Lauren and Chan are back with part 6 of the Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni battle. They are chatting the final portion of the timeline as well as the newest developments on the case: Ryan and Blake trying to sabotage Justin’s career with WME (2:00), the statement of contrition that Ryan and Blake wanted Justin and Wayfarer to release (4:52), Blake’s collusion with the New York Times (13:39), Blake’s request for a gag order against Justin’s legal team as well as her unique request to the court (15:50), a second lawsuit being dropped on Blake (17:13), an update on Taylor’s feelings about her friendship with Blake and her involvement with the movie (18:31), Blake and Ryan’s team allegedly trying to silence a TikTok creator (24:24), Lauren’s husband gives his fascinating perspective on what actually happened (31:04), Ryan’s fake paparazzi moment (34:26), thoughts on the only way Blake can get out of this mess (38:04), and the real reason Justin wants to go ahead with the lawsuit (43:56) Check out our amazing sponsors: Clean Simple Eats: Shop Clean Simple Eats protein powder and use code POPAPOLOGISTS for 10% off! Earlybird: Click here to try EarlyBird CBD/THC gummies and use code POP20 for 20% off. Netflix: Watch Kinda Pregnant, now playing only on Netflix. BetterHelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/popapologists to get 10% off your first month. Thrive Market: Ready for a junk-free start to 2025? Head to ThriveMarket.com/pop and get 30% off your first order, plus a FREE $60 gift! To support the show, consider subscribing on Patreon or anywhere you listen to podcasts, where you can get a bonus episode of Pop Apologists every Friday! Please note this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What are the latest developments in the Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni case?
Let me just say something, Blake. There's only one person who's ever suffered for your sins, okay? And it's not fucking Justin Baldoni. All right? You're not going to get a Garden of Gethsemane moment out of this guy, okay? You're not that powerful, bitch. Stand down. Well, well, well. We are back. Well, well, well. I feel like I am prisoner 24601.
In the Blake versus Justin experience, because I did not think we were going to need a part six. It continues to amaze me that new information is coming out and that this saga continues to unfold. When Blake's floral outfit explosion extravaganza happened, we didn't know we were stealing a piece of bread from a priest. Right. Or whatever it was that Jean Valjean did.
And we would be in a state of, it ends with us fucking purgatory. Purgatory. Shackles. Like, I just feel like my brain right now, it's like my wedding, my bachelorette, my own life, my job. And then it's Blake and Justin. And I, you know, I'm excited to record this, but I'm also just kind of in shock that we still have new information. And so there's stuff to get into.
Without further ado, everyone, what we want to do is go through all of the developments, the things that have happened, the news pieces, just tie up some loose ends that we didn't get to in part five. Yeah. That way, we can just make sure we wrap a bow on part six and then maybe take a beat on this. We'll see.
Potentially not, because apparently she is filing an amended complaint of her own on, Chandler, February 17th, which is just five days. Five days. So I guess, no, there's no break. There's no break. Also, everyone, I have jury duty starting tomorrow. So you're going to be working the weekend. I'm going to be working the weekends. We don't need any more intro. Let's get into it. Let's get into it.
Okay. So one of the things that I think it's important to really kind of like go back and discuss is the WME sabotaging process.
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Chapter 2: How did Ryan and Blake attempt to sabotage Justin's career?
OK.
Yes. Yes. And WME, for people who don't know, is like the talent agency. They basically rep everyone in Hollywood, anyone who's anyone. It was so funny when we had a viral moment with this whole Kate Middleton thing a year ago. They really came after us and they're like, we're emailing us really wanting, really wanting a meeting. Finally, like we did the meeting with them.
And then like a few weeks later, we basically just got the message like that. You actually are not the star. You're not good enough. You know what? Thanks so much for the meeting, but not quite yet. Exactly. Keep doing what you're doing. Exactly. But we do have to talk about people who are stars enough to be part of WME's esteemed canon of artists or catalog or whatever you want to say.
And that is Justin Baldoni at one point, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, who are currently with WME. So we all remember how Ryan Reynolds said to a colleague at an industry event that why is WME repping a sexual predator? A sexual predator. Referring to Justin Baldoni. Which is like, I think... That's a fucking crazy thing to accuse somebody of.
