Flaawsome Talk with Kjersti Flaa - June 05, 2026


Victoria Burke's SHOCKING Meeting With Blake before she STOLE her Life's Work


Episode Stats


Length

36 minutes

Words per minute

179.75891

Word count

6,621

Sentence count

235


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 So her mom was there, Ryan was there, and all her children were also present at this meeting?
00:00:07.620 I think it was just they happened to have time.
00:00:10.780 One of the advocacy groups had asked me if I could request from her a video of support for the bill, which she declined.
00:00:18.040 They declined that?
00:00:19.560 Yes.
00:00:19.920 I did not have people, at least of my friend level, reaching out to me about Baldoni in a negative way.
00:00:30.000 I'm so happy to see you, Victoria Burke.
00:00:38.480 I did reveal yesterday that you posted on your social media about this 47.1 law
00:00:46.520 and that you're not really supporting what's happening right now.
00:00:50.700 And then I watched you on Megyn Kelly and I was like, wow, I have to talk to you.
00:00:55.800 I think a lot of people have so many questions for you.
00:00:58.860 So my first thing is I'm wondering, like, what made you change your mind?
00:01:04.960 Because in the beginning of this legal feud, it seemed like you were, like, happy what was happening and you agreed with the judge when Baldoni's lawsuit was dismissed.
00:01:16.880 But then something changed or what changed?
00:01:20.520 I could clear all that up.
00:01:22.180 First of all, this is like the first time my bill was being used.
00:01:25.380 That month of March of last year, I had three attorneys contact me that they were using, you know, my bill or I became aware of three attorneys that were using the bill.
00:01:36.060 And so I seen this in the headlines. I'm like, oh, my God, that's my bill in the headlines.
00:01:41.180 And I mean, to be honest, I had never really followed Blake Lively.
00:01:46.760 I wasn't a fan of Gossip Girl. I never watched. I was more watching Jersey Shore at the time in law school.
00:01:52.040 and so I knew Ryan Reynolds from Deadpool and I wasn't familiar with Justin Baldoni and I
00:01:58.320 had seen the movie on a plane like that January so I hadn't really kept up you know a lot was
00:02:04.580 going back and forth I hadn't done the deep dive at that time and suddenly I didn't expect to be
00:02:09.200 pulled into it and so or at least excuse me let me take a step back my bill to be pulled into it
00:02:14.440 not me and you know so this is the first time my bill is being tested and I'm like wow okay this is
00:02:21.240 on the national stage. Usually bills like this are very small. They, you know, they don't get
00:02:26.500 any headlines. I had no idea when I did this, this is where it was going to go. And then, you know,
00:02:33.020 I was thinking, you know, I just mentioned it because I felt it brought attention to the bill
00:02:37.760 that survivors were not aware that this protection existed. And this case highlighted that this was
00:02:44.380 available to survivors. So I'm like, this is a good thing because I was in process of moving this
00:02:48.780 bill nationwide. So I could point to something. I'm like, you can look at it. This is the bill
00:02:53.720 and follow along how it works. And so I could point to that to different legislatures
00:02:58.280 and let them know, like, you know, if you need to see something, that's how it works.
00:03:02.860 I have never said, like, I favor these facts or the others. Even my friends have been very clear.
00:03:10.160 I don't know them. I don't know the facts of the case, but I have been very protective of my bill
00:03:15.580 because I know the foundation of my bill was rooted in good law and lots of research.
00:03:21.760 And I wanted to protect the constitutionality when that became an issue.
00:03:26.560 I'm like, oh, no.
00:03:27.860 I remember working very hard that the language I initially proposed changed with a lot of input from the ACLU
00:03:35.760 because the ACLU wanted to make sure that the language of the bill allowed access to courts for those falsely accused.
00:03:43.520 And I'm like, I also want that.
00:03:45.580 Because in my mind, I could also see my bill being used by those who are falsely accused, that they could protect themselves.
00:03:51.400 Like if someone sued them saying, you know, you shouldn't say that you didn't do this to me, that they could also use it as a defense as well.
00:03:59.240 Both sides should be able to say what the events were that night.
00:04:02.820 That's my feeling.
00:04:03.660 First Amendment should be able to speak out.
