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Justin Baldoni's legal team have been sanctioned by a federal judge

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for filing a lawsuit that was factually baseless

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and the media are not covering it.

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We need to talk about how the PR campaign never ended.

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It's still going on. On Friday,

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Judge Lyman

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granted sanctions against the law firms representing Justin Baldoni.

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If you remember, he's being sued for sexual harassment

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and launching a retaliatory smear campaign.

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In response,

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Baldoni filed his own four hundred million dollar countersuit,

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alleging a conspiratorial plot by Blake Lively,

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her husband Ryan Reynolds,

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her publicist Leslie Sloan,

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and his former publicist Stephanie Jones to defame and extort him.

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Now, the judge threw out his entire lawsuit back in June,

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but this week

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he ruled that Baldoni's lawsuit was so legally frivolous

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and factually baseless as to violate Rule 11

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should never have been filed,

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calling out that Baldoni's team

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intentionally loaded their lawsuit with additional plaintiffs

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that had no business being there,

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with the judge saying the Wayfarer parties have not identified

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even an arguable basis in law or fact

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for any Wayfarer party other than Baldoni or Wayfarer

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to assert these claims.

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A claim by a person that a defendant has committed a tort

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is not to be taken lightly.

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It can carry reputational consequences.

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The judge specifically stating

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what we've all been saying for over a year

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the Baldoni's lawsuit never stood a chance in court.

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It was filed entirely for PR,

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loaded with over exaggerated claims

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and a fake Story that they couldn't back up with any facts,

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all with a single purpose

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to generate damaging headlines

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they knew would harm lively and Reynolds reputations.

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As a result,

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the judge granted lively and Reynolds request for sanctions,

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issuing a public reprimand

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against both of the law firms

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that brought the lawsuit on behalf of Baldoni.

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And while that might not seem like much,

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it's a permanent black Mark on the reputations of both

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line of Fredman and Meister Silgan. Fine,

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that could have an impact not just in this case,

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but in any of their future litigation,

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and could be used to show that they have a history of shady behavior

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and misconduct. Now,

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you would think that a federal judge

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ruling that Baldoni filed a fatally flawed

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and baseless lawsuit as a PR stunt

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would generate some headlines,

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but as of yet, not a single media outlet is covering this.

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Instead, the headlines are talking about Baldoni's massive legal wins

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this past week. And what were those legal wins?

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Well, first they were granted a one week extension,

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but they had to ask for because,

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and I'm deadly serious,

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Blake Lively's legal team have so much evidence and so many witnesses

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that Baldoni's team can't be ready in time.

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His other big win last week

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was that fully half of his countersuit against Stephanie Jones

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was ripped up, thrown in the trash,

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and dismissed with prejudice,

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meaning he cannot revive those claims.

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After a year of bragging how Strong.

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His case is only two actionable claims are heading to court

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against Stephanie Jones, not Blake Lively.

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Not that you would get that from reading the headlines.

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So why are these obvious losses being touted

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and spun as wins for Baldoni?

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that's because the authors are Tatiana Siegel and Elizabeth Rosner,

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journalists that you'll remember,

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Baldoni's team were actively planting stories with.

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And we know that

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because we've seen the text messages of them doing exactly that.

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So it's not really a surprise to see them spinning.

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Baldoni getting yet more claims tossed out of court

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and his team begging the court for more time

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because of the volume of evidence

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that Lively's team are potentially going to bring to trial.

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Are somehow actually big wins for Justin,

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while ignoring the reality

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that his legal team got chewed out by a federal judge

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for filing a frivolous lawsuit

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as a PR stunt. Which should be a concern to all of us,

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regardless of how you feel about Blake Lively or Justin Baldoni.

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Because what we are watching in real time

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and has now been confirmed by a federal judge,

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is a powerful man using his resources

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to manipulate the reality around his own alleged misconduct,

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filing baseless litigation to the court,

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knowing it will get thrown out,

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but not before journalists report it as fact.

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All to deliberately misinform public opinion

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about an active sexual harassment case

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and to discredit and destroy the women accusing him.

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Women whose Careers, reputations,

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and livelihoods have been systematically targeted

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now for anything they did,

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but simply for having had a negative experience with Justin Baldoni

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and then choosing to honestly speak about it.

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And the dangerous part is

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it's working. And if it's working here,

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then it's working elsewhere.

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Most victims of this kind of coordinated

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reputational destruction have none of the resources to fight back.

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No team of lawyers, no public platform,

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no A list husband willing to fight by your side.

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Which is exactly what predatory men

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like Justin Baldoni are counting on,

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hoping that you'll pay attention to

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who has the headlines and not who has the receipts.