The legal battle between Hollywood A-lister Blake Lively and actor-turned-film director Justin Baldoni continues to drag on. While the on-screen couple in It Ends With Us reached a settlement outside of court in May 2026 to stay away from a multi-million dollar jury trial, they have once again had to face court.
The Gossip Girl alum, Blake Lively, and Baldoni recently appeared in a federal court in Manhattan, New York, to deal with another legal issue regarding the attorney’s fees and other exemplary damages, as per USA Today.
However, amid Lively and Baldoni’s recent legal dispute in a Manhattan court concerning attorney’s fees, Survivor Protection legislative drafter Victoria Burke, an attorney-turned-survivor advocate who created the Speak Your Truth Act, accused Blake Lively of reportedly misusing it as a “PR redemption tool” in her ongoing legal battle against Justin Baldoni. As cited by Megyn Kelly.com, Victoria Burke took to social media and shared a post in which she wrote:
“Never thought my bill would be in the eye of a story with all eyes watching. As the architect of the bill, I strongly believe in the constitutionality of my bill. Unhappy with it being weaponized as a PR redemption tool by Blake Lively [and] her team. Honestly, I don’t think the judge should grant attorney fees in this matter.”
Victoria Burke reportedly claims Blake Lively is exploiting the law
A sexual assault survivor and a law professor at Southwestern Law School, Victoria Burke, who appeared on the latest episode of The Megyn Kelly Show on June 2, 2026, discussed and explained the reason why she thinks that the Elvis and Anabelle star, Blake Lively, is trying to take advantage of the law that is meant to protect survivors of sexual assault from retaliatory lawsuits. Burke on the show said:
She [Lively] received “a communication from [the Gossip Girl star’s] attorney that mentioned that Blake was going to be moving 47.1 nationally,” even though Burke had already gotten the law introduced in 15 states and enacted in four.
She went ahead and noted:
“I have for years been working on moving it nationwide. I acquired three extra states last year, and I’m moving forward with different states 1780512665. It takes multiple years for different states, but I received a communication from her attorney that Blake was intending to now move 47.1 nationwide, including… to New York.”
While Victoria mentioned her strategy, she added:
“My whole strategy was to fly this under the radar because we usually don’t have much opposition. I said that oftentimes Lively is compared to Amber Heard, and so I would prefer you check with me and just stick with mentioning the California part without mentioning it’s being moved nationwide.”
She continued:
“I was worried that this was going to become just a PR campaign for her, and it wasn’t going to be about survivors anymore. I didn’t want her to turn my bill into the Met Gala.”
Burke then reportedly claimed that people from Blake Lively’s team stopped communicating with her regarding taking the bill forward, particularly in New York. She said:
“It came to light that this spring her attorney was having meetings that I was unaware of with one of the advocacy groups once a week, where she was assisting and redrafting the bill. “
Burke further added:
“I understood that she added or contributed to an additional paragraph, and I kept asking to see the additional paragraph. It was never sent to me, but I understood it was something to protect the attorneys who would be… the equivalent of Blake’s attorney. So, I asked for that portion to be removed… because I felt the focus should be on survivors purely because attorneys have insurance.”
Keep an eye on Soap Central for more.
Edited by Koustav Mandal