00:04:06.680 And so I've only spoken about how I feel about the constitutionality of the bill or how people are applying it or using it.
00:04:14.580 so when all of a sudden i just hear that it's been dismissed my phone's blowing up like i'm
00:04:22.100 getting you know messages like it's been dismissed your your bill it's amazing it's done it i'm like
00:04:27.060 what what so i'm seeing this cnn article and i just read through and i did not get a chance to
00:04:35.680 read the full like uh ruling by the judge it's 151 pages i'm not sure if it even had been formally
00:04:41.560 posted at that time and i'm like seeing the defamation lawsuit had been dismissed and in
00:04:47.220 the article i was looking at and they mentioned that the judge had mentioned 47.1 i jumped the
00:04:52.320 gun and presume it had to be about my bill so i'm like wow because the judge had left in the damages
00:04:58.920 and i presumed if they were left in my bill was still active and there was going to be i had
00:05:04.640 thought maybe the judge was waiting until after this harassment case was resolved in case something
00:05:12.220 came up that showed malice there or didn't show malice let's put it that way it could easily be
00:05:18.140 whatever the evidence was and that maybe he was going to hold a hearing then it's very odd you
00:05:23.700 know to see that you know it was dismissed procedurally but then the attorney fees were
00:05:28.720 kept i was like question mark not quite understanding so is my bill going to like
00:05:34.220 have something to do with you know the actual harassment so i was this is new application for
00:05:39.600 me as well you know this is like how it's working very different but i also felt like
00:05:45.300 well if it's dismissed procedurally it's kind of over like that was also my opinion like i'm not
00:05:51.920 quite sure what happens or how you get this when there hasn't been a hearing on the facts there's
00:05:57.760 been no legal experts there's been no witnesses there's been no discovery i'm like i don't think
00:06:03.640 he could just say, I dismissed it procedurally. You get attorney fees. That's not the intention
00:06:09.320 of the bill at all. That was not the intention. So at that point, did you know, had you read,
00:06:15.020 like, did you know about the evidence that came out in Baldoni's, you know, from Baldoni's side
00:06:20.580 at that point? Or were you just like, okay, I, you didn't know much about the case and you just
00:06:26.420 thought, okay, they're using my bill here. It's actually an action. And that's something positive
00:06:32.060 for survivors is that I was looking at focusing about my movement of the bill nationwide I wasn't
00:06:39.440 really paying attention because I thought this would be sorted in the case like I wasn't speaking
00:06:44.840 about the facts so it wasn't like I was being misquoted I favor Baldoni I favor Blake I wasn't
00:06:50.180 speaking about either one of them being right or wrong and I felt any smoking guns will probably
00:06:54.820 come out trial and any lack of smoking guns will also be exposed so I was like I don't even need
00:07:00.260 to think about I need to think about progressing the bill nationwide because last year I added
00:07:04.940 three additional states so I am just slowly moving and it's just me there's no team it's just me so
00:07:11.440 it takes up time for me to progress the bill so that was my focus I have to say for I know a lot
00:07:18.540 of people are watching my channel as well are survivors as well and this law is designed to
00:07:23.880 protect those people and all those survivors out there. And now, like you were insinuating in your
00:07:30.700 post that it's being misused by a celebrity for PR purposes. So when did you come to that
00:07:38.740 kind of conclusion? Like, this is not a good thing. Was it a specific thing that you learned
00:07:44.480 about the case? Or is it something that happened recently after they went to trial again or to
00:07:50.500 court again to try and get these attorneys fees? Was there anything like anything specific?
00:07:56.560 Yes, there was. After this case settled, I was like, yay, it's done. It was all settled and we
00:08:02.900 could just like the focus couldn't return to advocacy. And, you know, I had presumed that 47.1
00:08:10.120 was somehow concluded as well because the harassment part had been dismissed. And so
00:08:17.280 the other part had nothing to do with like the defamation claim of like the 47.1
00:08:21.380 so i'm like that's probably i just presume that's gone and so it's over and i received a
00:08:27.980 communication from blake lively's legal team i was one of many people on it that was detailing
00:08:34.160 that blake is now going to be taking steps to move california's 47.1 nationwide she's going to be
00:08:42.920 like, you know, bringing awareness through retaliatory defamation lawsuits and including
00:08:47.340 New York. And I'm like, I'm confused. I have the bill currently introduced in 15 states,
00:08:54.480 and I introduced it in New York back in 2023. Some states take multiple years to get it through.
