The Megyn Kelly Show - Justin Baldoni's Lawyer Says He Won't Settle with Blake Lively, and What Comes Next in the Case, with Bryan Freedman ｜ Ep. 1092

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00:00:31.200 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Channel 111 every weekday at New East.

00:00:42.860 Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show.

00:00:46.040 Well, no sooner did we wrap our individual take on what happened in Baldoni versus Lively

00:00:52.580 than my friend and lawyer Brian Friedman and I managed to connect

00:00:57.080 and he's got all sorts of thoughts on what actually went down

00:01:01.140 with this judge dismissing part of his counterclaims

00:01:04.800 and agreed to come on the show.

00:01:06.740 So here I am live from my European vacation

00:01:10.400 back with Brian Friedman to bring you the story straight from the source's mouth.

00:01:16.420 There's no one better to talk to about what actually happened here

00:01:19.000 than the man who represents Justin Baldoni and who's been out there fiercely defending him

00:01:24.180 and waging war against Blake Lively who he believes is not a good person

00:01:28.780 and does not believe her claims.

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00:02:36.920 Brian, great to see you.

00:02:38.260 Thanks for doing this.

00:02:39.160 All right, so give us your overall take on this federal district court judge

00:02:43.280 dismissing large portions of your counterclaims against Blake Lively,

00:02:48.640 Ryan Reynolds, the New York Times, and this PR agent who represented the couple.

00:02:53.960 Sure.

00:02:54.960 First of all, great to see you.

00:02:56.980 And I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation.

00:03:00.900 I hope you're having a great time.

00:03:03.820 So far, so good.

00:03:04.440 The last time I was with you, actually, was the last kind of disaster in L.A.,

00:03:10.640 which were the L.A. fires.

00:03:12.560 I think it was March 7th, and we were on together.

00:03:19.820 And so, you know, yet another crisis in L.A., and I'm here.

00:03:26.200 So I don't think there's any coincidence.

00:03:29.340 But my take on what the judge did was the judge simplified things.

00:03:34.620 And, you know, while, you know, we're not pleased that he got rid of the defamation causes of action,

00:03:41.720 you know, the truth was the case was never really about, you know, defamation.

00:03:47.700 And while it's in our while it's our response and it's while it's a portion of our claims, you know,

00:03:55.000 from the very start, this case was about somebody being wrongfully accused.

00:03:59.160 And that's Justin.

00:04:00.800 And and it's also been about Melissa Nathan and her team at TAG and about Jen Abel and and herself

00:04:09.060 and about her being wrongfully accused about a smear campaign. 0.99

00:04:13.460 And and the reality is, you know, when you you know, what I believe is going on is that the judge,

00:04:20.080 you know, is getting through all of this and saying, hey, we're going to parrot this down to really what the issues are in the case.

00:04:27.540 And I don't want collateral stuff going on.

00:04:30.340 I just want, you know, answers to the key questions.

00:04:33.600 Right. Was there sexual harassment?

00:04:35.940 You know, clearly no.

00:04:38.120 And, you know, was there a smear campaign?

00:04:40.100 And that's no also.

00:04:41.140 So so that's what I really think when you parrot down the law and all of that to what the judge is trying to do here.

00:04:49.580 What do you make of the victory lap she and her lawyers are taking, claiming absolute vindication,

00:04:55.660 calling the counterclaims basically a sham, saying the judge saw right through them

00:05:00.440 and Blake Lively out there thanking the 19 organizations who filed briefs on her behalf?

00:05:06.300 Right. Well, you know, without getting into detail on that, I mean, first of all, the judge made clear that he didn't read the briefs.

00:05:14.980 The judge made clear that he didn't rule on 47.1, which she's going around and celebrating a victory.

00:05:23.660 Let's explain what that is.

00:05:24.660 And 47.1 was the was the California statute that is a new statute that she took the position that you couldn't defend yourself 1.00

00:05:37.720 by filing a claim against an accuser concerning sexual harassment or sexual assault, which, you know, in most cases is a really important law.

00:05:49.760 In most cases, it is a really important conceptual case.

00:05:53.720 And it really protects the victims.

00:05:56.700 But, you know, you got to ask yourself here, who's the real victim?

00:05:59.940 The real victim is Justin and the others, and it's because they've been wrongfully accused.

00:06:06.780 And ask yourself, you know, when you've been in a situation where you've been wrongfully accused, you know, how do you defend yourself?

00:06:14.860 Are you allowed to defend yourself?

00:06:16.640 Are you allowed to lead with truth?

00:06:18.760 Because that's all that's been done here is putting everything out on a website, putting everything out for the public, not hiding anything and saying, here it is.

00:06:28.360 Was there sexual harassment?

00:06:30.460 Was there a smear campaign?

00:06:33.980 And 47.1 seems to say this new California law, if you're an alleged sexual harassment or sexual assault or hostile work environment plaintiff

00:06:44.700 and somebody who you've accused comes back at you saying, I didn't do it.

00:06:51.280 And what you're alleging is defamatory of me, thanks to this statute, that person defending themselves saying, I didn't.

00:06:59.880 And what you say is defamation can get in a lot of trouble, potentially, could have to pay that person's legal fees if the counterclaim gets dismissed,

00:07:08.900 could have to pay triple the legal fees, potentially, and punitive damages.

00:07:13.420 So the California statute almost makes it, like, extremely dangerous for someone in Justin Baldoni's position to actually defend himself against a sexual harassment complaint.

00:07:25.980 Well, it's not dangerous if you know you're right.