I think it's like, you know, a creep or like, I don't know, but a sexual predator is just like very intense language. It is indeed. And what we also did not know is that he called Justin a deranged predator on July 15th to another WME agent. This is according to the timeline and said that he should not attend the premiere, said that they did not want that deranged predator at the premiere and
And he expressed deep disdain for him. And it was a few months later that Justin gets dropped by WME. So and also just to ground everybody, we are still reading from the timeline that was launched by Brian Friedman, Justin Baldoni's lawyer. We're bouncing. We have news pieces of information. We have commentary from other people I want to get into. We're kind of bouncing around.
We're bouncing, but this part in particular is from the timeline. Correct. So, okay. So Ryan is shit-talking Justin, calling him a deranged predator, calling him a sexual predator. This is in July. And then Ryan and Blake go to WME. This is before they have dropped him, which will come in December. But they go to WME on August 12th.
And they say that they are furious for the way that Wayfarer and Justin are positioning them as promoting the film as a, quote, Barbie film. While elevating Justin to speak on the more serious messaging, Ryan and Blake demanded that Wayfarer release a statement of contrition. taking accountability for the negative press toward Blake and Ryan.
They warned WME that absent compliance, quote, the gloves will come off. So I think we should read the statement of contrition that they wanted Justin and Wayfair to release. Really quick. Basically, though, Blake and Ryan are upset because like the way that they're promoting the movie looks unserious. Exactly. Yeah.
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Chapter 3: What was the statement of contrition that Ryan and Blake wanted Justin to release?
It was never released, obviously, but this is what they wanted Justin to say. Quote, it ends with us was a troubled production, which we take full accountability for. We are very sorry to everyone we caused upset to privately and publicly. Blake Lively, Colleen Hoover, the entire cast and crew led with professionalism every step of the way. Any negativity aimed at them is ours to own.
We mutually agreed that the cast would be promoting the film separately and understood why. We have always said we are not perfect, and even if we have unintentionally made mistakes, we will always own them. We hold ourselves accountable. It's not anyone's job but ours, and that's part of being, quote, man enough." We will practice what we preach. We are learning and growing from the experience.
And we thank everyone for their patience as we find a better way to proceed. We are very proud of the film and the welcome arms that it's been received with. Part of our work is to have uncomfortable conversations for public growth. The film is doing that on screen and we are doing that off screen.
Thank you to the cast and crew and public for the opportunity to be imperfect and to be given the space to learn and grow with humanity and dedication. Hallelujah and amen. Okay. Oh, my God. I am floored by that. My biggest issue and the thing that is the most insane is the part where it says we take full accountability for any bad press. Yeah.
Wayfarer is not telling Blake to be like a bitch in interviews. No, there's no reason why Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer and Jamie Heath should be putting out a statement that says any bad press is ours to own. And Blake Lively has conducted herself with ultimate professionalism.
I know, actually, Blake Lively was not handed a script by Justin and Wayfair saying that when you go into interviews, you should be snarky. You should, you know, use the wrong tone when talking about a movie about domestic violence. Like, it's beyond comprehension. Let me just say something, Blake. There's only one person who's ever suffered for your sins, okay?
And it's not fucking Justin Baldoni. All right? You're not going to get a Garden of Gethsemane moment out of this guy, okay? You're not that powerful, bitch. Stand the fuck down. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We were raised religious. You can't tell. Okay. So no, Justin refuses to have his own walk on the road to Calvary. And that is when he essentially lawyers up.
So there's a text exchange between Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan. And Jennifer Abel says, Melissa Nathan says, Call me if you can. This will be a career killer for them and Wayfair. They have to fight it. Jennifer says this is so crazy. Melissa says they have to lawyer up now. Honestly, I've never had anything like it. Can we please hire him a lawyer? Jennifer says he needs to.
He has one, but he needs a litigator. And then Melissa Nathan says get Brian Friedman. He's waiting and will also take on WME. I mean, Brian Friedman.
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Chapter 4: What collusion occurred between Blake and the New York Times?
