A Legal Victory for Survivors: Court Tosses Retaliatory Lawsuit Against Blake Lively

Sanctuary for Families

Sanctuary for Families was proud to submit an amicus brief in support of Lively’s motion to dismiss, warning of the troubling rise in retaliatory defamation lawsuits against survivors who speak out.

This week, a federal judge dismissed Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios’ $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, the New York Times, and others. The decision marks a significant victory for survivors’ rights, reinforcing the critical principle that speaking out about abuse, especially in connection with official complaints, should not lead to retaliatory litigation.

At Sanctuary for Families, we were proud to stand alongside Lively and 18 other advocacy organizations in filing amicus briefs supporting her motion to dismiss. Together, they represent a collective stand for the right of survivors to be heard and believed.

Sanctuary’s Legal Advocacy in Support of Blake Lively

Sanctuary’s brief, drafted in collaboration with our pro bono partners at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and joined by 13 organizations, including NNEDV, NOW, and Esperanza United, warned of the troubling rise in retaliatory defamation lawsuits against survivors who speak out. Filed as an amicus brief — also known as a “friend of the court” filing — our submission provided expert legal analysis from leaders in the gender-based violence field to help the judge assess the broader implications of the case for survivor safety and speech.

In particular, the brief highlighted how these lawsuits often follow a familiar pattern rooted in DARVO (Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender), a common tactic used to discredit survivors and shift blame onto those who report abuse. We also argued that California’s new Civil Code Section 47.1 — a statute that explicitly protects survivors from retaliatory defamation claims — offers vital protections and should serve as a model nationwide.

As Dorchen Leidholdt, Sanctuary’s Legal Director, put it:

“Survivors must be able to report abuse and seek protection and justice without fear of retaliation. Sanctuary for Families strongly supports California’s groundbreaking statute shielding survivors from retaliatory defamation suits and urges other states to follow its example. Survivors’ voices belong in courtrooms, in campus disciplinary hearings, and in public forums. If we are serious about ending gender-based violence, we must protect their right to speak their truth.”

What the Court Said

In a 132-page decision, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed the lawsuit brought by Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios against Blake Lively, rejecting their claims of defamation, civil extortion, and other allegations. While the ruling did not create new legal protections, it applied established legal standards to reaffirm that individuals who report misconduct cannot be punished through meritless lawsuits.

The court’s decision reinforces critical principles about how survivors, advocates, and journalists can safely speak out about abuse:

  • Survivors can demand workplace safety without being accused of crimes. The judge found that Lively’s requests for protections — like having safeguards on set and limits on inappropriate behavior — were legitimate workplace advocacy, not illegal extortion.
  • Survivors can share their official harassment complaints with the media without being sued for defamation. The judge found that Lively was legally protected when she provided her Civil Rights Department complaint to journalists.
  • News organizations can report on survivors’ harassment complaints without facing defamation lawsuits. The Times was protected because it was reporting on an official legal proceeding and had credible evidence supporting its story.

Blake Lively’s Response

After the ruling, Blake Lively took to Instagram to express her gratitude for the 19 advocacy organizations that stood with her:

“Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organizations united in defending women’s rights to speak up for their safety… While the suit against me was defeated, so many don’t have the resources to fight back . . . I’m more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman’s right to have a voice in protecting themselves — including their safety, their integrity, their dignity, and their story. With love and gratitude for the many who stood by me — many of you I know, many of you I don’t — but I will never stop appreciating or advocating for you.”

Sanctuary for Families is honored to be among the organizations Blake recognized. We are proud to support survivors, both in and outside the courtroom, and to speak out against efforts to silence them.

What’s Next

While this ruling is a major step forward, the fight is far from over. Too many survivors still face legal threats, social stigma, and professional retaliation for coming forward. California has taken the lead with a law that protects survivor speech. Now, other states must follow.

We urge lawmakers in New York and across the country to enact similar laws. Survivors should never have to choose between speaking the truth and staying safe from retaliation.

Edited Creative Commons “Blake Lively Cannes 2016 2 (cropped)” photo by Georges Biard (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 – )

Depp v. Heard Trial: Media Coverage

Sanctuary for Families

A collection of powerful articles that elevate survivors’ voices and discuss the severity and long-term implications of the Depp v. Heard trial and its verdict.

Watching the Depp v. Heard trial turn into a spectacle of misogyny has been demoralizing and triggering for many of us, especially for survivors of gender violence.

Whatever the facts, we know that there was a concerted effort to use this trial as a means to discredit the #MeToo movement, minimize the severity of violence against women and girls, and force survivors back into silence.