00:07:29.560 So this case has always been about facts.

00:07:32.460 It hasn't been about victory laps.

00:07:34.260 It hasn't been about Saturday Night Live tours.

00:07:36.580 It hasn't been about the People 100, you know, or the Time 100.

00:07:40.920 You know, it hasn't been about the show.

00:07:46.180 And it hasn't been about, you know, the misrepresentations.

00:07:52.080 It's been about the facts.

00:07:54.480 You know, we've been in this case for a while now.

00:07:57.420 You know, have we seen, you know, text messages?

00:08:00.700 Have we seen evidence?

00:08:01.880 Have we seen receipts?

00:08:03.060 No.

00:08:03.840 You know, you've only seen them from one side.

00:08:06.040 And it's been out there.

00:08:07.520 And what we've seen from Blake Lively is her showing, you know, who she really is.

00:08:14.140 And the truth is, you know, that there's a famous quote that says, when people show you who they are, believe them.

00:08:24.180 Mm-hmm.

00:08:25.300 Maya Angelou.

00:08:26.220 Yeah.

00:08:26.460 So what did you make of the judge?

00:08:29.280 Because you say it's clear he didn't read the briefs.

00:08:31.020 I have to say, I was surprised at some of the sweeping language in there.

00:08:34.560 For example, him saying, well, Justin Baldoni, you can't really sue him.

00:08:40.360 He can't sue Ryan Reynolds for defamation.

00:08:43.060 Because when you sue a public figure, when you are a public figure suing for defamation,

00:08:48.880 you have to meet the New York Times versus Sullivan standards showing that the person who defamed you did it with actual malice,

00:08:54.480 meaning they knew it was false when they said it.

00:08:56.540 This would be Ryan Reynolds saying false things to WME, the agency, that he got to break up with Justin.

00:09:02.320 So he knew the things were false or he behaved with reckless disregard for their falsity.

00:09:06.200 And the judge seemed to say, eh, anything he heard was from his wife, so he couldn't have known it was false.

00:09:13.200 At worst case scenario, he was mistaken, and therefore your claims against Justin need to be dismissed,

00:09:19.080 though a couple of those have been granted leave to refile.

00:09:22.000 I just don't understand that because there is evidence that Ryan Reynolds had direct interactions with Justin,

00:09:30.780 with Blake, with Taylor Swift.

00:09:33.380 I don't get that part, Brian.

00:09:36.200 Yeah, well, I think it's a nuance in the law that you're aware of, but public figures who sue for defamation have to prove malice.

00:09:45.460 What the judge essentially said, as you read the order, is that there can be no malice here

00:09:54.000 because the allegations arose from the CRD complaint, which is a protected document as a legally filed document.

00:10:05.140 The civil rights complaint that she filed to kick this whole thing off and then leaked to the New York Times, clearly.

00:10:10.560 Go ahead.

00:10:11.260 That's right.

00:10:11.860 And we don't agree with that at all.

00:10:14.320 We think there's so much collateral action that happened here factually that is outside of the scope of that document itself.

00:10:25.880 You know, for example, the New York Times said, you know, that they reviewed thousands of text messages

00:10:31.220 and made their own determination based on that.

00:10:34.920 They had a video that they put together.

00:10:37.620 These things are not directly taken from the CRD complaint.

00:10:42.500 And, you know, and the court, you know, addressed that in its own way.

00:10:46.260 And, you know, the court, you know, the court was very matter of fact about that.

00:10:53.300 I don't think the, you know, generally judges or courts like when media is sued.

00:10:58.960 They certainly don't like when, you know, public figures sue for defamation.

00:11:04.780 The standard is higher.

00:11:06.640 It does require malice.

00:11:08.540 I think in this case, there's a lot of arguments on why there is malice.

00:11:11.980 But again, I get back to why are we here and what are we really, you know, proving here?

00:11:19.340 And the truth is, it's two things.

00:11:21.540 It's did he sexually harass her?

00:11:24.160 And, you know, was there a smear campaign?

00:11:26.780 And again, you know, we can, it's a bummer.

00:11:31.200 And, you know, and I feel really upset about the fact that, you know,

00:11:36.440 compensation in the form of damages as a result of defamation is not possible at the moment for him.

00:11:43.480 I'm sure, you know, they will both say things in the future that will bring this back to life.

00:11:48.580 I have no doubt.

00:11:49.660 Right.

00:11:50.800 Can I ask you about, you mentioned 47.1, this law in California that kind of protects someone

00:11:57.600 even alleging sexual harassment from getting sued for defamation.

00:12:01.320 In other words, if the defamation case is dismissed, it gives them potentially triple

00:12:06.600 their attorney's fees and costs.

00:12:10.040 That could be millions and millions of dollars if the judge says it applies and Justin has to pay.

00:12:18.200 Before we ever even get to discovery in this case, Brian, does he have that kind of money?

00:12:23.020 And what are the odds that the judge is going to impose that hefty penalty on him?

00:12:27.940 Well, you know, I'm not at liberty to talk about his finances, but suffice it to say that

00:12:35.300 that I doubt many people have that kind of money.

00:12:39.600 But, you know, but I think the, you know, the distinction in this case is that sometimes

00:12:46.320 the law does not, you know, take into account morality.

00:12:51.920 And, you know, while this particular statute is a good statute in cases where it's important

00:13:01.940 and it matters and where there's someone who's bullying the victim.

00:13:06.200 And I want to take that really seriously because I think it's really important and Justin feels

00:13:11.100 it's really important.