Yeah.
So the ante gets upped in every way. Okay, everyone, I hope you're enjoying this episode, but a brief announcement. We have a very exciting subscriber episode for our global elites this week. We are debriefing Chandler's Bachelorette to St. Bart's. And we have none other than the global elite, Courtney Groh, our dear sister joining us.
Chapter 5: What unique requests did Blake make to the court?
We get cozy on my sectional and relive the entire weekend together, minute by minute, moment by moment. It might honestly be more information than you've ever asked for. This episode is so fun. So if you want to hear about Chandler's wild weekend in St. Bart's, and you want to hear the three of us gab, you got to become a global elite and subscribe to the exclusive Friday episodes.
You can find them anywhere you listen to podcasts, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Substack, Patreon, YouTube members, it is there for you to enjoy and very exciting to have the one and only Courtney Groh joining for this very, very special sentimental episode. So give it a listen. Love you guys. And now back to the episode.
The other thing that we haven't really touched on is the fact that the New York Times was given Blake's complaint before it was legally filed. And what that really shows is that there was this collusion, right? Collusion. So like basically they were working together behind the scenes to orchestrate this moment.
They were in bed together as they as you know, as the euphemism goes, they were in bed together for all intents and purposes, but not literally. But it was like a situation where it wasn't like Blake filed this legal complaint and, you know, did it in the formal way and then handed it to the New York Times. It was like, I'm filing this complaint. I'm giving you the heads up.
We are working together to make sure that our stories are straight. Exactly. And I was confused, too, when I first saw this because I'm like, what does this mean? But no, that's exactly what it is. It's not like she filed the complaint and then a journalist was like, oh, my gosh, Blake Liley filed this. What's happening?
It's like, no, they had all the information allegedly, according to the Internet sleuth, well before it was filed. That way they could prepare the article and all the content. I mean, we know how much work content takes. Sure. So they could be ready to drop information. All the content, the reels, the social media assets, the article, they could drop it the same day.
That way they could blast Justin Baldoni immediately. Which I think undermines like the idea of the journalism behind it. It's a hit piece. Exactly. So this is a quote from Brian Friedman. In a statement to Variety, he says, this fresh evidence corroborates what we knew all along, that due to purely egotistical reasons, Ms.
Lively and her entire team colluded for months to destroy reputations through a complex web of lies, false accusations, and the manipulation of illicitly received communications. Wow. Okay, so now we need to get to the hearing. The hearing like present day. So on February 3rd, there was the preliminary court hearing. This was just a few days ago.
And as we all know, Blake's attorney requested that Brian Friedman be given a gag order so he can also stop going on TMZ and stop talking to Entertainment Tonight and stop talking to Variety and stop trying to muddy the jury pool. Yeah. And they also requested that Brian Friedman not depose Blake Lively. So that is a very apparently a very unique request from.
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Chapter 6: What is the significance of the Empire State Rule in the hearing?
I think Taylor would. Okay. I just don't think she has the time to scheme and conspire to arrive at the apartment to press her hand. To strategize. Right. Okay. Another thing that TMZ says, and this is where like I do think it's worth reporting on this because these are very specific nuggets, but they say that Blake told the actress who plays young Lily that Taylor had a hand in casting her.
Oh, wow. And that she was Taylor's choice. And Taylor apparently had no clue about this casting decision, which would be a reason why that Isabelle Ferrer would be a legion to Blake. It's like, I want to be on the team with Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor mother effing Swift, who chose me. I was hand selected by... Literally, Mother God. Exactly. That's super weird.
Also, like, in what part of this production was Taylor ever involved in casting conversations? Like, wouldn't that have been like the Jamie Heath and Justin Baldoni side of things? That seems super weird to me. Also, in theory, Blake would not be involved in the casting decisions. Right. That's pretty crazy. And I would be so annoyed if I were Taylor and if half of this were true.
I would just feel so used. Like, like TMZ said. So used. And just like my reputation, which I had just spent so much time being so careful about, had been really a wrecking ball had been taken to it overnight. And now Taylor and Tree, they have to pick up the pieces and rebuild. Right. Okay.
