Blake Lively made her return to Instagram on Wednesday for the first time since filing two lawsuits against Justin Baldoni. She used her platform to shift focus, sharing two Instagram Stories with crucial resources for those impacted by the devastating wildfires sweeping across Los Angeles since Tuesday. In a show of support for the community, Lively encouraged her followers to help those affected by the crisis.
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Lively’s first post since she filed the Baldoni lawsuit
In the first Google document shared by Lively, she included helpful links to shelters and animal boarding resources, all compiled by @mutualaidla. In the document, she wrote, “To everyone affected by the Los Angeles fires…”
The second slide shared by Lively offered an update on the Google sheet, with the actress encouraging her followers to contribute additional resources. She wrote, “MALAN is regularly updating this Google sheet with mutual aid resources for folks in LA. There’s info on shelters, free PPE, food, animal rescues, and more. If you have additional resources, please share them with @mutualaidla,” as reported by Daily Mail.
Despite the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles, Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, primarily reside in Pound Ridge, New York, with their four children: James, 10, Inez, 8, Betty, 5, and Olin, 1. The couple also maintains an apartment in New York City.
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Lively’s lawyers respond in new statement
In a new statement released on January 7, the Gossip Girl alum stated, “This is not a ‘feud’ arising from ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation,” first reported by People Magazine. It further continued, “As alleged in Ms Lively’s complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing,” as reported by The Independent.
The statement also stated, “Sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal in every workplace and in every industry. A classic tactic to distract from allegations of this type of misconduct is to ‘blame the victim’ by suggesting that they invited the conduct, brought it on themselves, misunderstood the intentions, or even lied.”
It concluded with, “Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and offender and suggest that the offender is actually the victim. These concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct. Most importantly, media statements are not a defence to Ms Lively’s legal claims. We will continue to prosecute her claims in federal court, where the rule of law determines who prevails, not hyperbole and threats.”
