (him) to go nuclear, only to backfire. Again.

She thought the Met Gala appearance hours after the statement was her victory lap. It didn’t occur to her she would come across as smug, tone-deaf, and completely contradictory to the image she was trying to sell. Blake wants us to think she is a delicate flower, but the only way she can be described as delicate is by likening her to a bomb. She thought she could pull off a “I’m just a relatable shy mum who does acquapainting with my kids”. But instead, she was seen as a shallow, vain, resentful woman trying to give a big “F you” to her opponents just as they were trying to declare peace. And the internet took notice. Again.

Meanwhile, BF was rising above, hinting about the NDA (or lack of), and assuring people would hear from Justin on his own terms, when he is ready. And that’s where she (he) couldn’t take it. Like the movie promotion, she can’t see she is getting heat for her own overexposure while Justin is benefiting simply from stepping away. Because she didn’t learn from previous mistakes, she goes all in when she should retreat, and commands her lawyers to put out that statement, burning the white flag Wayfarer was waving at them.

Blinded by misdirected rage, she(him) failed to see that this level of aggression in the middle of a ceasefire doesn’t land well, and again Wayfarer gains sympathy points just for acting like the bigger person in this shit show. Moreover, by weaponizing the joint statement both sides agreed upon, Lively gave Wayfarer free rein to clear the record straight: you got nothing and are calling this a victory? And so it’s confirmed what everyone suspected: the only thing Lively got out of the settlement was avoiding two weeks of embarrassment on the stand and having her case disproven in court.

Having seen Bryan and Kevin interviewed with so much joy by journalists and creators in the past couple of days has been rewarding. You can see interviewers rejoicing for them, treating them like Olympic champions talking openly and proudly about everything they had to endure to win the gold medal. That was the real victory lap, and I have no doubt this was their plan all along. They foresaw Blake (Ryan) trying to weaponize the joint statement beyond recognition, allowing them to counter the narrative with the truth behind the settlement. And with the truth came the vindication they deserved.

So the "no gag" clause seems to be for real.  If I’m a publisher, I would be begging so freaking hard for book deals like these:

“No More” – by Justin Baldoni, his recollections, feelings, and what his fight was really about.

“Going Off-Script: Faith, Race, and the Hidden Bigotry of Hollywood Titans” – by Jamey Heath, his experience as a man of faith and colour navigating the good, the bad, and the ugly in Hollywood.

“Timeline” – by Bryan Freedman, about how he shaped the case that shaped the entire narrative. From his early involvement in August, to the CRD and NYT article in December, to seeing the evidence from the Wayfarer side, putting the timeline together, and all the fights, twists, and turns of the legal and PR strategy that followed.

“107 Creators” – Not sure who should pen this one, but an analysis of the role and battles of independent journalists/creators in shaping public discourse on social media. An in-depth review of the organic vs. inorganic activity debate, featuring interviews with social media experts from both sides, and testimony from various content creators who covered this case. The appendix would include copies of some of the CC’s motions to quash Ezra Hutson’s subpoena for their private information.

Followed by a limited series based on all the above.

As I'm only interested in non-fiction, any nonsense by the Lively parties can collect dust at the back alongside Colleen Hoover crap.

What about you, what you want to see as an output of this case? It can't end with this sorry statement, can it?

This started as a comment, but it doesn’t feel like one anymore. It feels like an outpouring. A loss. And not a small one. A real, sinking, hard-to-swallow loss.

Strangely, I think it stings even more than when Wayfarer's lawsuit was dismissed. That was awful, but at least that was something done to them. Something you could point to and say: this is unjust, this is fuel, this is something to fight against. There was still a way forward, still resistance, still the belief that maybe the next step would turn the tide. But this? This was a choice. And with that choice comes something heavier: the end of the fight.

To be clear, I don’t blame them for settling. Not really. Anyone watching could see how toxic, how draining, how all-consuming this battle was. Trials aren’t just about truth, they’re about risk, endurance, and who breaks first. Walking away can be survival. But that statement… that statement is where it all collapses for me. It doesn’t matter that the tens of thousands who followed this case closely can read between the lines. It doesn’t matter that "Team Baldoni" will dissect every word and say, “See? No admission of wrongdoing.” The simple true is, most people won’t do that. Most people will see headlines and pictures. All smiles and gowns, and celebrity friends. And what they’ll take from it is this: Blake Lively raised concerns, and those concerns were acknowledged. Case closed. Victory implied. That’s the version that lives. That’s the story that spreads.

What makes it harder to swallow is the timing. Another weekend of revelations that didn’t look good for Lively and Reynolds, and the anticipation of even more to come their way. But instead, their got a jail free card. And a couple of hours later, a big party to celebrate it. The optics of a victory lap are impossible to ignore.

Before the statement, it felt like there was no coming back for her. Immediately after it, I thought she’d probably take the quiet exit, the classic “step back, focus on family” retreat. But the Met Gala stunt was a painful reminder that’s not who she is. She doesn’t admit defeat; she won’t go anywhere. She will double down, triple down. Her entitlement has no shame, and she will double dare those who say she’s a pariah with a smile that says, “you were saying?” Yesterday it was the Met Gala; tomorrow it will be bridal shopping with Taylor Swift.

Yes, there will always be backlash - this is the internet afterall. But she’ll fake it until she makes it, and at some point, we’ll grow tired of fighting on behalf of those who raised a white flag. We'll be annoyed at her antics but we won’t care as much, because we’ll be dealing with our own battles, against our own dragons, and we won’t have the time to keep being someone else’s slayers.

