← No Filter With Zack Peter
No Filter With Zack Peter
Taylor Paul Awarded TPO, Blake Lively DEMANDS Baldoni Witness List & Ciara Miller Throws Shade
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law what's up guys? Welcome on and looks like Taylor Frankie Paul just got herself a good court win. Blake Lively appears to continue a spiral downward trajectory as she's demanding that the Beldoni's team the Wayfarer party she's demanding that they turn over their witness list. She wants it now. Plus Sierra Miller is throwing some shade with Sydney Sweeney at Amanda with this whole west and Amanda, what did they call it? Scamandival? I don't know what we're calling it. We need to come up with a more creative name for it but lots to dive into. Let's get it baby. This is no filter with Zack Peter your go to source for all the latest pop culture and reality TBT Surf fresh all week long. Now the let's dive in. What's going on everybody? Welcome on in. Welcome on in. Welcome on in. Everybody in the club. What's up? Happy Wednesday. Please pray for me and make sure I don't choke anybody. My stress levels and my anxiety levels have been on an all time high. A 12 out of 10 the last few days. So I'm trying to. That's why yesterday's zactivated pop off meant, you know, I got to relieve some steam. I've been running lots of miles these past couple of days. Lots of miles that we've been packing in today. My Starbucks order says, you're awesome. And I'm like, oh, that's so sweet. Thank you. Thank you for that very sweet reminder. Okay? Zach should have a glass of champagne every morning with us. That's. That's like Hoda and, what was it? Hoda and Kathy Lee. Remember when they would go online and they would drink in the mornings? Okay, yes, Jesus, take the wheel for it, please. Jesus, listen when I am telling you, Reprimanda, I have been praying and been like, jesus, I know you're testing my patience, Lord. I know you are testing my cortisol levels. I know that you are. You're testing me. And I'm trying to stay patient. I'm trying to stay grateful. I'm trying to just stay in the flow of abundance and good that comes my way. And trust. Right? Faith, patience, prudence. Right now, pride is the one that's been winning the most. And I know that's one of the seven deadly sins. And I'm just here to tell you, Daddy is trying very hard. Zach, flex your arms for me. Today was a strength day, but I did, even though today was a weightlifting strength day, I did run. I did do a good two mile power run. I was like, I need at least two miles, right? I usually like to get in like a minimum of three miles, but yesterday I did two runs and so I was like, all right, I probably should just. I wasn't gonna run today. And I was like, I just. I need to sweat a little bit. I need to get a little runner's high. So I did run a good quick two miles at the end of my lift. So, yes, we love those strong arms. The better to choke you with, my dear. Special. Special. KKS1 says, I went on a hike and got rid of stress yesterday. It worked. That's good. You know, I didn't even have coffee yesterday because my, my, my cortisol levels were already so high that I didn't need any more caffeine. Yes. Drink with us in the uk. That sounds like a fun time. It's five o' clock somewhere in the world. Okay, let's see. We have. I mean, we seem to be doing better than Blake Lively. And, well, Taylor Frankie Paul did get herself a bit of a legal win. She dun, dun, dun. Just got a temporary protective order against Dakota. So Dirk Coda. They. The judge did rule in Taylor Frankie Paul's favor, saying, listen, we're going to. You guys need some space from each other. You should have no contact from each other. Which is healthy. I can't believe that we're just now considering this as a potential good option for them. But. Yeah. So Dakota is now, I believe his attorney has issued a. Has issued a statement because he got his temporary restraining order against her, his protective order. He got that with Ever. He was able to keep custody of Ever. And so they had a court hearing this week and in this court hearing, she was Grant. Or after this court hearing, she was granted her own protective order. So that he's. I believe he's supposed to stay a hundred yards away from her. And they are to have no contact. But. But Taylor did get up to 8 hours per week of visitation with their son, Ever. So she will be able to see her kid. She hasn't been able to see him in the last couple of weeks. As you know, all of this has been unfolding, but now she will be able to have visitation with her son. However she chooses to break up those eight hours is up to her. I would imagine there's a mediator, somebody in the middle that'll be helping them with the transfer of Ever. Because again, he has to stay a hundred yards away from her. They can't have any contact. It's all one big hot mess. So let's see what his. His team had to say. Today's hearing was used by the respondent to assassinate Dakota's character as a dad whose only concern is the welfare of his son, Ever. We look Forward to the 30th to tell the true story. So that's the. Their next court hearing is on April 30, so. So she has her temporary protective order until then. She made allegations that he had assaulted her. She claims that he banged her head into the dashboard and that he held her against her will in his car as he took her away from her home. I mean, it sounded very, very grandiose, but it's just crazy. Gwen says. Sad that it took a turn. Truly. They don't. They truly. But they truly don't need to contact. Said that it took that, but they truly don't need contact. I agree, Gwen. I. They should have cut contact a long time ago. Long, long time ago. A long, long time. Is it Ever or Evert. Ever, Ever? E V E R Is the baby's name Ever? Okay. Okay, that's it. Let's see. Mimir says the two need full on restraining orders to stay away from each other. Yeah, they're clearly addicted to each other, right? Whoever. They're both toxic. And when they're together, it's even more Toxic. So