00:09:01.180 California is very lucky. I was told it was going to take two to three years in California. It took
00:09:04.620 one. So each state I've learned, Oregon moves very fast, Connecticut, Maine, one year, other
00:09:10.560 states multiple years. So I'm like, you're moving it to New York. It's in New York. And even Otter
00:09:15.960 is like, you haven't even contributed letter support for the bill in New York. I have a packet
00:09:20.720 of like 25 letters of support. Blake Lively's name is not among those supporting it. And I say that
00:09:26.820 because usually in every local area, I have local survivors that come to support the bill and they
00:09:33.880 support through written testimony. And they will contribute their own letters about what's happened
00:09:39.120 to them and their circumstance and what their situation is and there was not one from her so I
00:09:44.980 was surprised so I responded like I already have a nationwide movement going on and I said my
00:09:53.040 strategy has always been to fly it under the radar because we get zero opposition I'm only
00:09:59.540 only if I have to like do a story like when Cuomo came up and I had to defend the bill
00:10:04.140 then i was like doing media but otherwise i prefer in other states just to fly it under
00:10:11.040 until it gets passed that's like always been my modus operandi so so do you think so they wanted
00:10:17.100 to basically hijack this movement from you and and design the law to fit blake lily's case better
00:10:24.120 or like i read in some article that they were even trying to protect brian reynolds well in this
00:10:30.720 yes i mean what's strange i did find out like all this is like coming to me like in end of april
00:10:38.660 may while i'm in europe all this is unfolding i'm not even in the country and i'm playing catch-up
00:10:45.600 like what is happening and one advocacy groups lets me know that blake lively's attorney has
00:10:54.020 had meetings with this advocacy group once a week even though like we already have group meetings
00:11:00.920 set up with many people but these was a private one i guess i don't know i don't even know who's
00:11:05.520 part of it i know i wasn't and she was contributing to the drafting of like some rewrites to the bill
00:11:11.800 and i'm like oh what did and i was never sent the like rewrites and what she added and i was told
00:11:18.720 she added a paragraph i said can i see the paragraph it's kind of important that i know
00:11:23.980 it's the language of the bill and i was told that the paragraph has something to do with protecting
00:11:30.280 attorneys if they would be sued i'm like attorneys might be sued as part of a defamation case i'm
00:11:39.060 like okay i'm sure that does happen i have heard of it happening but i told the survivor group you
00:11:45.100 that was advocating for the bill i'm like look you need to remove that i said the focus needs to be
00:11:49.340 on survivors because lawyers have privilege money and insurance like and a lot of people don't even
00:11:57.260 like attorneys we need to return it back to the real victims like this has to come back this way
00:12:02.620 i said if it comes up i'm going to say strike it like if when it comes up i go suggest that gets
00:12:07.180 removed i don't want that in the bill and so i thought why i could have we could have resolved
00:12:12.060 of this earlier in the spring. It's now late season. We're almost at the conclusion. They've
00:12:16.380 been dragging their feet with having these rewrites to the point where the session's
00:12:20.300 almost over. And I'm like, we've lost the session. I mean, did you speak to Blake and
00:12:25.860 Ryan directly ever? Did you have any communication? I did at one point because one of the advocacy
00:12:32.140 groups had asked me if I could request from her a video support for the bill, which she
00:12:37.380 declined. They declined that? Yes. I had mentioned to her that we have this bill, but we are thinking
00:12:44.660 about possibly attaching the language to this bill because this other bill is a little bit further
00:12:48.300 along. And they decided, at least to me, like that's too complicated or whatever. I don't know
00:12:53.920 the reasoning, but it was a no. And they did not seek out any other ways to help the bill. And I
00:12:59.360 don't push. I'm like, that's fine. And I went on about my business. And that's why I said not even
00:13:04.820 a letter of support but to hear you're behind the scenes doing the draftings odd so when i said to
00:13:10.840 her in the communication like who was this was it ezra hudson yes yeah yeah we all know yeah
00:13:19.580 yes it was ezra i have the email um and i said to her you know i prefer you know like not be
00:13:27.920 associated because our sponsor last year compared her to amber heard and we made a decision this
00:13:32.560 year not to have celebrity involvement i said if it changes next year we could let you know
00:13:36.520 i said at this time we're not doing that because we're looking at local survivors and we're putting
00:13:41.580 the focus on the local survivors we had heard even feedback we don't want celebs we want local
00:13:46.920 survivors how is it impacting the campuses and you know like um any victims in a workplace you know
00:13:54.160 ordinary ones that like more relatable how does it affect the ordinary man like the ones who can't
00:14:00.300 for their legal fees, such as because the point of the bill was there had been so many retaliatory
00:14:06.000 defamation lawsuits being launched that victims or survivors were finding it easier just to go
00:14:11.660 silent. It was cheaper because these lawsuits often take five, six or seven figures to defend.