00:13:12.020 But where it doesn't apply is a case where somebody has created allegations that do not

00:13:20.540 rise to the level of sexual harassment.

00:13:24.040 And we now know exactly what those allegations are.

00:13:29.560 We, you know, we have a specific understanding of what those allegations are.

00:13:33.700 We've seen video that shows exactly what happened in the scene that she said was so inappropriate.

00:13:41.100 And we've seen, you know, the text messages about coming to my trailer.

00:13:47.040 We've seen the evidence that directly refuse the allegations of sexual harassment.

00:13:53.780 So in this case, you know, from our perspective, there's not nearly the risk that there would

00:13:59.580 be in a case where it was used for bullying.

00:14:02.260 In this case, it's truly about trying to prove that you didn't sexually harass someone.

00:14:09.380 And why, with his career destroyed at the moment, why is he not allowed that right to defend

00:14:15.480 himself and to be able to say, this is not okay?

00:14:19.240 Does the judge get to take any of that into account?

00:14:22.740 Because she's moving.

00:14:24.020 Her team has made clear they're going to move to get all of her fees behind this motion to 0.86

00:14:28.080 dismiss recovered from Justin.

00:14:29.480 And I'm sure they're going to ask for them to be troubled or tripled and possibly punitive

00:14:35.240 damages, which just seems insane to me.

00:14:36.920 But will the judge be able to consider what we know to be the evidence in the case, just

00:14:42.560 from all you've done, even pre-discovery, to put together what really happened here?

00:14:46.960 Does he get to even consider any of that?

00:14:48.560 Or do you actually think there's a real shot, Justin, could be on the hook for this woman's

00:14:51.500 attorney's fees times three?

00:14:52.800 Well, I think the judge has to look at this statute, which is a brand new statute, which

00:14:58.780 there's absolutely no case law on, which hasn't been challenged at all.

00:15:03.900 And the judge is either going to or not going to make a determination as to whether it applied

00:15:10.660 or not.

00:15:11.180 So far in the ruling, the judge specifically said that he did not take that statute into

00:15:15.700 consideration, but he did, you know, welcome the parties to file, you know, briefs on trying

00:15:22.580 to recover their attorney's fees, including using 47.1 as an argument, I believe, because

00:15:29.180 the ruling wasn't a part of that and the judge didn't rule on it.

00:15:33.200 It's moot and it doesn't apply.

00:15:36.460 But, you know, there's a chance that the judge could consider that.

00:15:40.640 I think it's also a statute that's completely untested.

00:15:43.320 And we have to ask ourselves, you know, where there are good laws that help to protect good

00:15:49.020 people, when does it go too far that your constitutional rights are taken away?

00:15:54.220 And when does it go too far that they're taken away in a way that punishes you so severely

00:16:01.680 for trying to defend yourself and saying, this is not OK and this defames me?

00:16:07.200 Mm hmm.

00:16:08.320 Can you just speak to what you think her strategy was here?

00:16:11.460 I mean, was it I'll file this civil rights division complaint and then my allegations

00:16:16.980 will be protected, undermining any attempt to sue me for potentially defamatory statements.

00:16:23.960 And then I will leak it to The New York Times so it will get out there.

00:16:28.520 And then everyone will know that I'm the victim here, as opposed to the narrative that existed

00:16:35.060 prior to her filing that complaint, which was she seems like a real bitch and she is tone 1.00

00:16:41.900 deaf on domestic violence and she seems to have blown up her movie for no apparent reason.

00:16:47.000 Those those were the buzz that was part of the buzz going around about her.

00:16:50.100 She bullies reporters. 1.00

00:16:51.080 That was also part of it.

00:16:52.160 So is is that your theory of the case, Brian, that she launched this whole thing in her own

00:16:57.700 effort at PR spin and control?

00:16:59.900 Well, I, I, I believe what happened in the case and it's pretty clear, right, is that,

00:17:06.540 you know, press came out, which was negative toward her.

00:17:10.960 There was press that came out with that was negative toward Justin.

00:17:13.160 But but, you know, these, you know, whether it's Internet sleuths who are amazing or whether

00:17:19.580 it's, you know, amazing reporters went back in time and pulled videos and pulled, you know,

00:17:25.500 information and, you know, generally videos don't lie right about how you've behaved in

00:17:32.300 the past and they pulled that information.

00:17:34.880 They put that information out, whether it was the Christie flaw, you know, video or whether

00:17:40.400 it was other videos, whether it was the videos where she said, here's what I do.

00:17:44.260 I just, you know, misrepresent what I'm, you know, I'm trying to get a role and then I take

00:17:49.420 over the film and, you know, or, or any of that stuff.

00:17:53.180 I think that the reporters and other people in the media played that for people and people

00:17:58.180 had a reaction to it.

00:17:59.360 And there was an organic response as a result of that.

00:18:02.520 I think that was too much for her.

00:18:04.480 It was too much for her to believe that somebody could actually not like her based on her own

00:18:09.700 belief, her own conduct.

00:18:10.980 I think that was something that, that, that she couldn't handle, whether that's a, you

00:18:16.800 know, whether that's an interesting narcissism quality or otherwise, I don't know, not a doctor,

00:18:21.860 but, but I can tell you this, the, the, the result of it was her scurrying around trying

00:18:28.980 to blame someone else for why her own behavior seemed to be the cause of, of people not liking

00:18:37.920 her. And that spiraled into something that, you know, is, you know, was completely out of control.