whatever. I don't care who the issue is. I think they're both the issue. But regardless, they both need to stay away from each other. They need no more communication. They just need to be done. Because, like, it's just. It's not healthy. And can you imagine what these kids are going through? You have her kids, and then you have his son ever. I would imagine her ex, Tate, has a lot to say about all of this, but it's just crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. But we did actually get some footage from the courtroom in Utah, so we'll see what happens. And you know where this goes. But we are hearing that there are reports that the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. They're now ready to start filming again. And I'm like, you guys literally halted film, and you're all like, we're gonna band together and we don't wanna film anymore. And then now Jesse's posting weird videos with Hanging out with Marciano, and they're making it look like they're dating. And I'm just like, exhausted with all of the mom talk and the videos and all the stuff. Like, I'm kind of. It's mom talk overkill. And it's making me not even interested in the show anymore. Like, I was interested when there was a scandal. And, like, usually when there's a scandal, you kind of just, like, let it lay low for a bit so that you continue to build that interest. But now that they're over supplying us with so much content, it's just, like. It's exhausting. Like, at least with the Summer House scandal, we're getting crumbs, right? We got a new trailer of in the City, which is the Summer House spinoff, which will show Amanda and it will show Kyle, and it'll show the demise of their relationship, of their marriage. And then we do get a West cameo. So I'm assuming maybe we get a little more into her budding friendship with west, and what is going to happen with Amanda and Kyle, But I don't know. We shall see. It's gonna get crazy, crazy. But I'm actually looking for the in the City spin off. I actually think it's gonna do well, and it. It has me hooked already. Just based off of the trailer that Bravo released yesterday. So we'll see. But yeah, but, like, even then, like, we're getting crumbs of it, right? Like, Sierra, she was just on. Not Call Her Day. She was just on. She was at the Euphoria red carpet, and there she was at the Euphoria Red carpet. And she was interviewing Sydney Sweeney. And there she made a joke and she's just like, well, I just want to know, you know, what do you do when your best friend cheats on you? And Sydney Sweeney's like, oh, that's a. I don't. Oh, that's a good. That's a big one. And then Sierra's like, I feel like you better get married. Which it's true. If you're gonna blow up the entire summer house, you better be all in. You better be locked in. You better. You better be ready, Freddie, to go all the way. Go the distance. Like Tom and Raquel. I was like, you guys better go the distance. I wanted Tom and Raquel to be the next Spidey. When Scandal first happened, I was like, I want them to come back. I want them to give us, make it worth it, you know, I think if Raquel had come back and they had leaned into the relationship, like, I think they could have, I always said, and this would have been what saved Vanderpump Rules and what could have potentially opened them up to, to have the reboot that they have now. But Bravo doesn't. And listen to me. But I always said what Bravo should have done and maybe I'll make a Summer House prediction. I have to think on it. But what I said was after Scandival, because it was such a peak, it was such a high, I was like, end on a high. Do the Friends thing, right? Where Friends, they ended the sitcom on a high. Do that and launch spinoffs, right? Launch the Valley, but do Scandal and. And then the follow up season to Scandal, branded as the final season, a short and final season. Rather than trying to milk it for everything that they could, for all the episodes they tried to squeeze out of that last season, which really wasn't a great season for all they tried to milk it for, they should have just condensed it into, at best six episodes. Even if you wanted to make it a four part special, I think six episodes they could have. That would have been a nice way for them to stretch it out and then really end it and do it the way the Hills did it. Right where the Hills had the Hills. Final season, it was after Lauren Conrad. It was with Kristin Cavallari now being the lead of the show. And it was branded as the final season. And it was meant to tie everybody's storylines up. It was. Everybody went into that season knowing this is going to be the beginning of the end. So let's make sure we have conclusion right? And I said, I let's see Sheena and Brock move into their new house and sail off into the sunset with their marriage, right? Even though we know Sheena was hiding her damn affair. Let them sail off into the sunset. Let Lala have this new chapter where she's building this family on her own. Sail off into the sunset. Ariana is now happy. She's making money. She's doing Love Island. She has a new boyfriend. Sail off into the sunset. Tom and Raquel. Diabolical. We were going to hate them. But look at the final season of the Hills. We only had Spencer and Heidi for those. Those first few episodes before they became the full villains of the final season. And then eventually they didn't even make it to the final episode. I mean, they were like flashbacks of the closing montage and stuff. But, like, that's what we should have done was Branded that season. And I said this and Bravo didn't listen to me. And then from there, you can launch a spinoff like the Valley where you get some of them to move on over there, and you can follow their lives in a different area. And then you could eventually, in like, two years, try to revamp it. Not at SIR because SIR is already done. That whole thing has already been played out. Focus on one of Lisa Vanderpump's new restaurants. She came up with Vanderbump Villa, which I thought was