00:14:19.060 And since silence is cheaper, what happens is they just go away and society doesn't benefit
00:14:25.000 when we don't know that someone might be a problem predator. Because if we learn anything
00:14:28.700 for me too they're usually a serial predator oftentimes it's not just one victim it's more
00:14:33.940 than one so we benefit when real victims come forward and that's like really helpful so you're
00:14:39.640 saying real victims do you believe like likely as a victim or a survivor you know i can't speak to
00:14:47.800 it there was no trial i don't i don't know what would have happened i know she was going to go to
00:14:52.120 trial and i know that she was going to speak up but we didn't hear like i'll never know i mean i
00:15:01.120 i've heard her version and it could be her version is true i don't know these people
00:15:06.480 i have no idea if she thought this was harassment it didn't raise this harassment she believed it
00:15:11.560 was she had other motives i can't speculate i try to stay away from the facts with that but
00:15:16.820 I when I sent that to Ezra it was not well received she said thank you for your perspective
00:15:23.400 and your perspective yes oh wow okay yeah from all communications and additional meetings took
00:15:31.420 place thereafter planning of how Blake would be participating in the bill in New York but I was
00:15:38.740 not part of these discussions and I didn't know why because Blake was aware of my story um you
00:15:45.460 know it's in the media you know who i am her lawyers communicating with me so i am the architect
00:15:51.640 behind the bill but all of a sudden i had a feeling like oh no my bill is becoming the met gala
00:15:58.280 the fendi event and now 47.1 this is part of a pr campaign and i felt sick and i'm like
00:16:05.740 please don't do this to the bill because it damages so much for survivors and you know i did
00:16:13.460 not want to lose, you know, people thinking like this is just a PR tool when I move it across the
00:16:18.280 country. I didn't want to hear like, oh, you know, she's leading the charge across. And worst case
00:16:23.540 scenario, we're both leading the charge into different states. I already have it in with
00:16:27.860 certain legislators. She's introducing other legislation and we're competing and it's going
00:16:33.560 to split. And I thought I have put in my own money, my own time, my own resources to protect
00:16:41.160 survivors because i said i didn't just want to protect my voice i wanted to protect the voices
00:16:46.520 of others who didn't have the legal background to defend themselves or my resources you know i
00:16:51.960 didn't find justice through the court system you know i had you know been assaulted i woke up
00:16:58.760 in a coma in the er after having been at a restaurant and i had gone you know to the police
00:17:06.560 And unfortunately, the hospital where I was did not automatically test my blood for any date drugs.
00:17:14.060 And, you know, so I was they kept the blood for seven days, but the police failed to retrieve it to test it themselves.
00:17:21.080 The video where I was kept in the car in a parking lot for over an hour was not retrieved in time and was deleted.
00:17:29.620 So multiple factors that were just sad and tragic were leading to no prosecution.
00:17:34.520 But I told myself, justice comes in many forms. What if I can protect survivors speaking out? Because this bill incentivizes attorneys to take on these tough cases from a client who may not have the money to fight their costs, their legal costs.
00:17:51.020 And that was like the intention to also dissuade someone with a meritless claim, but also to incentivize an attorney that might be like, oh, this is good because they would have to front the costs of a defense that may last several years.
00:18:06.060 but if you find out at the end you'll recover those attorney fees so the survivor if they
00:18:11.580 aren't being malicious at least could be made whole because if they prevail and show that what
00:18:17.460 they said was not malicious they otherwise would get a huge debt like not only were they harassed
00:18:23.860 assaulted now they have maybe five six or seven figures debt who knows what's going on with them
00:18:31.240 Like, you know, they might not be, you know, they might be damaged.