00:18:44.160 I mean, whenever do you see someone, you know, make a red carpet walk and, and, and go out in

00:18:51.320 the press and bring all of their, their, their friends into this and, and make this situation

00:18:57.560 bigger than what it is. Is this good for her? Is this good for her career? Is this good for

00:19:02.260 her children? Is this good for her family? You know, you have to ask yourself at some point,

00:19:06.660 everybody has a part in everything, right? Does she, is she, does she, is she capable of taking 0.95

00:19:12.640 responsibility for her part in this and owning that? That's, we haven't seen that yet. And that's

00:19:20.540 why, you know, that, that many people out there are finding evidence about how she's behaved,

00:19:25.760 how she's treated reporters, how she's treated people, how she's treated individuals, how she's 1.00

00:19:30.560 treated, you know, waiting staff and, and, and others and saying, it's not okay. We don't like

00:19:36.520 you. She's a bully. That's my own conclusion. She's an obvious bully who can't take any rounds 1.00

00:19:43.440 of negative press, which is so absurd. You and I both know that public figures, many of whom you've

00:19:49.520 defended, including yours truly have to take tons of negative press. And it's just part of being a

00:19:57.380 public figure. It's not pleasant, but to, to try to ruin a man's life over one mild round that she had 1.00

00:20:05.300 to suffer when this movie came out is just insane. That's to me, clear, clearly what she's doing.

00:20:10.680 Can I ask you about what remains? Because my own take was, so the civil extortion claim is gone.

00:20:15.740 The defamation claim is gone. The false light invasion of privacy claim, counterclaims, I should

00:20:19.620 say, by Justin against her and the related parties are gone. But what's, what's left? Because I heard

00:20:25.160 you say it's four claims. I thought it was just the tortious interference and the breach of the covenant

00:20:29.520 of good faith and fair dealing insofar as he's alleging that Ryan Reynolds messed with his

00:20:36.520 relationship with Ari Emanuel over at WME. Like if, if that happened and they interfered with Justin's

00:20:42.740 agency relationship, you still have a claim. Where am I wrong? How is it bigger?

00:20:47.900 Well, it's bigger because there's an intentional interference with contract, which is against

00:20:52.360 Blake and Ryan, um, that the judge gave us a roadmap to replete. Um, there's intentional

00:20:58.640 interference with perspective economic advantage. And that's got goes beyond just a contract. It

00:21:04.580 goes to the heart of, you know, are you going to be able to work again? Um, there's negligent in

00:21:10.380 negligent interference with perspective economic advantage against Blake and Ryan. And there's

00:21:15.940 something called breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing against Blake only.

00:21:21.540 And those claims, you know, are being replayed. Uh, the judge again, gave us a roadmap to,

00:21:27.620 to, on how to replete those, um, and what the judge would like to see. We are doing that now,

00:21:33.300 um, and working through that. And, and those are significant claims, but nothing as is as significant

00:21:40.420 as taking her deposition, going through that process, getting the witness testimony and the

00:21:49.040 witnesses deposed and going into the courtroom and showing the truth to show that there was no

00:21:55.600 sexual harassment. Nothing is more important than that. And you think that deposition could take

00:22:01.380 place as early as when? Uh, it's been noticed in June. Um, we'll see, you know, when she actually,

00:22:08.500 uh, decides to appear and, um, and, you know, but I, I, I assume that it will take place before

00:22:15.180 August 15th, because that's the close of, of discovery of that type. Are you going to get

00:22:21.900 Ryan as well? Ryan Reynolds? We we'll see. I mean, you know, obviously he's defending the case. So of

00:22:27.960 course we're going to notice his deposition and it, you know, and the judge has clearly indicated

00:22:32.980 that the judge would like to limit discovery, um, and limit the, you know, the, the, the collateral

00:22:39.280 issues in the case. Um, we think there's really important issues that, that there needs to be

00:22:45.240 discovery on. And, and those will be some of the battles along the way that, that we will have. Um,

00:22:51.220 but, you know, there's, there's no substitute for the truth. And, and from the beginning, this has

00:22:56.300 been about facts, facts, facts, right? Put them out there. Where is the evidence? Where are the

00:23:02.700 receipts? Put them out there so that people can see the truth. This is about someone who's had their

00:23:08.360 career destroyed and trying to build that back. How did Justin take the news, Brian? It's a having

00:23:17.220 practice law. I know it's never, it's never great when you get a decision like this one. Um, how's he

00:23:22.440 feeling? I, you know, I think that, that, uh, injustice, um, is, is a word I think I can best describe

00:23:32.080 it, uh, a lack of understanding. If she said these things about me that were untrue,

00:23:38.960 how come I don't have a legal redress in terms of defamation? If this, you know, you know, and,

00:23:46.520 you know, it's clear, you know, the evidence is clear that they, you know, secreted to get the,

00:23:52.040 the, you know, information, um, on this Van Zandt subpoena and created, you know, this whole

00:23:59.440 law, doe lawsuit and, and, and got that information so that, that no one could see it and then use

00:24:06.160 that information so that they could put together this hit piece in the New York times. And that was

00:24:12.000 devastating for Justin. It was, you know, if anybody remembers what December 21st was like,

00:24:17.720 um, for him, there was a hundred percent of the people saying he's a horrible person and zero percent.