a much smarter and I think been a more successful extension of her brand beyond this Vanderpump Rules reboot, which, if, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't believe the network has officially greenlit the show for another season. I know that it was, like, rumored for a minute that, like, oh, the show might be coming back or it's, you know, they're predicting that it's going to be picked up again. But I believe that was a premature announcement. And Alex Baskin a couple weeks later said that that's what they were hoping for, but they had not yet formally been greenlit. And I don't think that they will, because even if the ratings were decent, which, I mean, the live ratings were atrocious and we will never see the peacock ratings, but they were trying to convince us that it was the best thing since sliced bread. Ra. Right. Well, I. I don't know if the fate is there, because even if the numbers were there, there wasn't any cultural relevance. It didn't make any impact. People weren't talking about it. It wasn't becoming a meme. It wasn't becoming a headline. Like, it was just such A lackluster flop. So, you know, but yeah. So Sierra threw her shade with Sydney Sweeney, which, listen, I'm here for it. I love a good shade in the midst of a big scandal. I love it, I love it. I love it a lot. It's all good. So we shall see. We shall see, we shall see. Let's give. Because I feel like I'm getting a little parched after all the running that I've been doing. So I feel like I just need to. To give a little lurve in the club to my pals at Drip Drop. Drip Drop. Listen, between work and travel and trying to stay active, all of the things, I mean, I just posted on Instagram the other day, like a day in my life on Monday of like taping Billy Bush and taping Juicy and then going tape Juicy scoop and then, you know, having to walk the dogs in between having to come back and tape, no filter and you know, putting out all the content and like it was a crazy day. On top of like working out and running and doing all of that, that lately I'm just like when I'm feeling a little off, I feel like when, when my energy dips, it's usually not sleep, it's not coffee, it's usually hydration. My body needs good hydration, good fuel. And Drip Drop has become my new go to fix. Okay. Drip Drop is doctor formulated, proven fast hydration that helps your body and your mind work better. Which is exactly what 2026 U needs. Think support for the busy days, the long workouts and everything in between. Okay. Drip Drop uses science based formulas for rapid hydration so you feel the results fast while getting three times the electrolytes of leading sports drink. And there's a reason over 90% of top college and pro sports teams use Drip Drop and trust Drip Drop because it helps hydrate you faster and more effectively than water alone. Plus, not only do they have their 16 original flavors that you can choose from which are delicious. Not gonna knock any of the 16 OG flavors. But my personal favorites are their zero sugar plus packets. It's a breakthrough formula with an advanced blend of 16, six key electrolytes, 15 essential vitamins and nutrients, and no sugar or artificial sweeteners. Okay. I had the watermelon this morning. I also have the tangerine that's become a new fave of mine. So you have options. You have 16 original flavors, eight, zero sugar plus options. My personal favorite at the moment is watermelon. Cause I just feel like it's got the summer vibes right Right now, Drip Drop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to dripdrop.com and use the promo code no filter. That's dripdrop.com promo code no filter. For 20% off, stock up now. At dripdrop.com, use promo code no filter. No filter.
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Also, if you are not a member of no filter all access on Supercast. Why not? You should be. Because guess what, Guess what everybody in the club. We just released a new bonus episode, a Q and A episode and it's a juicy one. I answer all of your burning questions. Nothing is off limits. From my sex life to my friendship fallouts to Mormon wives tea to my thoughts on the state of the world. I'm like Fitzgerald Grant from Scandal cause I've been in a scandal mode. But go to AllAccess T supercast.com to become a member of no filters all access on Supercast. Go and check it out. Ch ch. Check it out, check it out, check it out. Look at flowers in the basement. Says drip drop is really good and has helped me during my perimenopause. Listen, hydration is good. Hydration is where it's at every birdie. Woo woo. Ask Zach anything. Yes, lots of tea. And I, yeah, I get. I get very personal and very real with you guys in this One so sure to tune in, Zach. I'll try anything you recommend. The soul gummies help me so much. Oh my God, yes. I have my soul gummies too. They don't sponsor the show. They haven't. Yeah, they don't sponsor the show anymore, but I do still have my soul gummies. They had great promotions when they were sponsoring us last year. I still order them cuz they are delicious. I can't remember what birthday it was, but I knew my niece and I were kindred when she blew out her candle and told us she wished for gummies. Oh my God, that's hysterical. Donna's here. Donna Bowling? Is that where you admit that you and Brian Enten are finally dating? I don't know. You're gonna have to tune in to find out. And yes, Christina says just reminder this evening, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern is our weekly zoom call. So if you want to join, get it. Zach, have you seen the Starbucks with Adrian Grenier? Yes. Well, I was gonna say, didn't we talk about on the show yesterday? We kind of talked about Adrian addressing him not being in the new devil worst part of two. But we didn't specifically address the. Oh, Donna's going to Palm Springs. Isn't that lovely for Donna can just be like, you know what? I'm taking a vacation on a Wednesday. I would love to just take a vacation on a Wednesday and be like, you know what? For