00:18:34.340 I'm thinking like, oh, my God, this has happened.
00:18:36.700 I should have just been silent.
00:18:37.980 And, you know, I wanted to put some protection there.
00:18:41.020 That was my intent.
00:18:42.980 Of course.
00:18:43.760 I'm so sorry what happened to you.
00:18:45.140 My gosh, I didn't know how serious that was.
00:18:47.680 And that is just so traumatizing.
00:18:50.420 And I feel like, you know, when Blake Lively came out with her allegations and we all looked at them and we were like, you know, he said you're once he was sexy.
00:19:00.540 that just putting that in the category of something,
00:19:05.160 you know, in the same category of something
00:19:06.600 that you've experienced is just such an insult,
00:19:10.280 I think, to all real survivors out there.
00:19:13.800 And I think also, you know, your bill was designed
00:19:16.740 to help women that, you know, had the strength to stand up.
00:19:24.360 But it's, yeah, no, I just find it so heartbreaking
00:19:27.580 the way it's been abused and the way that you are now
00:19:30.460 being squeezed out of it basically and this is your legacy your life's work and they kind of
00:19:37.720 took it from you are they are they now are they still like advocating advocating for this law in
00:19:44.920 different states without you being involved at all is this is that just happening now
00:19:49.320 communication i don't know like i don't know i i am aware that additional meetings and discussions
00:19:55.660 have occurred. I don't know the substance of these beyond the fact that New York was being
00:20:00.920 discussed. So I'm not quite sure when she says nationwide moving 47.1, ignoring the fact I'm
00:20:07.520 already moving it as the Speak Your Truth Act, which is the original name I gave the act. So
00:20:12.180 everyone knows it by the umbrella term, because each state will name it something different,
00:20:16.260 but they'll also call it the Speak Your Truth Act. And each state makes it a little bit different.
00:20:20.700 Every state has a little bit, they tweak it for whatever they need.
00:20:24.500 So I know the needs of the states.
00:20:26.460 I work with them.
00:20:27.720 So imagine someone who's unfamiliar with the law, which I helped develop.
00:20:32.400 I'm able to help craft a law for that particular state because I know the background.
00:20:37.400 I know how we worked at the ACLU.
00:20:39.020 I know, like, and oftentimes, like, the ACLU supports us.
00:20:42.900 I was right there, you know, with me in Maine and helped promote it.
00:20:46.320 And Rhode Island, they signed on to support it.
00:20:48.120 California helped draft a language.
00:20:49.380 Same with Illinois. They're on all the meetings. We've worked really hard with numerous advocacy groups to get input because I wanted a strongly vetted bill.
00:20:59.220 You know, I wasn't shying away from the challenge of like what I had written need to be redrafted.
00:21:03.260 Like, OK, let's let's change it for the better. Let's let's move the language around.
00:21:07.380 So what we came out with was, you know, 47.1, but another state might put it in their anti-slap section.
00:21:13.120 So different states have chosen to do different things. But to all of a sudden have this like, you know, sideshow circus show up. I'm like, it's press up to go through the legislature pushing for a bill. I'm not understanding that's not the way. It's about survivors. I'm a survivor writing it for survivors. We need to recenter it.
00:21:39.140 Are you worried now? I mean, these people are so powerful. We've seen what they've been able to do. Are you worried now when you're talking about it that they will somehow, you know, reach out to you, try to silence you like they did with me and so many other, you know, journalists and content creators that they subpoenaed to try and silence? Have you thought about that? Are you worried about that?
00:22:04.760 I am fortunate that most of the things have been in writing.