00:24:24.560 Well, except for me, who actually saw him on a day-to-day basis and, um, and his family,

00:24:30.540 you know, who, who really were on his side until we put out the facts, until we put out the receipts,

00:24:37.740 until we put out the documents, you know, because this has always been about facts and truth and,

00:24:43.700 and, and, and, and it's, you know, it's frustrating for him, uh, who knows exactly what he did and didn't,

00:24:50.120 didn't do. Did he acquiesce too much to her demands? Absolutely. Cause he was afraid,

00:24:56.240 but that's very different than whether he sexually harassed her.

00:25:01.840 Is his career in ruins? Are, are he, are people not offering him jobs? Is he not able to get

00:25:08.220 funding for an additional picture? You know, he's lost jobs. It has affected his career,

00:25:14.980 um, at the moment. Um, it's obviously affected, you know, him emotionally and his self-esteem and,

00:25:21.820 and, you know, and, and he's putting up the best face he can for his family, um, and whatnot, but,

00:25:27.920 but all he wants is truly a chance, a courtroom and a jury to be able to tell his story to, you know,

00:25:36.340 he's not going around on red carcass. He's not going around, you know, you know, you know,

00:25:41.480 with interviews. He's not going around on some victory tour, even when she dropped her

00:25:46.160 emotional distress claims, or we're in the process of dropping her, her emotional distress claims.

00:25:51.420 And, you know, um, they, they have an interesting, uh, ability to go on victory tours, whether they

00:25:58.160 win or lose. So it doesn't, it doesn't even matter. I could see her losing the case and going on a 0.98

00:26:02.740 victory tour. Um, but that's, you know, that's what we're dealing with, right? When people show you

00:26:07.400 who they are, believe them. And, uh, and we think that plays well. She, she was, she, she's being

00:26:14.500 forced to drop her claims for, uh, intentional infliction of emotional distress because she

00:26:18.720 refused to fork over her medical records. When you rightfully asked for them, any defense lawyer

00:26:23.860 would, if you're getting sued for that claim, you say, okay, show me all your mental distress evidence,

00:26:29.200 including your psychiatric records and any, uh, anything else that would support this claim.

00:26:34.100 And as soon as you guys did that, she said, nevermind, I'll withdraw the claims, but I want

00:26:38.500 them withdrawn without prejudice. So I can file them at any point in the future. If I changed my

00:26:43.460 mind, uh, what did you make of how the judge handled that? Because he seemed to say, you're

00:26:48.140 not getting away with that sister. Uh, that's not happening. He seemed to say, you guys come up with

00:26:53.000 an agreement on how this is going to get disposed of. That is not going to let her get away with, 1.00

00:26:57.800 um, keeping that sword hanging over Justin the whole time and also maintaining the position of,

00:27:03.800 you don't get to see a single record of me with my therapist.

00:27:07.900 Well, the great thing about the law is when you're the plaintiff, um, you have a burden to

00:27:13.180 prove your claims and to prove your damages. And as part of that, any, anyone that claims emotional

00:27:19.460 distress is required to provide evidence of that emotional distress. Apparently, you know,

00:27:24.960 um, she didn't think the law applied to her. So she decided that she was not going to provide that

00:27:30.660 information and whether it existed or not, she wasn't going to comply with that rule. Um, and,

00:27:37.700 you know, I think things are still being worked out amongst it, but she, you know, when she makes

00:27:42.740 a decision like that, there are consequences that attach to it. You can't just decide that you're

00:27:47.180 going to refile at a later time. You can't just decide that, let me get through this discovery phase

00:27:52.000 and then I'll put this back on. Um, right. That's not how it works. Right. The law is supposed to

00:27:58.320 apply to everyone equally, but you know, some people, uh, some people believe it does. It should

00:28:03.400 not. What's happening to the extent you can tell us with Taylor Swift, because there was, um, some

00:28:11.940 reporting that you wanted to get the text messages between Blake Lively and Taylor, and that there was a

00:28:17.600 potential for subpoenaing, uh, Taylor Swift in this case via document subpoena to get her texts and 0.91

00:28:25.620 possibly even a deposition. And then, then that her father allegedly came to you and said, I will tell

00:28:32.320 you what's in the texts. And the reason I'll tell you is because Blake Lively's threatening my daughter,

00:28:37.680 Taylor Swift, that if she doesn't speak out on Blake Lively's behalf, uh, that Blake Lively is going

00:28:44.720 to retaliate in some way. So tell us what you can. Sure. Just out of respect for, you know, people that

00:28:52.240 aren't parties to the lawsuit. Um, there's not a whole lot that I can get into. Um, but you know,

00:29:00.660 I think that, that people who are relevant to the case and people who, um, you know, um, have otherwise

00:29:07.940 been with people from the beginning of the case, side by side, shoulder by shoulder, um, you know,

00:29:14.820 are, are, are, are potentially witnesses in the case. And, and so, um, you know, those are things

00:29:21.460 that, that we need to look into. Those are things to see, you know, what, in addition to what we know

00:29:26.940 already, um, we need and, um, and then to move forward and, and obtain that discovery. There's a short

00:29:33.680 leash on, on how far we can go with discovery. Um, I think the judge made, has made it very clear that,

00:29:39.940 you know, third parties need to be directly relevant to claims. Um, and we think certain

00:29:45.320 third parties are directly relevant, but it's just whether or not you need that evidence in addition

00:29:50.120 to what you have already. Hmm. Are you able to say whether you believe or have reason to allege

00:29:57.640 that Blake Lively threatened Taylor Swift if she did not come out and speak on Blake's, Blake's behalf?