the rest of the week, I'm not working anymore. I'm just gonna kick my feet up and live my best life. So yeah, Donna, I guess Donna will no longer be giving you any more daily doses of Donna. She's gonna deprive you of her daily doses of Donna because she just, she takes the days off. She takes a whole half of a week off. And some of us are like, I got dogs to feed, I got rent to pay, I got Botox to fund. Just kidding. Love you, Donna. But yeah, Donna's on her way to Palm Springs. Yay. Donna said you can, Zach. Can I? No, I can't. I'm under contract. Okay. That said what? Oh, let's. Should we talk about Blake. Praise to Sierra for the shade. Good for Taylor. Frankie Paul for getting her her court win. But let's talk about Blake Lively's latest demand because I've been seeing the emails go around and not that there's anything bad or wrong with. Anything bad or wrong with the people's commentary of the emails, but it's just, I just wanted to provide some clarity. So there is an Email going around from Blake Lively's team, or I guess because there's. There are pre trial hearings that are going to happen, I believe on Friday the 10th. Yeah, this upcoming Friday. So with that, everybody's preparing for trial. Right. And so were presuming that the Wayfarer parties are likely going to file motions in limine. And this is where the Van Zan is going to become a thing. Right? This is where Van Zan is really going to become relevant. Because now it's possible that with the motions in Lemonade, based off of all the attorneys predictions online, and even Daniel Faroozen, who has been on this show, even when he talked about motions in limine, which are pretrial motions, it's possible that they can fight to get the we can bury anyone text messages thrown out with the way that Blake Lively's legal team obtained the text messages through this seemingly sham Van Zan lawsuit and Van Zan subpoena that was placed upon Stephanie Jones. So it seems like they may fight and may be able to bring forth the Van Zan of it all. Because remember, like, what about Van Zand? Everybody's like, oh, my God, Van Zant. Van Zan, Van Zant. And for those of you that don't know or don't remember, Van Zan is, appears to be a shell company that is owned by Blake Lively and now Ryan Reynolds. Because I believe as of last year, they made Ryan Reynolds the CEO of Van Zan. And so Van Zan, this company that really didn't seem to be doing very much, but was an incorporation under Blake Lively and now Ryan Reynolds, they had filed a contract dispute lawsuit, which is interesting because now if they're claiming that there was a contract dispute, this is actually starting to make sense because we were like, what contract dispute that did Blake Lively have or did Van Zan. Not even Blake Lively. What contract dispute does Van Zan have against some company? Right. Some unknown. 10 unknown. Jane, John and Doe, 10 Jane does and 10 John does, or collectively Jane and John Does. Sorry. So there were 10 unnamed defendants that Van Zan was saying. There are 10 people that we think did something to us based off of this contract dispute, and we don't know what they actually did to us. So now it's interesting though, that the pieces of like Lively's lawsuit that are moving forward are the retaliation, breach of contract, and breach of implied covenant. The only part that gets a little more tricky is because now we can define that there was a contract dispute with a third party, which presumably. But it's Just weird that she filed it under the Jane and John does rather than naming. It ends with us movie naming. Wayfair Studios naming Justin Baldoni, Jamie Heat, Steve Sarawitz, whatever. She didn't name anybody in this lawsuit. And her name was also not personally attached to this lawsuit. It was Van Zan versus these 10 random people that they claim they didn't know who they work. That's the only time you name a Jane or John Doe in a lawsuit. And typically you at least have someone that's named. And then the additional parties would be Jane or John Doe's. In this case, that wasn't it. She then asked Stephanie Jones to provide information for in relation to sexual harassment that may have hurt Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and their companies. Stephanie Jones said, oh my God, I got subpoenaed shirt. Here you go. Here are the troves of text messages that may or may not be mine, but here are the troves of text messages. Have at it. And so she just handed everything over. And that's how all of this began. But it's interesting because we were always wondering what was the contract dispute? And now it appears that the contract dispute is in relation to her 17 point list that she that she put on the table halfway through production when she was demanding answers. So I don't know if that's going to stick, if it's not going to stick, because again, it was shady that she didn't name any defendants, especially in a contract dispute. So it's shady that she didn't name any defendants. There's also no agreement. But with Van Zan. Van Zan was never part of Wayfair. Van Zan was never part of events with US llc. Van Zan was never part of the movie itself. So I don't know how Van Zan would necessarily fit into this if it wasn't a sham lawsuit. Because then once they obtained the evidence, then they withdrew that lawsuit and then that's when they filed the CRD complaint and launched the article in the New York Times. So shady, but at this point it may end up being like a strategic legal move. That may be because I've always said what's legally acceptable and what's morally acceptable are two very different things. Just because something appears unethical does not mean that it's illegal. So we'll have to see what happens with Van Zan. But I presume come Friday we'll have Van Zan re enter the group chat with this trial, that'll likely throw out the text messages and if they throw out the text messages. That really guts a lot of their case because the information that they obtained from Stephanie Jones will no longer become