To counter the aggressive levels of misinformation that have, sadly, shaped public discourse, we wanted to share a collection of powerful articles that elevate survivors’ voices and discuss the severity and long-term implications of the trial and its verdict.

The New Yorker | The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard Verdict Is Chilling

Many victims of domestic violence who watched this trial will likely conclude that, if they share their experiences, they will be disbelieved, shamed, and ostracized. [READ MORE]

The Cut | How Did Johnny Depp Become the Good Guy?

Depp v. Heard put the actor’s misogyny on full display. For his fans, he still walked away the hero. [READ MORE]

VICE | The Daily Wire Spent Thousands of Dollars Promoting Anti-Amber Heard Propaganda

The conservative media outlet ran Facebook and Instagram ads for stories backing Johnny Depp, an investigation by media non-profit the Citizens for VICE World News found. [READ MORE]

The Cut | The Inescapable Horror of Depp v. Heard

The Depp v. Heard trial has revealed a collective lack of empathy for survivors and an ignorance of the very real effects that public discussion of abuse has on some people who’ve lived through it. [READ MORE]

TIME | Depp v. Heard Reminds Us That the Legal System Is Still Stacked Against Survivors

Online, Depp’s supporters are rejoicing, insisting that his victory serves as proof that the #MeToo movement went too far. But the verdict is actually proof the #MeToo movement hasn’t gone far enough. [READ MORE]

TIME | The Depp-Heard Trial Perpetuates the Myth of the Perfect Victim

Perpetuating the “perfect victim” myth will have long-term consequences. Already, women are expressing trepidation about coming forward with allegations of abuse following the Heard-Depp trial. [READ MORE]

NBC News | Johnny Depp’s Amber Heard trial verdict will have a devastating chilling effect

As a Black woman, survivor of domestic abuse and writer who has penned work detailing my abuse, I will be haunted by this verdict and its implications for years to come. [READ MORE]

19th News | Johnny Depp trial unlocks new way for abusers to exert power over survivors, experts worry

Experts say that the amount of attention on this trial is offering abusers a look at a whole new way of potentially exerting power over a survivor. [READ MORE]

USA Today | What the Amber Heard, Johnny Depp trial didn’t cover: The violence bisexual women face

Heard’s sexuality was not an explicit part of the trial, and while experts say they were glad to see that her bisexuality wasn’t used against her, they wished coverage could have done more to address the ways in which a person’s sexual identity can contribute to vulnerability. [READ MORE]

The New York Times | Amber Heard: I ‘Stand by Every Word’ of Testimony in Defamation Trial

In her first public interview since losing a defamation case brought against her by Johnny Depp, her ex-husband, Ms. Heard said she had told the truth when she accused him of abuse. [READ MORE]

The Daily Beast | Unsealed Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard Court Documents Reveal Shocking New Claims

More than 6,000 pages of docs were unsealed in the Depp v. Heard defamation saga, including Heard’s worry that Depp would use her nude pics and the exclusion of Marilyn Manson. [READ MORE]

Vulture | Could Amber Heard Win Her Appeal Against Johnny Depp?

For Heard, an appeal reflects her insistence that her allegations of abuse are true. An appeal also provides an opportunity for Heard’s case to be argued more thoroughly on First Amendment grounds. [READ MORE]

 

Amber Heard photo modified from author gdcgraphics. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Johnny Depp photo modified from author Harald Krichel. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. 

Virtual Courtroom Advocates Project: Helping Survivors Get Orders of Protection During COVID-19

Tushna Gamadia

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary is honoring a group of dedicated volunteer attorneys, summer associates, and paralegals who provided virtual pro se assistance to survivors of domestic violence seeking orders of protection during COVID-19.

Tushna is Of Counsel at Morrison & Foerster LLP and a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council.

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One of the unfortunate and dangerous effects of the Coronavirus pandemic has been that the frequency and intensity of domestic violence has escalated during this challenging time. With Family Courts physically closed and operating at reduced capacity as a result of the Covid-19 health crisis, those experiencing domestic violence were not able to receive in-person pro se assistance in preparing and filing family offense petitions against their abuser in order to obtain orders of protection for themselves and their children.

To address this serious gap in services, Sanctuary for Families worked quickly to create a new pro bono project called the Virtual Courtroom Advocates Project (or VCAP), which provided virtual pro se assistance to survivors of domestic violence seeking orders of protection from abuse and violence.  A group of six firms promptly agreed to staff the VCAP program and a group of dedicated volunteer attorneys, summer associates and paralegals from Cahill, Gordon & Reindel LLP, Davis, Polk & Wardwell LLP, Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, Simpson Thacher & Barlett LLP, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, and Schulte, Roth &  Zabel LLP made a huge commitment to help these brave survivors. Volunteers from each of these firms immediately began staffing the VCAP program five days a week starting in April 2020. By the time VCAP ended on September 1, 2020, VCAP volunteers had drafted nearly 200 family offense petitions on behalf of victims of domestic violence seeking orders of protection.  Nearly 180 of those petitions were filed with the court, with almost all of the petitioners being granted an order of protection and other requested relief.