00:30:03.680 It, the truth is, I, I, I don't think I should speak on it. Um, I think we should wait and see,

00:30:09.100 you know, have the evidence, um, you know, ferrets out on that. I think, you know, look, look, I think

00:30:15.260 we've all, you know, those who have looked at the timeline, those who have looked at all of the

00:30:22.660 documents that, that have been put forth, um, there's more video evidence. I mean, there's,

00:30:28.600 there's video of this whole, this is a film shoot, right? Like there's, there's,

00:30:33.160 there's filming of the film shoot, right? I mean, you, you know, Megan, you saw the scene,

00:30:38.040 um, you know, where they're dancing and, and everyone can judge for themselves again, you know,

00:30:44.600 dealing with, you know, we're dealing with people who look at a scene and say,

00:30:49.840 the sky is not blue. What do you mean? That blue is not blue. Um, and, and I think that

00:30:56.760 will forever be the case, but you know, fortunately she doesn't get to be a juror along with being, 1.00

00:31:03.000 you know, the plaintiff. So we'll, um, we'll, we'll have different people that'll be the jurors

00:31:09.260 and, um, hopefully they'll be able to see the sky's blue.

00:31:12.840 Well, how do you like your chances at trial? This case, put the counterclaims to the side

00:31:17.440 for the moment that you guys have against Blake. You will go to trial on her claims against Justin

00:31:24.320 if you guys don't settle. So how do you like your chances of prevailing in front of a jury

00:31:29.740 on those? Truth facts, both on our side. I mean, I love our case of prevailing on the truth

00:31:40.060 and the real facts of what happened. I mean, there's real time evidence in this case. I mean,

00:31:45.760 you heard Justin on the voice note, you heard what he was going through. Um, you, you know, we've,

00:31:52.400 we've seen the birthing video, right? That the screenshot that Jamie showed, uh, you know,

00:31:59.740 to Blake and, and didn't even play the video. I mean, it's, it's, it's there. Like, that's not

00:32:05.580 pornography. Um, you know, when you, you know, famous Supreme Court, you know, justice said, you

00:32:11.780 know, you'll know pornography when you see it. Um, I don't think a birthing scene where, where no one

00:32:17.540 is unclothed is pornography. I mean, you, you've seen her say that she, you know, had, you know,

00:32:24.340 was unclothed in, you know, with barely a patch on her. And, and we know there are, you know,

00:32:30.760 that she was wearing those shorts. Um, you know, you know, this stuff is not new. We've gone through

00:32:36.480 the facts and truth is on our side. The facts are on our side. I love, not like love our chances.

00:32:45.180 Hmm. What are the chances now, Brian, of a settlement in light of the ruling on her emotional

00:32:52.120 distress claims and the ruling on your defamation and related counterclaims?

00:32:58.080 Look from the beginning, you know, the, the chances of settlement were, were next to zero.

00:33:03.740 When you add the, the, the parties that are involved in this, you know, Justin, you know,

00:33:09.740 while he would have liked to get, you know, millions of dollars to compensate him for his

00:33:14.640 damages as a result of the defamation, um, that, that was always secondary to showing that there

00:33:22.060 was no sexual harassment. Um, that's it. I mean, when you're accused of something wrongfully,

00:33:29.020 when you, you know, have to prove your innocence in order to continue to work, um, there, there are

00:33:37.460 very little choices here. So he is going to go all the way and get that adjudication and fight this

00:33:44.860 fight, um, for ever. And whether that means appeals or anything else, he's going to make sure that the

00:33:52.980 world knows that he did not engage in sexual harassment, period, end of story.

00:34:00.360 Can you say that you're already there? I mean, I think there's a very strong argument to be made

00:34:05.380 that he's already won that battle. He's, she's Amber Heard in the eyes of at least half, if not

00:34:12.860 more of the country. This has been an interesting case because it didn't divide along left, right

00:34:17.520 lines. Um, this is much like Meghan Markle, uh, Blake Lively has managed to unite the right and the 0.96

00:34:24.980 left against her. Trust me. I know. Cause I hear from them. And I wonder to myself, Brian, whether

00:34:30.240 Justin's already won that victory and whether as a result, he's interested if the opportunity's

00:34:36.520 there anyway, and making the litigation just go away now. Right. Well, I, I don't think he's

00:34:43.100 won that battle, you know, yet. I think what he's done is he's put evidence out, um, and he's put

00:34:50.440 truth out and people have made their own determinations, which, you know, seemingly have only one, um,

00:34:57.520 determination that you can make if you've actually looked at the facts and the evidence.

00:35:02.160 Um, but I don't think he's, he's gotten that moment where, you know, where a court and a jury

00:35:08.000 of his peers say, no, no, no, this is not sexual harassment. And I don't think, look, I don't think

00:35:14.420 tag the PR team with Melissa Nathan and her team, their team of people that, that, that literally have

00:35:21.100 nothing to do with this. They're just, you know, individuals and, and Jen Abel, who's been just trashed 0.99

00:35:26.540 after, you know, taking her phone. And, um, I think these people want to be, um, absolved

00:35:34.140 on a public level from a jury of their peers. And I think it's really important that that happen,

00:35:40.760 especially when someone goes around, you know, making victory tours without, you know, without

00:35:47.180 regard to whatever the real result is. I mean, you saw, you saw victory tours when, when they

00:35:53.220 lost the emotional distress claims, right? Like you saw a victory tour then. So, you know, again,

00:35:59.820 people are showing you who they are, believe them.

00:36:03.760 So you, you say he's in it to the jury verdict.

00:36:08.860 Yes.