relevant. So we'll see. And if that happens, then I don't know how she even moves forward to trial. I don't know. Is the court case going to be open to the public? Yes, it will be open to the public, but it will not be filmed or recorded or live streamed. That's like the big questions that people are thinking that they're going to be able to watch this trial. You will not be able to watch this trial, but there is a chance that you may be able to at least attend. But again, the line to get in press obviously has first. Like, they have the opportunity to get in line first. So. And it's. It's a whole thing. And I've looked into it, and I've looked into the potential of me actually going. But no, it won't be televised. It won't be live streamed. It won't be any of that. There won't be cameras in the courtroom, and only certain press will be able to keep their phones in the courtroom. So, yeah, we shall see. We shall see. We shall see. Okay, advanced sand this email that's going around from Gottlieb. So with Friday's upcoming hearings, Michelle says, could you imagine if it was televised? Those numbers for the ratings would be unreal. Unreal. They use Van Zan to illegally obtain private information. Van Zan is a smoking gun, in my opinion. In your opinion? Yes, and a lot of our opinions maybe, but there are certain. I mean, you have to remember Blake Lively and her legal team played this out very smart. That's when people say that her attorneys were dumb. I was like, actually, they weren't dumb. They were very, very smart. I think her attorneys gave her the best possible outcome that they could. I don't think that they were sloppy, and I don't think they were dumb. I think they were given scraps, and based off of the scraps they were given, they played the best possible chess hand that they could play. But when you have scraps and you don't have a strong foundation, it's not going to hold until the end. And that's what we're seeing is it's now all starting to crumble because the foundation of her case is not strong. There are termites in the wood, and the foundation is starting to crumble. And so when you start with bad bones, the rest is only going to continue to fall no matter how high you get that house to be built, it will come tumbling down at some point without a strong foundation. So we shall see. That said, the email that's going around with Blake Lively's team, they're now pissed because they want the Wayfarer parties to let them know if Jennifer Abel, Melissa Nathan, Jed Wallace, Steve Sarawitz, Jamie Heath, Justin Baldoni. They want to know if these people are actually going to be at trial, if they're going to be in court, and if they will be on the stand. Right now, the reason that this has become a big question is because, well, this dismissal of Blake Lively's 10 claims dismissed all of these people individually. Well, Jed Wallace has not been part of this. He's. He. His case got moved to Texas. But when it comes to Melissa, Jennifer Sarawitz, Heath Baldoni with all of them, they're no longer personally defendants. Justin Baldoni is no longer a personal defendant in this case. He's just. He's done for the M.O. personally. His company's Wayfarer, and it ends with us, LLC. They are still defendants on this. So right now, it's Blake Lively versus two companies, these two entities, rather than it being Blake Lively versus Justin Baldoni, personally. So Gottlieb is pissed, and he's like, well, we want to know, are they gonna be there? We need to prepare. And remember, Gottlieb and Blake Lively's team, they're the same ones that dropped a thousand new exhibits, that they want to be entered into trial, and 40 witnesses, which is like, well, how long do you expect this case? And also, it's interesting because they're like, we don't think that any of that will be scaled back now that 10 of our claims have gotten gutted. And it's like, well, wait, but 10 of your claims got dismissed. You only have three claims left, and you still need a thousand exhibits. You still need 40 witnesses to prove your case. Like, you're playing games with the court right now. You're. You're playing, you know, the PR Game of trying to make it look like she has mountains of evidence. But also, you're just screwing with the Wayfarer parties just to screw with them. And if you had strong mountains of insurmountable evidence, you wouldn't need to be playing these games. But all Blake Lively has done since the beginning of this is play these games and then get upset when the Wayfarer parties play any games. But I would imagine they're trying to figure out what their next move is going to be, because none of the defendants actually have to appear in trial anymore. And so I saw some of the Blake bots being like, wow, look at. None of them are even going, and they're being shady, and they may not even attend trial after all. Like, how is it that you wanted to tell your truth and you wanted to tell about how you didn't do this Blake Blively, and now all of a sudden, it's a consideration that they may not show up? I don't think that, yes, it is a possibility, but I don't think it's a real consideration. I absolutely believe Justin Baldoni will be in that courtroom. I absolutely believe Jamie Heath will be in that courtroom. I absolutely believe Steve Sarawitz will be in that courtroom. And it's pretty likely that Jennifer Abel will be in that courtroom, because let's not forget, Jennifer Abel also has her own litigation against Stephanie Jones that's ongoing. So with them, it's going to get interesting. So the two that I predict likely may not be at trial would be Melissa Nathan and Jed Wallace. Jed Wallace, I just don't think needs to be there. He's not, like, he has no real attachment. And so for the people that don't appear at trial and on the witness stand, their depositions will be used at trial. So because they all sat and were deposed for hours on end, so they've already answered a lot of these questions anyway. So it's possible that pieces of those depositions will be shared for the jury