Lively vs Baldoni: Inside Hollywood’s PR machine
The Slow Newscast
Alice Sandelson
4.6 • 894 Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Blake Lively’s legal action against Justin Baldoni was settled just two weeks before it was due to go to trial. But the legal documents filed by both sides reveal something darker than a celebrity feud; a new troubling PR playbook.
Reporting: Stephen Armstrong and Casey Magloire.
Producers: Casey Magloire and Katie Gunning.
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Artwork: Lucy Stevenson
Editor: Jasper Corbett
Clips credits;
ITV news
Vogue
New York Times
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The Observer. |
| 0:09.1 | Hi, it's Ada and you're listening to the slow newscast from The Observer. |
| 0:13.4 | This week, the sensational Hollywood court case that never was. |
| 0:17.7 | Blate Lively's legal action against Justin Baldoni, the director and co-star of her |
| 0:22.6 | 24 movie, It Ends with Us, were shaping up to be a legal spectacle to rival Johnny Depp's |
| 0:28.4 | suing of Amber Hurd in 2022. Lively initially accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, although |
| 0:34.9 | legal technicalities prevented that from being heard. And then, |
| 0:39.2 | unexpectedly, Lively and Baldoni settled the remaining charges, two weeks before the case went to trial |
| 0:45.6 | in New York. Those were over breach of contract and retaliation. But it doesn't end there. Both Lively |
| 0:52.5 | and Baldoni are claiming victory. |
| 0:55.0 | Lively may still seek damages in California. |
| 0:57.9 | And the legal documents filed by both sides |
| 1:00.2 | reveal something troubling about the way Hollywood does business these days. |
| 1:04.5 | My colleague Stephen Armstrong and Casey McGlaw |
| 1:06.7 | take a look inside the playbook. |
| 1:17.6 | First of all, congrats on your little bong. |
| 1:22.4 | The actress Blake Lively is sitting in a mocked-up New York diner, |
| 1:26.4 | doing press interviews to promote Woody Allen's film Cafe Society. |
| 1:31.9 | This interview is from 2016, when Blake Lively was pregnant with her second child, |
| 1:36.4 | and that's what the Norwegian journalist Kirsty Flaar is referring to, with her... Congrats on your little bump. |
| 1:39.3 | Blake Lively replies. |
| 1:40.9 | Congrats on your little bump. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Alice Sandelson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Alice Sandelson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.