Each of the volunteers focused their time, energy, and efforts to help their clients prepare and file their petitions and to serve the Temporary Order of Protection on the respondent. VCAP attorneys were tenacious and skilled in their quest to help the clients obtain full stay away Temporary Orders of Protection. In addition, they were able to achieve hard to obtain additional relief to meet the needs of survivors of domestic violence, such as stay away orders for petitioner’s children and pets, child support orders, and orders preventing the electronic dissemination of intimate images and videos of the petitioner.

Each pro bono attorney was compassionate and patient in assisting these courageous survivors to get protection from their abusers and offered empathetic and trauma-informed support, empowering petitioners to find their own path to safety and justice. For example, one pro bono attorney worked for over a week with a petitioner who was afraid to file her family offense petition, patiently supporting the client and empowering the client to make her own decision regarding whether to file the petition. Ultimately, the client decided to move forward with filing the petition and obtained the protection she needed.

As a long-standing member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council and Sanctuary supporter, I am deeply grateful to each of the caring pro bono attorneys, summer associates, and paralegals for their fierce advocacy combined with kindness and deep empathy, and the law firms that supported and facilitated their work. I am also thankful to the Sanctuary for Families staff attorneys who were instrumental in swiftly setting up this innovative program that met the urgent needs of the moment.  And, as always, I am also grateful for, and constantly inspired by, the courage and strength of the clients who stepped forward to protect themselves and their families from violence and abuse in the midst of a global health crisis.

In the words of VCAP volunteer attorney Amy Barton of Paul Weiss,

“Although my clients repeatedly expressed their appreciation to me for my assistance, in the end, they were the ones who deserved my thanks for inspiring me with their strength to find help when needed and allowing me the opportunity to try to make someone’s life a little safer in a world that seemed to be turning upside down for all of us.”

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Join us at our Above & Beyond virtual celebration on October 29, 2020, as we honor the VCAP volunteers’ outstanding pro bono work. Click here to RSVP for free.

If you can’t join us, but would like to support Sanctuary for Family’s work, please consider making an Above & Beyond donation here.

New report reveals formula for success behind Sanctuary’s Economic Empowerment Program

Sanctuary for Families

494 women have graduated from the program.

View the full report.

For five years, our ground-breaking Economic Empowerment Program (EEP) has offered career readiness and office technology training to help survivors of gender violence disrupt the cycle of poverty, homelessness, and abuse by securing a living wage, career-track job.

Through an intensive four month training program, EEP participants focus on professional development, literacy upgrading, and advanced office technology skills that position them for living wage jobs across growing industries seeking skilled employees, including health care, financial services, technology, human services, and construction administration.

“The Economic Empowerment Program: Five Years of Transforming Lives, 2011-2016” reveals big numbers and impactful results:

  • 564 survivors of domestic violence and sex trafficking enrolled – growing from 68 participants in 2011 to 146 participants in 2015
  • 494 graduates – an 88% graduation rate
  • 270 placed in career-track, living wage jobs – a higher rate than average for workforce development programs
  • $13.71 – the average current hourly wage of our graduates, more than $5 higher than New York State’s private sector minimum wage
  • 148,000 – the number of hours of advanced office technology training and literacy instruction our graduates received over the past five years – and this doesn’t even include additional time spent at internships, with individual mentoring and tutoring, and enrollment in outside courses and trainings

What makes our approach unique? Seven “Career Keys” unlock each client’s potential to move from low to living wage work: professional development, literacy, English proficiency, secondary education, IT skills, occupational skill and work experience.

After determining the Career Keys that a client needs, EEP also offers a full set of supportive services to address other barriers, such as childcare and transportation needs.

Meena, a survivor of extreme domestic violence, graduated from EEP in 2012. She says “My EEP counselor Saloni gave me the skills I needed to feel confident and move forward, while the other women enrolled in EEP were a constant source of positive energy when I was feeling uncertain about the future.”

With EEP’s help, Meena obtained a full time job as a campus recruiter. She advanced quickly at her company, and today earns $75,000 a year. She is remarried, and her daughter Shari is thriving.

Read the full report and view more success stories.

Read Executive Director Judy Kluger’s op-ed about the critical need to connect survivors of gender violence with economic empowerment resources.

Learn more about the Economic Empowerment Program.