come trial. Okay. They don't need to necessarily be on the stand, and Blake Lively can't necessarily subpoena them and force them to come to the courthouse. Because I believe there's a. There are restrictions with. Not jurisdiction. What's the term that I'm thinking of? Like, because, like, Melissa Nathan lives in California, and Jed Wallace lives in. In Dallas or in Texas. Sorry, It's. They don't have to travel in. Right. Even if Blake Lively subpoenas them, they don't have to personally appear. They have the option not to. And so being that they're not defendants, they have that option to not go in. But I do think Justin Baldoni will take the stand, and I do think Jamie Heath will take the stand. It's possible that they put up Jennifer Abel, because I just. I find her to be very likable and charismatic that I think she may play well for the jury. Justin Baldoni, I think, will play well for the jury. And Jamie Heath will obviously be the representative of Wayfair Studios. It ends with US, llc. But even with him, that was the strongest case. Blake Lively had with sexual harassment was against Jamie Heath. But even then, there was no concrete evidence. She's like, he came into my hotel room and he looked me in the eye, and he's like, I don't remember looking her in the eye, and I wasn't checking her out. And so, again, that's a he said, she said sort of situation. And that's really what it comes down to with the retaliation is she's claiming that their behavior was retaliatory and it was a smear campaign. They're claiming that it wasn't. It was just, you know, defensive crisis pr. And so now a jury is going to have to look at all of the evidence and going to have to listen to each of their expert testimony and determine who the jury believes is telling the truth. Do they believe that Blake Lively is telling the truth, or do they believe that the Wayfarer parties are more credible and they're telling the truth? They'll have to look at the evidence, weigh the testimony, and make a determination. And that's why the judge didn't rule on retaliation. Not that retaliation exists or doesn't exist exist in this case. It's that retaliation in this case has yet to be defined. Right? This has become a matter of fact. What is retaliation? And did retaliation take place? And so in this case, the judge is like, listen, there's enough information to be presented to a jury. Like, Lively has information to present to them, and so she can try and make her case in front of them. But the Wayfarer parties also have evidence. And I. It's. It's two sides. It said he said, she said, or even not even he said, because there's no he left in it. It's two companies, right? It ends with US, LLC and Wayfair Studios. So it's they said she said, so she against these companies. So it's going to get interesting. But the Wayfair parties made it clear in their response to Lively's attorneys that they don't plan on waiting until the last minute to have some gotcha moment. They're playing by the rules of the court as of right now. They're restrategizing because obviously, when 10 of the claims get gutted, that changes everything. They no longer have to defend against toxic workplace. They no longer have to defend against sexual harassment. Sexual harassment at this point has kind of become minute. It's completely out the door, right? So all we have left is this retaliation. Breach of contract and breach of implied covenant, and we'll see what happens. I mean, she could possibly if the jury does determine that there was some form of retaliation against her, again, that has to be defined in court, and the jury will have to determine what that means. But it's possible that she does get a win in this, but it wouldn't be the big rah rah victory that she was hoping for. It would be of, like, oh, well, you had the 17 point list, and they did some things that, you know, you didn't like. And so therefore, that there was a breach of implied covenant. Right. There was an implied good faith that, you know, everybody was going to keep their hands clean and be good to each other. It's possible that she does win on breach of implied covenant. And knowing Blake Lively. And from what we've seen, she'll be like, look at, I won this. They breached this. They violated an agreement that we made that. That people in the workplace are not supposed to, you know, yada, yada, take advantage of you, or whatever her narrative is going to be. She'll find a way to spin it, but it's going to be interesting. Flowers in the Basement says a loss is a win for Blake and her pr. Yeah, I mean, everything is going to be a win for them. We've seen. We've seen her spin everything so many different ways. The fact that she had her case completely obliterated and was still like, thank you to the courts for keeping the heart of my case alive. It's like, what, the heart of your case is retaliation. You're an idiot. Zach, if the consequences for Blake were prison following losing a jury trial, do you think she would continue this and not settle instead? If the consequences were a prison or prison following a jury? Well, I mean, none of this is criminal. It's all civil, so prison isn't even a consideration. But if the consequences were prison, do you think that she would continue with this and not settle instead? No, I think she would keep fighting it. I don't know. It's hard to. To. To weigh money versus prison time, like that's. It's kind of hard to weigh those two. I don't know what she would do in that situation. That's not a real. It's hard to apply those things because they're. They're so polar opposite. Right. A civil case and a criminal case, prison time versus money. You know, Fatima says the Van Zan is criminal to me. Yeah, but then that would have to be like the DA that brings charges against her, and I. It's very unlikely that that will happen. She's not going to face consequences for that other than potentially losing this trial, Gwen says, I just love how it's in Wayfarer's hands. If they want to settle, since she can't bail out