{"id":9358,"date":"2026-04-05T19:29:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=9358"},"modified":"2026-04-05T19:29:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:29:49","slug":"130011821-cms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=9358","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPlease congratulate me\u201d: Candace Owens claims victory as Blake Lively claims against Justin Baldoni dismissed before May 2026 trial &#8211; The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<div class=\"aHAWH\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130011961,imgsize-567384,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/130011961.jpg\" title=\"Justin Baldoni 'Reacts' As Blake Lively's Lawsuit Takes Major Hit In Courtroom Twist \" imgsize=\"\" resizemode=\"4\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdersrc=\"\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" msid=\"\" type=\"thumb\" alt=\"Justin Baldoni 'Reacts' As Blake Lively's Lawsuit Takes Major Hit In Courtroom Twist \" class=\"undefined\"\/><\/div>\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined   YjeWt\" style=\"top:0px\">\n<p><span title=\"Candace Owens claims victory as Blake Lively claims against Justin Baldoni dismissed before May 2026 trial (Image via Getty)\">Candace Owens claims victory as Blake Lively claims against Justin Baldoni dismissed before May 2026 trial (Image via Getty)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Candace Owens spoke out right after a big court update in the legal fight between <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/blake-lively\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Blake Lively<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/justin-baldoni\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Justin Baldoni<\/a>. A federal judge has dismissed most of Blake Lively\u2019s claims, cutting the case down to just three issues before trial. <!-- -->This decision changes the direction of the lawsuit in a major way.<!-- --> The ruling came from Judge Lewis Liman, who removed 10 out of 13 claims. The dismissed claims include sexual harassment, conspiracy, and defamation. Now, only breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retaliation will move forward. The trial is scheduled for May 18, 2026.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"8\"\/>Soon after the news came out, Candace Owens posted her reaction on X, taking credit for the outcome. <!-- -->Her post quickly caught attention, especially because she had been linked to the case earlier during the legal process.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/> <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/> <\/p>\n<div class=\"wLCOS vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"ap_Bf\">\n<div class=\"ZM4zO\">\n<p><i class=\"bo2C4\"\/> <span>Watch<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <!-- -->Justin Baldoni &#8216;Reacts&#8217; As Blake Lively&#8217;s Lawsuit Takes Major Hit In Courtroom Twist <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/><strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>Candace Owens responds after Blake Lively claims against Justin Baldoni are dismissed by Judge Lewis Liman<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>Candace Owens reacted strongly on April 3, 2026. She wrote, \u201cEverybody please congratulate me on Blake Lively\u2019s psycho claims about Justin Baldoni being dismissed. We worked really hard on that one. In the end, truth wins.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/>Her response connects back to what happened months earlier. In July 2025, Blake Lively\u2019s legal team sent a subpoena to Candace Owens. According to Entertainment Weekly, this was linked to Owens\u2019 public comments about Blake Lively, which the actress\u2019s team believed were part of a wider effort to damage her image.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/>Candace Owens pushed back on that idea. She said she was never paid to support anyone and made it clear her views were personal. Speaking on her YouTube channel, she said, \u201cI truly looked at this lawsuit when it all came out in January, and I just thought that you were a bad person. <!-- -->Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I think you and Ryan are bad people. There is nobody involved, nobody has ever been involved in making me come to that conclusion.<!-- -->\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>Her strong words added more attention to an already high-profile case.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/><strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>Judge Lewis Liman decision reshapes Blake Lively lawsuit against Justin Baldoni before May 18, 2026 trial<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/>The court\u2019s decision has now narrowed the case. Judge Lewis Liman dismissed the majority of claims, which means the trial will now focus only on a few specific issues. As reported by The Guardian, the remaining claims are breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting retaliation.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"41\"\/>Blake Lively\u2019s legal team said this is not a loss. Her lawyer, Sigrid McCawley, explained their position clearly. She said, \u201cThis case has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively\u2019s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"43\"\/>She also explained why the sexual harassment claims were dismissed. <!-- -->According to her, the court did not say nothing happened. Instead, the judge ruled that Blake Lively was working as an independent contractor, not an employee, which affected how those claims were treated.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"47\"\/>Earlier, Blake Lively\u2019s lawyers had accused Justin Baldoni of inappropriate behavior during filming. These claims included unwanted physical contact and comments about her appearance. However, those specific claims will not be part of the trial anymore.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"49\"\/>Now, the focus shifts to whether there was any retaliation and if there was an organized effort to harm Blake Lively\u2019s public image. The final outcome will depend on what is proven in court starting May 2026.<\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/us-streamers\/please-congratulate-me-candace-owens-claims-victory-as-blake-lively-claims-against-justin-baldoni-dismissed-before-may-2026-trial\/articleshow\/130011821.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Candace Owens claims victory as Blake Lively claims against Justin Baldoni dismissed before May 2026&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20951,23493,9414,23491,23490,2235,23492,23494],"class_list":["post-9358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blake-lively","tag-breach-of-contract","tag-candace-owens","tag-court-case-update","tag-justin-baldoni","tag-legal-battle","tag-may-2026-trial","tag-retaliation-claims"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}