00:22:06.840 good for you i mean i know my phone's been ringing now i may not have been able to answer it
00:22:16.640 probably wise yeah can you talk a little bit about when when you had a meeting with blake
00:22:24.120 what was her questions did she seem like she was interested at all in like
00:22:29.200 you know i had heard that she had wanted to meet me and it's a funny story because i'm like well
00:22:38.000 i'm in la but i happen to be in new york for the bill and so i told her lawyer well i will be in
00:22:45.160 new york advocating and her attorney had asked if i can meet on this one particular time on
00:22:51.500 wednesday and i said i can't because i have reservations at the louboutin cafe for afternoon
00:22:55.860 tea so I won't be able to make it and she's like can you move it I'm like no I really wanted that
00:23:01.280 reservation it meant something to me yeah big treat in New York City so I'm like I wanted to
00:23:06.660 go there so um and then when I went to Albany at one point I heard another communication saying
00:23:13.040 like Blake can meet at a different time that day and I said I think I'll be done with the afternoon
00:23:17.480 tea by then if I am I'll be able to make it and when I was up in Albany I said Blake Lively's
00:23:24.780 asked to meet me and I said you know what do we think of this because we had been like not really
00:23:31.320 wanting to engage at this point we're trying to feel it out like how are people reacting to it
00:23:37.660 and I asked was put forward at the time of like you know could you request her to do a video
00:23:44.740 in support of the bill and I'm like yeah I could do that so that was when I went there I told her
00:23:51.060 my story of what happened to me why the bill's important to me you know she told me her mom had
00:23:57.720 a story i met her mom met ryan met her children and then i had asked her um at some point you
00:24:05.840 know about the video and you know because there's two separate potential bills not one
00:24:10.880 that it wasn't a good fit for them and i'm like okay and so i left and as i said no i'm sorry
00:24:18.140 So her mom was there, Ryan was there, and all her children were also present at this meeting?
00:24:24.180 I think it was just, they happened to have time.
00:24:27.320 I don't know if it was like for a thing, if I was being, you know, I don't know if that was a calculated or if it just happened stance.
00:24:35.220 I don't know if it just happened to be at the time when I was coming, because I moved the time, maybe they weren't going to be there.
00:24:41.680 I don't know.
00:24:42.560 I mean, everyone was very kind to me, very nice, very friendly.
00:24:46.000 um you know i like i said i keep focus on the bill it's the bill the bill the bill like because
00:24:52.100 you know if we have a distraction about the bill it's not good but if it's a positive thing great
00:24:59.240 like i don't know like at that time the the um the law had not been decided like not law excuse
00:25:06.260 me the case had not been dismissed at this point when was this by the way can i ask you when when
00:25:11.120 when was this that you had the meeting it was here late april or may april may last year yes
00:25:18.680 okay so his case so justin's case hadn't been dismissed against blake yet
00:25:24.100 correct at that point so that's where we left off with you know my knowing of her support
00:25:33.840 that's the extent of i have heard about her support whether she's had other communications
00:25:39.380 I cannot speak to that.
00:25:41.000 Could be I'm in the dark.
00:25:42.880 Turns out I am about some things.
00:25:46.040 Because we usually had monthly meetings that became a little bit more spaced out this spring.
00:25:51.460 And I was hearing some feedback from different groups about this is getting spaced out a bit.
00:25:55.620 You know, so I'm like, I don't know.
00:25:57.700 We're waiting for the draft language to come back.
00:26:00.160 And I didn't know what the holdup was.
00:26:01.860 Like, urgent, urgent.
00:26:03.020 We need to get this in because it needs to get through committee.
00:26:06.100 So I didn't know at what point her involvement started.
00:26:09.380 I don't know. Like when she became like, you know, her lawyer became involved in the draft.
00:26:15.700 I don't know. I'm not party to any of the conversations of where this continued without me.
00:26:21.760 And then they tried to get protection from Ryan Reynolds through it too. As far as I understood
00:26:25.900 that they, him and Leslie Sloan also, because they were actors for Blake Lively. So they wanted to
00:26:34.160 be also protected under this law. Is that right? The way I understand that, that they did that?
00:26:39.380 So I can't remember I didn't do that deep a dive of what their claims were at that time.
00:26:43.460 I just had focused on the means with Blake and Baldoni.
00:26:47.740 And now you said in your social media post that you don't think she should get any fees.
00:26:52.880 I feel at this point because the case was already dismissed and, you know, last year on a procedural basis.
00:27:01.300 And I just felt that the judge might have been holding it open to see what came next from the harassment claims.
00:27:08.960 But then when those got dismissed and then they settled, I'm not sure why she was still there.
00:27:15.680 Like, you know, that's what are we doing here? I'm not sure.
00:27:19.180 Because are we starting a whole new trial for a case that's dismissed?
00:27:23.620 What does that look like? So, you know, is the judge going to make the decision?