now, she can still bail. She can still settle. She can settle at any point. They can settle halfway through trial if they want to. And listen, settling is not necessarily a bad thing for the Wayfarer parties because a settlement means they don't have the risk of losing in trial. But also, the real win that the Wayfarer parties would have wanted was to be able to have a jury determine that there was no sexual harassment. And because now you have all the Blake bots that are spinning it, it's like, oh, well, it was a technicality. Oh, it was because she was a contractor, not an employee. Like, all of these things that they're trying to twist themselves into pretzels to, you know, to get done here. But, like, I. I don't know. They both. Both have to agree to a settlement, right? Yes, they both would have to agree to a settlement. Settlement. And I don't think either of them will agree to a settlement. Reprimanda says so many people settle these days. The only thing I assume is that Blake's ego combined with Ryan's would never allow them to. I feel like it's stooping. Yeah. Yeah, it is. I don't think. I think it's all a battle of the ego, and there's too much ego. Gwen says, yeah, but they have the upper hand now on settling that. Most of the charges, especially the sh. I disagree. I don't think they have the upper hand. They have the upper hand in terms of what I believe from the evidence. But again, these are all matters of our opinion. Right. But at trial, it's a matter of the majority of the jurors. Like, they have to make a determination. Now, the upper hand for the Wayfarer parties would be that Blake Lively is the one that brought forth this lawsuit. So the burden of proof is on her. She has to be able to prove that. That she reported these things and that this retaliation took place and that they retaliated against her because of her raising concerns on the set of events with us. That's her case to prove. She has to actually convince the jury of that. So technically, sure. But also, it could really go either way. You don't know what's going to happen at trial. And so anything can happen. It's, I would say, a 50, 50 chance. Again, we're just going based off of our opinion. But if we were one person sitting on the jury. We're only one voice on that jury. We need the entire jury or at least the majority of people on that jury to rule in favor of Justin Baldoni vs Blake Lively based off of the evidence that gets presented and how each party presents that evidence. Right. Because even if the evidence is there, if the other side does a better job of making the argument, they can sway and convince the jury that, you know, they're the ones that are in the right. Because, again, it's coming down to a he said, she said, and the evidence kind of supports both to an extent. So it depends on how you skew the evidence and how you present it to the jury. And the jury has to then make an objective decision on which side they believe to be more credible, which side they think is more likely telling the truth. Jen says, can she suddenly drop the case? Since she brought it, she can settle, But I don't believe she can drop it. I don't think she can withdraw the case. Like, it's too far gone. The only option they have is to settle or battle. What's the topic tonight? Oh, good question. We're gonna have to figure that out. Do you think their marriage will survive? No, Glenn, I don't think their marriage will survive. Susan says representation is everything. Yeah. Yes, representation is everything. I'm assuming you mean legal representation. So it's their attorneys and how their attorneys spin this and play this. And we don't know how the attorneys are going to spin this. We don't know how the attorneys are going to play this. Brian Friedman, also not much of a trial attorney. Right. Like, his specialty is in buckling the opponent into settling. So he does a really good job from what we've seen in terms of, you know, being clear and how he explains things and being, you know, charismatic in the sense that he knows how to win people over, and he's very much. He's got an authoritative presence, but again, we just don't know. It all depends on what evidence will be allowed, what evidence will be allowed, and how it gets presented. You know, that's a really good. You know, a really good indicator is, like, how the evidence gets presented. Because if you have the same evidence, but somebody can make a more convincing argument as to why that evidence defends their side versus the other side. The jury has to go with who they find more credible. Yes, guys, hit the like button if you're enjoying this. Hit the like button if you're ready for trial. Christina says, not actually golden and little girl attorney said that she can't And I trust what they say. That she can't just withdraw the case, I believe is what you're responding to. Yes. They cannot just. She cannot just withdraw the case. She would have to settle. And in order for a settlement. Settlement to be possible, both parties would have to agree to a settlement. Fatima Ben says, I seriously hope Wayfair parties win this. Blake can't say this or that because the judge dismissed most of it. And then the jury that don't believe her. How would she spin that? That the. The law is against women, that we need to fix the laws we need to change to make sure we're protecting women in the workplace? She'll have a ton of ways in which she can spin it. She'll still go down without a fight. She'll still go down as if she didn't lose. Or if she did lose, she was. She would be a victim. Heather says, zach, I think you should be a crime detective. You're so smart. Where the glass? Oh, the glasses are outside. They're my blue light blockers. Who is going to want to marry or date Ryan Reynolds after he divorces Blake? I mean, listen, people, you know, want to marry Ted Bundy, so I think it'll be fine. Brian is a good storyteller. Yes, he is. But you also have to remember Brian Friedman has a really strong presence, right? So if Blake Lively goes on