But a source told Entertainment Tonight, which is what Dumas said, is Tree's preferred outlet that they are still friends, but she just wants to remain uninvolved. However, she was not at the Super Bowl. So, I mean, I think there might be distance happening on purpose. She might still consider Blake to be one of her friends.
She could be feeling all of these things, you know, and still consider Blake to be someone she wants to keep in her life. But she wants to just be completely hands off. She's not coming to Blake's defense at all. She's not coming to Blake's defense. She's not doing a pat block. They're not getting via Corota together.
I do think that there's a world where she's really upset with her, but in a way where it's like, I'm really upset with my friend. This is a lifelong friend. I know we'll get past this, but like, I might need a six month break from this person. Yeah. And also her career.
It's not like they're both just like A-listers and it's there is there are stakes to to Taylor like publicly coming to Blake's defense. Of course. Yes. You know that she has to be aware of. And that's just like the nature of two A-listers being friends. It's interesting. Meghan Markle asked Taylor Swift to come on her podcast. Yeah. And she did not.
And I do think that Taylor obviously is very strategic about not getting in controversial waters. You know, she likes to not be a part of controversial narratives. Totally. There's this TikTok creator who's been doing an amazing job deep diving all of this. His handle is BeBetterCompany. And anyway... It's very fascinating because some very suspicious things have happened to some of his videos.
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Chapter 7: How does Taylor Swift fit into this controversy?
Chapter 8: What are the implications of the new lawsuit against Blake?
Yes. And I think that, you know, as we've said, like there could have been a part of her that's like, what the fuck? Why is he not into me? Into me? Yeah. Why is he not into me as allegedly Ben Affleck was, you know, and Ben Affleck was that was apparently the reason that Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck broke up.
Why is he not into me like Ryan was, you know, like when he was married to Scarlett on the set of Green Lantern? I think that could be a very real thing that happened. We need to talk about the fake paparazzi stunt. Oh my gosh. I had no clue about this. I mean, it's just so crazy. This one is like a little bit more far-fetched, but I also could see it fully being true. I think it's true.
So apparently... Ryan Reynolds and team decided that they wanted to get in the press, that he's still beloved, that people still love him. And so he was just pictured walking into a random building and there were all these fans outside with the same like with these photos strapped to cardboard for him to sign. Also, everyone, these are not just 8x10 or whatever regular copy paper photos.
These are larger. It was just a very odd piece of paper for everyone to be holding. It felt very like, here's a big movie poster. Sign this. Also, everyone... Autographs are a thing of the past. I was just going to say, we all remember, comma, comma, comma. None of those bitches had huge cardboard cutouts or pictures of Anne Hathaway with markers for her to sign.
It's all iPhone, take a selfie with me. That's what people want. And I think if this was fake, I think... autographs are a little bit more like, I love you, I want a piece of you, versus a photo. Because someone could take a photo with Ryan Reynolds and be like, photo with the most hated man on the internet. Completely. Right, that's a good point. Also, apparently...
what a lot of these people who want these autographs are, it's just a business. So they'll figure out where a celebrity is going for a major event. They'll be there for the autograph and then they'll like sell it on eBay. So most celebrities don't even like indulge this at all. They just walk right past it. So this entire like alleged setup by his team that he's just like still so sought after is,
It's just hilarious. It's hilarious. Also, it's not even like there's like a recent movie with him or I don't know. It just feels super weird that it's like right now all these there's all this like the Deadpool fans are out are out and about. It reminds me, though, like didn't Courtney have like a sign what she thought was a real sign poster from Prince William like in her bedroom growing up?
Oh, I think she did. Bless her. Bless her. Bless her little heart. And if you're watching on YouTube or Spotify or if you're watching this on video, we're going to have that alleged fake stunt for you to see with your own eyes and make your own judgment. Yes.
Ryan Reynolds gets sworn by photographers and fans in New York City. You know, I watch this and it just seems normal at first. But the second he comes out, it starts to seem a little off. You know, everyone's got the same exact type of picture for Wolverine and Deadpool. There's like one R.I.P.D., which who the hell's a fan of that? It was an okay movie. But just something's really weird.
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