00:27:27.600 Who is going to be the fact finder here? So this is like, you know, very different.
00:27:31.740 And so I felt like, well, it seemed like it had concluded.
00:27:35.340 So in your bill, was it also suggested that the person who, or the defendant, would have to pay triple damages and also, what is it called?
00:27:51.620 Punitive.
00:27:52.300 Punitive damages?
00:27:53.160 is okay so the language for that it originally was attorney fees actual damages and punitive
00:28:01.040 and one of the advocacy groups said it's more of incentive if you make it trouble
00:28:05.820 for people not to bring a meritless case and so like that was i believe in either november
00:28:13.060 december 2022 one of the groups had brought forward that argument and pushed for that and
00:28:18.140 And we're like, that sounds like that has merit.
00:28:20.880 Let's put it in.
00:28:22.420 Punitive is always like the judge would decide that.
00:28:25.920 Like if something egregious happens, you know, then it would be like punishing.
00:28:31.240 You know, that should be there.
00:28:32.680 But I know different states that I have moved the bill to.
00:28:36.200 Some have chosen just to do actual damages and not trouble damages.
00:28:39.860 Because California has some cases that do use or some laws that do use trouble damages.
00:28:45.640 And other states do not.
00:28:47.140 every state operates a little bit differently. And that's why the wording changes for each state
00:28:51.500 about what works best for them. So what do you think could happen now if she gets any attorney's
00:28:57.420 fees? I mean, I'm sure she's going to claim victory in this case. She's already claimed victory
00:29:02.280 after all basically most of her claims were dismissed. But now she can claim victory then
00:29:09.900 if she gets any fees from your law. And probably, I don't know, do you think that's going to hurt
00:29:16.040 the law even more
00:29:18.220 or the bill even more than it has
00:29:20.120 so far? I would
00:29:22.100 be curious to see what the judge based it on.
00:29:24.340 Like that would be, I'd be highly curious
00:29:26.220 to read that first before
00:29:28.100 speaking about it because I'm not
00:29:30.120 familiar with the basis. I mean, I'm just hoping
00:29:32.160 after talking to you that the next chapter isn't
00:29:34.100 she suing me.
00:29:35.780 Oh my gosh. Oh my God.
00:29:38.220 Jesus. I have a good lawyer
00:29:40.280 if you need one.
00:29:41.040 I'm going to have to protect myself.
00:29:46.040 Yeah, I mean, I would, yeah, I'm not surprised by anything anymore, but I think it's so sad when, you know, people like you that have done such amazing work for so many women, especially, and that you're being dragged into this, in a sense, that's just so unfair.
00:30:03.620 And I'm so sorry that, you know, that this has happened to something that you worked so hard for.
00:30:10.400 And, yeah, is there anything else you want people to know?
00:30:14.120 Would you what would you say to Justin Baldoni today if you could say something to him?
00:30:19.360 I would say, you know, I had thought that this, you know, attorney fees would not be warranted at this stage.
00:30:25.440 That's, you know, those are my private thoughts on my private Instagram.
00:30:30.280 Now, now you can hear it.
00:30:31.900 i had said that to you know friends at this stage you know um i i didn't see that they were warranted
00:30:38.820 at this stage yeah like i said i i don't know him and nothing personal this is always about
00:30:44.460 protecting constitutionality of my bill like protective because i i'm protective because i
00:30:50.840 work so hard to vet it and with groups that we felt it was very strong constitutionally that's why
00:30:56.220 I, you know, wanted to make sure to protect the bill.
00:31:01.880 I understand that.
00:31:02.820 And now I see the full picture of why you have acted and reacted the way that you have,
00:31:08.740 because for you, as you're saying, this is your life's work and you are out there to
00:31:13.300 protect survivors.
00:31:14.120 And then there's this crazy Hollywood feud going on.
00:31:17.240 And of course, a lot of us have been very invested in it because it feels so unfair.
00:31:22.020 And we, a lot of us feel that he's been, you know, innocent and being accused of something that he didn't do and he didn't deserve.
00:31:30.280 Well, I will say this.
00:31:32.120 I remember even when I met Blake, I did tell her that multiple friends of mine told me, great hesitation, don't meet her.
00:31:42.360 Like, I had one friend who left me a seven minute voicemail saying, you don't know her.