And so that’s how it really ends. Not with accountability, but with exhaustion, with burnout.That’s the part that lingers. The part that frustrates. Because it reinforces something we didn’t want to believe was true: powerful people and institutions can rollover people and bend outcomes without ever truly answering for anything. No apology. No acknowledgment. No visible consequence. No growth. Just… nothing, as if nothing really happened.

People keep trying to tell me: "but they’re finished. They have been exposed. This will follow them. Wayfarer won." I don’t see it. Maybe I will in a few days, when the emotions settle. But right now, it sounds like consolation talk; like when we’re trying to rewrite the outcome so it hurts less. Because the truth is, you have to dig, really dig, to find anything that feels like validation for Wayfarer in that statement. And even then, it feels stretched.

So it’s hard not to ask: why now? Why fight this long, endure this much, only to stop just before the finish line? Two weeks before trial, with the odds seemingly at your favour? If the public narrative didn’t matter, why engage in it for so long? Why not try to end it a year ago, at the motion to dismiss stage?

Where I come from, there’s a saying: you swim and swim, only to die at the beach. That’s what this feels like. Not because the fight wasn’t justified. Not because the effort didn’t matter. But because after everything, after all the struggle, all the energy, all the belief in some kind of reckoning, we’re left with something quiet, ambiguous, and unsatisfying. And maybe that’s the hardest part to accept: Sometimes there is no happy ending. No moment where truth clearly wins. No visible consequence that makes it all make sense. Just a long fight… and the deafening silence that follows when it’s all over.

This started as a comment, but it doesn’t feel like one anymore. It feels like an outpouring. A loss. And not a small one. A real, sinking, hard-to-swallow loss.

Strangely, I think it stings even more than when Wayfarer's lawsuit was dismissed. That was awful, but at least that was something done to them. Something you could point to and say: this is unjust, this is fuel, this is something to fight against. There was still a way forward, still resistance, still the belief that maybe the next step would turn the tide. But this? This was a choice. And with that choice comes something heavier: the end of the fight.

To be clear, I don’t blame them for settling. Not really. Anyone watching could see how toxic, how draining, how all-consuming this battle was. Trials aren’t just about truth, they’re about risk, endurance, and who breaks first. Walking away can be survival. But that statement… that statement is where it all collapses for me.

It doesn’t matter that the tens of thousands who followed this case closely can read between the lines. It doesn’t matter that "Team Baldoni" will dissect every word and say, “See? No admission of wrongdoing.” The simple true is, most people won’t do that. Most people will see headlines and pictures. All smiles and gowns, and celebrity friends. And what they’ll take from it is this: Blake Lively raised concerns, and those concerns were acknowledged. Case closed. Victory implied. That’s the version that lives. That’s the story that spreads.

What makes it harder to swallow is the timing. Another weekend of revelations that didn’t look good for Lively and Reynolds, and the anticipation of even more to come their way. But instead, their got a jail free card. And a couple of hours later, a big party to celebrate it. The optics of a victory lap are impossible to ignore.

Before the statement, it felt like there was no coming back for her. Immediately after it, I thought she’d probably take the quiet exit, the classic “step back, focus on family” retreat. But the Met Gala stunt was a painful reminder that’s not who she is. She doesn’t admit defeat; she won’t go anywhere. She will double down, triple down. Her entitlement has no shame, and she will double dare those who say she’s a pariah with a smile that says, “you were saying?” Yesterday it was the Met Gala; tomorrow it will be bridal shopping with Taylor Swift.

Yes, there will always be backlash - this is the internet afterall. But she’ll fake it until she makes it, and at some point, we’ll grow tired of fighting on behalf of those who raised a white flag. We'll be annoyed at her antics but we won’t care as much, because we’ll be dealing with our own battles, against our own dragons, and we won’t have the time to keep being someone else’s slayers.

And so that’s how it really ends. Not with accountability, but with exhaustion, with burnout.That’s the part that lingers. The part that frustrates. Because it reinforces something we didn’t want to believe was true: powerful people and institutions can rollover people and bend outcomes without ever truly answering for anything. No apology. No acknowledgment. No visible consequence. No growth. Just… nothing, as if nothing really happened.

People keep trying to tell me: "but they’re finished. They have been exposed. This will follow them. Wayfarer won." I don’t see it. Maybe I will in a few days, when the emotions settle. But right now, it sounds like consolation talk; like when we’re trying to rewrite the outcome so it hurts less. Because the truth is, you have to dig, really dig, to find anything that feels like validation for Wayfarer in that statement. And even then, it feels stretched.

So it’s hard not to ask: why now? Why fight this long, endure this much, only to stop just before the finish line? Two weeks before trial, with the odds seemingly at your favour? If the public narrative didn’t matter, why engage in it for so long? Why not try to end it a year ago, at the motion to dismiss stage?

Where I come from, there’s a saying: you swim and swim, only to die at the beach. That’s what this feels like. Not because the fight wasn’t justified. Not because the effort didn’t matter. But because after everything, after all the struggle, all the energy, all the belief in some kind of reckoning, we’re left with something quiet, ambiguous, and unsatisfying. And maybe that’s the hardest part to accept: Sometimes there is no happy ending. No moment where truth clearly wins. No visible consequence that makes it all make sense. Just a long fight… and the deafening silence that follows when it’s all over.