00:36:10.540 Wow. Wow. That's not good for her. She's not going to want that. I think she already likely regrets 0.85

00:36:16.560 having started this hornet's nest as much as she wants to play the victim at the time, 100

00:36:20.240 and everywhere else. Let me, um, if I, if you don't mind, can I just ask you because you're

00:36:25.820 like the Waldo of litigation, Brian, your name comes up in cases. I didn't even know you

00:36:32.060 had a hand in. I'm just covering them as a reporter. I'm like, he's there too. Like the

00:36:36.480 Diddy trial where I think you were representing Capricorn Clark, one of the witnesses for the

00:36:43.560 prosecution who took the stand. And I just wonder, and maybe you can't say anything, but any thoughts

00:36:48.940 on how that trial is going? Um, you know, I have a lot of thoughts. It's, you know, it's,

00:36:57.100 it's, it's, it's, it's interesting, um, how the case is going. And, um, you know, I look, I think a

00:37:04.420 lot of things are really interesting. We're moving into a world of AI where, um, you're going to look

00:37:09.740 at a video. You could do it now and you're not going to know what's real or what's not real. I mean,

00:37:14.020 some of the news feeds that, that I see are, are, are inaccurate and not real. And, you know,

00:37:19.740 sometimes, you know, um, people do apologize for things. I think I was surprised that, that, um,

00:37:27.420 Diddy came out and apologized nationally, um, for the, the video in the hotel, um, where,

00:37:34.820 where he was brutally beating, you know, Cassie. And, um, and, and I think that changed the nature

00:37:40.540 of the case. The case then become, became about, okay, you know, I, I can be an abuser. I can,

00:37:46.920 you know, deal with domestic violence and getting into fights like that. But, you know, that's where

00:37:52.780 I draw the line. I don't drug or rape people and, and, you know, and, and do those. And, and I'm not

00:37:58.340 involved in an organized crime, you know, unit and things like that. And it'll be interesting to see

00:38:05.020 where that case ends up. Um, but, you know, Capricorn Clark is, is a credible person,

00:38:12.080 um, really truthful, really interesting. Um, and, um, and, you know, and, and look, I, you know,

00:38:18.340 I, all someone can ask for is a real jury of their peers to make a decision. And he's got,

00:38:23.800 he's got an opportunity to do that. He's got great lawyers, um, and he's got, you know, a good team

00:38:30.060 and, um, and the jury will make a decision based on what's happened in the courtroom. And, and,

00:38:35.820 and I don't know exactly what's happened. So I just read the papers like everyone else or hear from,

00:38:40.520 from friends that are lawyers are involved in the case, but I don't, I don't know. I don't know per

00:38:45.400 se. Capricorn did a good job in my opinion on the stand and she was important because she was his

00:38:52.220 assistant for years and testified that, uh, he brought her with him over to Kid Cudi's house when he

00:38:57.940 allegedly burgled it. And then, um, later is accused of having launched a Molotov cocktail

00:39:04.520 into it. And she, she provided a lot of the details that I'm sure it was scary to get up there and talk

00:39:09.260 about. All right. Last one. Menendez, you're in that too. Our friend, Mark Garagos comes on and

00:39:15.640 talks to me about it from time to time. And you're on the side of representing, I think some family

00:39:20.340 members of Jose Menendez who would like to see the boys released. Um, and it looks like things are,

00:39:27.040 they took one step closer to potentially getting them out, but what's happening with the Menendez

00:39:32.400 brothers. And do you think that they will be released early? Um, what, you know, what's

00:39:38.420 happening is that, that they have been resentenced, um, which is phenomenal. I mean, you know, rarely

00:39:44.700 do you see the 27 family members who are all on the side of enough is enough. Um, they should be

00:39:54.120 released, you know, rarely do you see that, um, that those, you know, remember the family members

00:39:59.040 aren't just family members of, you know, Lyle and Eric, they're family members of Jose and Kitty.

00:40:04.180 So they are victims and as victims, they, they say enough is enough. It's, it's time to release

00:40:10.240 them. Um, the judge, you know, Jessup, who is, is an incredible judge. Um, and he saw right through

00:40:17.700 all of this and, and, and resentence them. They have an opportunity now to go in front of the parole

00:40:22.740 board, um, which the, the, you know, which is going to happen in August and then we'll, we'll see what

00:40:28.820 happens from there. But I'm really optimistic for the family that they're going to have a chance to

00:40:33.820 have, you know, holiday meals, you know, maybe even spend, you know, you know, new year's day and

00:40:40.360 new year's Eve with their family and be together for the first time in over 35 years. And, um, and,

00:40:47.280 and I'm really hopeful that they have that opportunity. All right. What is more likely to

00:40:52.740 happen? Sean Combs gets acquitted. The Menendez brothers are home in time for new year's Eve

00:41:00.980 or Justin is found not liable in her case in chief against him for alleged sexual harassment.

00:41:10.360 Well, beyond question, Justin's going to be found not liable. So that's, you know,

00:41:15.820 that's going to happen at some point. You didn't put a timetable on that one, but, but they, they,

00:41:20.700 I truly believe that the Menendez brothers, um, could and will be out by January 1st. And, uh,

00:41:29.100 I'm hopeful of that. I'm hopeful for the family members. I, I, I really believe that they're going

00:41:34.700 to get, you know, their wish and, um, and, and that, you know, this family can start on a course

00:41:41.220 of, of repair. Wow. You're a busy man. Yeah. I'm, I love watching you. I love seeing you so

00:41:49.180 successful, Brian. Um, and I think Justin Baldoni has been very well served. I look forward to you

00:41:55.380 continuing to do exactly that. Thanks for coming on. You know, Megan, I, I am so happy with where you

00:42:02.320 are in your career and, and, you know, and where you are personally right now. It's, it's one of

00:42:07.700 the most special things I've ever been a part of in my entire career. Um, and, and I'm just like,

00:42:13.200 I am so grateful to be in a position to be able to help people who have suffered injustice. And,

00:42:18.500 and that's really important to me. And you, you just, you're a star and, and I love you truly.