00:31:46.100 like and i have never had a reaction like that in my life where you know my phone is like like that
00:31:53.600 like oh my god you know that was interesting and i thought i don't know this person but i am willing
00:32:01.260 to listen you know if they're willing to help the bill it's i don't know where this case is going i
00:32:06.220 don't know the facts you know maybe there's a smoking gun i don't know you know that's a that's
00:32:11.300 a thing but i did not have people like at least of my friend level like reaching out to me about
00:32:19.940 baldoni in a negative way no like i i don't you know anyone who's known me personally i'm not
00:32:27.320 saying like there has been anyone who's been negative but like any of my personal friends
00:32:31.680 there has not been anyone who said like you know you know baldoni's bad i think it maybe maybe one
00:32:40.480 or two but I'm like for the most part no like it's very happy to hear that yeah thank you for
00:32:46.360 sharing that I have to ask yeah I don't know I have to ask did Ryan Reynolds ask you anything
00:32:52.560 specific like when you met him about this um no I he was rushing out to LA at the time you know so
00:33:01.960 like he was eating a sandwich and then had to leave so it was like I because I had to tell
00:33:08.080 like i haven't seen her shows and i told him i like deadpool like you know when i met him i was
00:33:14.460 gracious to everyone i met i mean like i said they were very kind when i met them you know
00:33:19.700 i i have at that meeting there's nothing that was like unkind toward me i mean they needed you so
00:33:27.580 of course they were nice too i mean i'm sorry
00:33:30.460 what do you think about them now I mean I'm sure you learned a lot more about them
00:33:38.340 I was literally stunned that the like there hadn't been support of like wanting to be active
00:33:47.160 because if they had reached out to me and asked how to lend support I would say you know maybe
00:33:53.620 contribute to the pro bono places that pay the legal fees for those experiencing, you know,
00:34:01.100 assaults, harassment, and being sued for defamation. There's a lot of places and there's a lot of
00:34:05.880 advocacy groups that could have used like, you know, maybe a donation or, you know, she could
00:34:11.600 reach out to them to say, how could I best use my resources? That, or maybe meet survivors who
00:34:16.660 would want to talk to her, maybe something like that. But I was not consulted. I was just told
00:34:20.740 she's going to move my bill nationwide regardless that's so insane to me wow well thank you so much
00:34:30.000 for doing this i really really appreciate you taking the time and i'm sure my viewers they
00:34:34.900 were really excited i was telling them earlier today that i was interviewing you so i think this
00:34:40.420 really cleared things up as well because some people were you know wondering you know why you
00:34:46.840 supported blake to begin with which is not really the case here at the far as far as i understand it
00:34:52.860 you know it was yes always the bills thank you and i really wish you all the best of luck with
00:35:00.360 the bill and i'm so happy that this is out there now and maybe the judge will you know are you
00:35:06.420 going to write the judge and say something i probably won't weigh in but i'll be watching
00:35:12.040 to the sidelines curious as everyone else is for how this goes with the bill like this is also
00:35:17.420 very new for me i'm watching you know just i'm holding my heart and by the way is there any way
00:35:24.340 people can help you out uh you know in your work moving forward is there anything people can do
00:35:30.400 to support your work um if they are experiencing you know if they are a survivor who has a personal
00:35:36.880 story. Maybe they could contact me at my school where I teach. I'm an adjunct professor. And
00:35:45.020 maybe they could reach out to me and let me know if they would want to contribute testimony or
00:35:49.860 something. I'm right now very overwhelmed. Having a very full inbox and my Instagram has a lot of
00:35:58.280 friend ads. And I'm personally like, this has just happened. And so I haven't been able to get
00:36:05.380 to anything right now I might take some time to get to anyone it's not the lack of love it's just
00:36:11.940 I'm overwhelmed right now and trying to like trying to catch my breath but um you know that's
00:36:18.760 how I could say it I mean you were the first person who friended me and I just recognized you
00:36:24.840 from you know the the interview and like you're you're reporting and so I'm like okay thank you
00:36:32.020 for doing that. I really, really appreciate it. I really appreciate you being so open
00:36:35.780 about this as well. And that you're, you know, I think, you know, it may be encouraged survivors
00:36:41.420 to come forward and also people to talk about their experiences. So yes, thank you so much,
00:36:47.460 yeah we've lost some talk