{"id":904886,"date":"2026-05-10T08:17:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/10\/justin-baldonis-lawyers-say-unlikable-blake-lively-caused-business-losses-cite-actress-trolling-kate-middleton-before-cancer-diagnosis\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T08:17:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:17:20","slug":"justin-baldonis-lawyers-say-unlikable-blake-lively-caused-business-losses-cite-actress-trolling-kate-middleton-before-cancer-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/10\/justin-baldonis-lawyers-say-unlikable-blake-lively-caused-business-losses-cite-actress-trolling-kate-middleton-before-cancer-diagnosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Baldoni\u2019s lawyers say &#8216;unlikable&#8217; Blake Lively caused business losses; cite actress trolling Kate Middleton before cancer diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130590454,imgsize-117946,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/blake-lively-justin-baldoni.jpg\" alt=\"Justin Baldoni\u2019s lawyers say 'unlikable' Blake Lively caused business losses; cite actress trolling Kate Middleton before cancer diagnosis\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-pos=\"0\"><\/span>Justin Baldoni\u2019s legal team has hit back at <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/blake-lively\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Blake Lively<\/a> for her claims of &#8216;financial and reputational damage&#8217;, linked to the alleged smear campaign.<span data-pos=\"4\"><\/span>On failure of Blake Lively&#8217;s brand<span data-pos=\"6\"><\/span>In a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, Baldoni&#8217;s attorneys alleged that the actress had a record of unsuccessful projects, including her drinks brand. <\/p>\n<p>They linked the brand&#8217;s failure to her unpopularity, rather than any &#8216;smear campaign&#8217;.<span data-pos=\"10\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><i><\/i> <span>Watch<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Justin Baldoni &#8216;Reacts&#8217; As Blake Lively&#8217;s Lawsuit Takes Major Hit In Courtroom Twist <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-pos=\"12\"><\/span>Attorney Amir Kaltgrad told the court that the company \u201cdid not succeed for nothing to do with the defendants,\u201d noting that Lively\u2019s own accountant, Jeffrey Kinrich. According to the documents, Lively\u2019s side appear to support part of that claim, \u201cmanagement had doubts about the profitability and sustainability of Betty Buzz for reasons unrelated to the online manipulation.\u201d<span data-pos=\"16\"><\/span>The arguments come as both parties prepare for a civil trial scheduled for May 18.<span data-pos=\"18\"><\/span>Justin Baldoni claims Blake Lively is &#8216;unlikeable&#8217;<span data-pos=\"20\"><\/span>Baldoni\u2019s legal team also cited Blake Lively\u2019s past public conduct, pointing to her criticism of the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, prior to the release of the 2024 film.<span data-pos=\"22\"><\/span>Lively famously took a dig at Kate&#8217;s digitally altered family photograph that drew global attention in March 2024. <\/p>\n<p>Reacting to the post, Lively shared an edited image of herself. Days later, the Princess publicly disclosed her cancer diagnosis, prompting Lively to issue an apology.<span data-pos=\"26\"><\/span>Justin Baldoni challenges Blake Lively&#8217;s multi-million dollar claims<span data-pos=\"28\"><\/span>Baldoni\u2019s lawyers also challenged Lively\u2019s claim of financial losses, which reportedly include USD 143 million in lost profits, USD 132 million in lost earnings, and several million more in endorsements.<span data-pos=\"31\"><\/span>Lawyer on Blake Lively&#8217;s earnings<span data-pos=\"33\"><\/span>Calling the figures a &#8220;pie in the sky&#8221;, Kaltgrad pointed out that Lively earned approximately USD 21 million from four film projects in the eight years leading up to &#8216;It Ends With Us&#8217;. In contrast, her expert witness, entertainment lawyer Richard Marks, estimated she could have earned USD 142 million in the five years following the film\u2019s release. Kaltgrad criticised the projection, stating it relied on an &#8220;unrealistic assumption.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<span data-pos=\"37\"><\/span>Blake Lively to take the stand<span data-pos=\"39\"><\/span>Lively\u2019s legal team, however, has maintained that she suffered substantial financial and reputational harm. Speaking outside court, Lively\u2019s attorney Sigrid McCawley, said, &#8220;Blake&#8217;s hope is to be able to have her voice heard in that courtroom and that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re focused on right now.&#8221;<span data-pos=\"41\"><\/span>McCawley added, &#8220;Blake&#8217;s been ready for this trial, it&#8217;s a moment she&#8217;s been waiting for a long time, to have her voice heard in this court. She&#8217;s feeling really good\u2026she&#8217;s finally at a point where she will be able to tell her side.&#8221;<span data-pos=\"43\"><\/span>Earlier this month, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed 10 of the 13 claims filed by Lively against Baldoni. The case will now proceed with three remaining claims: breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retaliation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> etimes.in <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/entertainment\/english\/hollywood\/news\/justin-baldonis-lawyers-say-unlikable-blake-lively-caused-business-losses-cite-actress-trolling-kate-middleton-before-cancer-diagnosis\/articleshow\/130590202.cms\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Justin Baldoni\u2019s legal team has hit back at Blake Lively for her claims of &#8216;financial and reputational damage&#8217;, linked to the alleged smear campaign. On failure of Blake Lively&#8217;s brand In a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, Baldoni&#8217;s attorneys alleged that the actress had a record of unsuccessful projects, including her drinks brand. They linked the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":904887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149407,525],"tags":[149406,9714],"class_list":["post-904886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baldonis","category-justin","tag-baldonis","tag-justin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}