"While federal trials aren't televised, they are open, so every messy moment is fit for public consumption. But experts versed in star-studded litigation say that anything other than a settlement could prove damaging for Lively's and Baldoni's reputations, regardless of the outcome. In other words, there could be no real winners even if there is a winner ™ at trial. As one crisis-PR expert put it: Nobody's getting a "ticker-tape parade" for winning this thing."
"While we would know if a settlement were reached because of court filings, there is virtually no universe where we the public would know the terms. "They can settle this in a way that is confidential. Nobody's ever going to hear who paid, if anybody paid anything," Tre Lovell, a veteran attorney in Los Angeles, tells Vulture. "They will have non-disparagement provisions, which means nobody can talk badly about the other, nobody can defame the other, nobody can do anything negative.""
A civil case between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni is headed toward a public federal trial in May after failing to settle during a court-ordered conference. Lively has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment; Baldoni sued for defamation, but that suit was dismissed. Federal trials are open to the public, exposing testimony and evidence to scrutiny and potential reputational harm regardless of a verdict. Crisis-PR and litigation experts warn that both parties risk lasting damage, and that likely settlement terms would emphasize confidentiality, non-disparagement, and undisclosed monetary arrangements to limit further public fallout.
Read at Vulture
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