Justin Baldoni's Lawyer Calls Blake Lively's Request to Dismiss Lawsuit 'Abhorrent,' Will Continue to Hold Her 'Accountable'

Justin Baldoni’s lawyer quickly responded to Blake Lively’s attempt to dismiss her It Ends With Us director and costar’s lawsuit against her, calling the move “abhorrent.”

In their motion to dismiss on Thursday, March 20, Lively’s attorneys, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, called Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Lively, 37, “vengeful and rambling.” They described Baldoni's lawsuit as a “profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court.”

“Ms. Lively's recent motion to dismiss herself from the self-concocted disaster she initiated is one of the most abhorrent examples of abusing our legal system,” Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, responded in a statement to PEOPLE later Thursday. “Stringent rules are put into place to protect the innocent and allow individuals to rightfully defend themselves. Laws are not meant to be twisted and curated by privileged elites to fit their own personal agenda.”

Freedman also referenced his response to a motion Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds filed on March 18. In that filing, Reynolds, 48, sought to dismiss Baldoni’s defamation claim against him.

“As we said yesterday in response to Mr. Reynolds' same cowardly measures, we will continue to hold Ms. Lively accountable for her actions of pure malice which include falsely accusing my clients of harassment and retaliation,” Freedman continued Thursday. “Her fantastical claims will be swiftly debunked as discovery moves forward, easily disproved with actual, evidentiary proof.”

The legal battle between the two stars began in December 2024 when Lively sued Baldoni, It Ends With Us producer Jamey Heath, Wayfarer Studios co-founder Steve Sarowitz, and others, accusing them of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign to damage her reputation. 

In January, Baldoni responded by filing a $400 million lawsuit against Reynolds, his wife Lively, their publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane's PR firm Vision PR, Inc. over the heated situation behind the scenes of It Ends With Us. On Thursday, Gottlieb and Hudson blasted the lawsuit as legally groundless and an effort to silence the actress.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“This lawsuit is a profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court," Lively’s lawyers said in a statement. "California law now expressly prohibits suing victims who speak out against sexual harassment or retaliation, whether in a lawsuit or in the press. This meritless and retaliatory lawsuit faces three insurmountable legal obstacles, including the litigation, fair report, and sexual harassment privileges. The latter contains a mandatory fee-shifting provision that will require billionaire Steve Sarowitz and Wayfarer Studios to pay damages. In an epic self-own, the Wayfarer Parties’ attempt to sue Ms. Lively ‘into oblivion’ has only created more liability for them—deservedly so, given their actions.”

Lively’s team claims Baldoni and his co-defendants are subject to California Civil Code Section 47.1, a newly enacted law that prohibits retaliatory lawsuits tied to public disclosures of sexual harassment. They also called Baldoni’s claim that Lively “conspired” with The New York Times an intimidation tactic, arguing that she was legally entitled to disclose the contents of a complaint.

Their trial is scheduled for a year from now on March 9, 2026.

PEOPLE has reached out to Lively and her legal team for further comment.