00:42:27.780 Oh, thank you, Brian. And, you know, it's mutual. I love you. Doug loves you.

00:42:32.320 Um, Denise too. We all love you guys. And it's, it's one of those things where not only did you

00:42:37.340 help me out of the most challenging and awful chapter of my career, but, and I've talked to

00:42:44.560 so many of your other clients who say the same thing. You helped me believe in myself again.

00:42:48.960 You actually helped me believe there was a way back that this lowest moment would not define me,

00:42:54.420 that we were not going to let these bastards ruin everything. And I've seen you do that for so many

00:42:59.820 others, including Sage Steele and Mike Davis and the list goes on and on this. And to watch you now

00:43:05.360 doing it for Justin is so heartening. And it's one of the reasons why I believe, I believe it will

00:43:10.800 happen for him too. I don't think he's a wrongdoer. I don't think he's some evil person. I think she,

00:43:16.340 she has serious problems. That's my own opinion. She's got some real problems and she's working 1.00

00:43:20.240 them out on him publicly. So thank God he has you. Hey, so I do want to tell you, Doug says hi

00:43:26.060 and, uh, was thrilled that we were doing, that we're doing this. And, uh, just again, thanks for

00:43:31.140 doing it. I know you're not given a lot of these and I'm always grateful. Well, you know what? Doug's

00:43:35.380 phenomenal. You know, Doug is my role model as a husband. So, um, that's, that's why I love him.

00:43:43.000 He's still crushing it. In fact, just over my, um, my laptop computer, I was watching Doug go into

00:43:48.060 the ocean with Yates. Doug's living his best life right now, Brian. He's living, he's not dealing

00:43:52.720 with 12 B six motions. He's having a great time. No, but he's a talented author and that's, you know,

00:43:57.380 that can be just as hard as 12 B six motions. True, true. Next one's coming out soon. All right.

00:44:03.720 Much love. See you soon. I hope. Thank you. Brian Friedman, everyone, the one and only man,

00:44:09.760 if you get in a jam, that's the man to call for all sorts of reasons. Incredible lawyer, even better man.

00:44:15.900 Um, just an honor to have him on and to know him. Okay. I made it 24 hours into my vacation,

00:44:22.800 not even without having to come back on. I, it's always a possibility. And I bring this whole setup

00:44:29.220 with me. I mean, right now I'm in like our little hotel bedroom. I've got my mic, which I travel with.

00:44:35.240 I've got my little computer. I've got my laptop and I don't know, whatever radar is my tech guy. He

00:44:42.260 sends me with a bunch of stuff just in case, just in case. Then I talked to Brian and he said, he'd do

00:44:46.980 it. And he, you know, he hasn't talked to anybody about this. He gave like one paper statement to a

00:44:50.480 couple of media outlets and I've been dying to hear his thoughts. So anyway, um, thank you for coming

00:44:57.100 back with us. You heard my legal analysis of this case, my own personal legal analysis earlier and on

00:45:03.460 a separate program that we dropped right before this one in our feed. And now you heard Brian's, um,

00:45:07.740 take on it and also his plans. I mean, really there was a lot of news in there, full steam ahead,

00:45:13.400 right to verdict, no settlement discussions. They're not interested in settling. Uh, and that

00:45:18.940 Blake Lively could be getting deposed as soon as June. And he left the door open for a Ryan,

00:45:24.800 Ryan Reynolds. And if you listen to carefully, potentially a Taylor Swift deposition there too.

00:45:29.860 So, uh, it's not over, not by a long shot. He does not think that Justin Baldoni has been

00:45:34.940 served the righteous verdict in the public opinion that he deserves, nor have the other

00:45:43.180 defendants. You know, there are, he was mentioning the PR people who were helping Justin when this

00:45:46.820 was bubbling up into a PR crisis and they were still shooting the movie. And those two have been

00:45:51.100 very attacked, very much attacked by Blake Lively and her team and the times for that matter. Uh,

00:45:56.540 and I'm sure they would like their day in court. So in any event, this thing will keep going.

00:45:59.860 And, uh, right now they have a trial date. I believe it's March of 26. So we shall see.

00:46:07.560 Will she, if it's going to settle before that, I don't know how. I don't think Justin Baldoni

00:46:12.620 will be paying any money to her. And I don't think she wants to walk away because that telegraphs

00:46:17.400 the wrong thing. So stay tuned. Okay. I'm going back to vacay. I don't think I'll be seeing you

00:46:23.800 immediately. Let's hope. Cause I, I actually would like to do some swimming and see the fam. So

00:46:30.080 lots of love to you guys too. And, uh, I'll see you soon. Bye.

00:46:37.340 Thanks for listening to the Megan Kelly show. No BS, no agenda, and no fear.

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The Megyn Kelly Show - June 12, 2025

Justin Baldoni's Lawyer Says He Won't Settle with Blake Lively, and What Comes Next in the Case, with Bryan Freedman ｜ Ep. 1092

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