the stand and Brian Friedman kind of lays into her and the team, her team also presents the theory that even the Wayfarer party's attorney has been prejudiced towards Blake. And then Brian Friedman goes and deposes Blake Lively and he's a little too hard on her. Or she's able to convince the jury that she's, like, kind of weak and meek. And then it looks like he's badgering the witness, Right? Like, it's all about how it plays out. Like, that's why, again, the evidence and the truth can be on one side. But again, the courtroom is not about the evidence or the truth. The courtroom is about the case that you're able to present. It's not about who's telling the truth. It's about who tells the better story. It's about who tells the most convincing story. So, yeah, Isis says the lawyers and popcorn plant said Blake Lively can dismiss without a settlement and would be fined by the court maybe 4 million. Oh, let's ask chat. Can Blake Lively withdraw her lawsuit before trial? Let's see. Yes. Oh, yes, Blake Lively absolutely can withdraw her lawsuit before trial, but there are some important legal nuances One, she can voluntarily dismiss the case. In the US Civil litigation, the plaintiff can usually file a voluntary dismissal before trial. She can ask the courts to dismiss her own case. Depending on timing, she may need either no permission if it's in. In the early stages, which it's not, or the court's approval or the defendant's consent. Okay. Which is the later stage. So right now, she would need the court's approval, and she would need Beldone, the Wayfarer parties, to consent to that as well. There's with prejudice or without prejudice. Without prejudice means she could refile the case later. With prejudice means the case is permanently over, I would imagine. We want the. The trial to end favorably to the Baldoni parties or to the Wayfarer parties with prejudice. We've already seen her do a version of this. She previously withdrew some individual claims during the case to streamline things. Yes. Remember she. Oh, that's right. Remember she took out some of her claims and then the judge dismissed a ton of her claims. And so her case has really been narrowed down to the. To the bones. Settlement is the more common path at this stage, right before a scheduled trial. It's more typical to settle rather than to just walk away. Courts often push both sides towards settlement conferences before trial. We've seen that they failed to do that or they failed to successfully settle. There's the strategic reality in her specific case. Right now, only three claims are left heading to trial. She has publicly indicated that she's prepared to testify and move forward. Forward. So while she can withdraw entirely, doing so might raise public perception questions and could impact the leverage that she has, especially being so late in the game. Bottom line is, yes, she can withdraw the lawsuit before trial, but at this stage, it would likely require court approval or a negotiated settlement. And strategically, most cases resolved through settlement rather than a full withdrawal. Yes, I agree. And she would probably want a settlement rather than a withdrawal and court approved withdrawal, because a settlement, I would imagine, would come with a gag order where they both, you know, wouldn't be allowed to talk about specific details of the settlement. Neither one would be able to disparage anybody after the settlement or talk about the details. So, yeah. Raise your hand if you've ever felt personally victimized by Regina George. I mean, Blake Lively. Yes. Todd. Yes, Don. Do we know how they choose the jury? I'm not sure how that works. I believe, I mean, based off of me doing jury duty, they bring everybody there, they ask questions. Well, they first dismiss certain jurors, then they ask questions, and then I believe there's a certain amount of dismissals that each party has, and so they continue to dismiss people that they think may be prejudice against them to try and find people that they both agree would be good options for them to keep in the trial, in the jury trial. So I believe they. They interview and they question the jurors to see who each party would like to keep, but they only have a certain number. Lynn says, are you going to New York for trial, Zach? It's looking promising. I don't know. I should have an update on that. Probably next week. So. Yeah, she had me lose several hours of sleep and my time with my cat. I have no doubt. Okay. Will Ryan bother showing up at trial? What if Brian Friedman should ask Gottlieb? Good question. I believe he will be, Kenzie. I believe Ryan. I mean, he should be. But then again, we didn't see him issue any statement after her claims were dismissed. We didn't see him comment on her statement after she issued it and published it on her Instagram feedback. There was no so proud of you. There was no heart emoji. There was no, you're fighting the good fight. I'm here for you, babe. I love you no matter what. There was no comment, no acknowledgment. Did he even like it? I don't know if he even liked her post. Let's see. Let's see. Some Chloe person. Sophie Luca. Shop archive. We love and support you, Terry. Ryan's dad commented. Said really, really well said. It seems so unreal, but unfortunately, it was all too real. We know it all too well. Oh, Hot Mics with Billy Bush. Liked her post, but no, Ryan Reynolds didn't like it, didn't repost it, didn't reshare it. He also didn't show up with her at the courthouse. So, yeah. Yeah. What. What a time. Yeah. Okay, this is a good point, Kenzie. This is what I was thinking up. And I brought this up with Dolly, Donna and Molly yesterday. I'm going to call them Dolly collectively. About how. Remember when his text messages came out, he's like, well, yes, I was a husband that was defending his wife. I'm not. I haven't. I wasn't mad enough in those text messages where he's, you know, talking all this smack about Baldoni and he says he wasn't mad enough. Well, where's that outrage now? Where's all that emotion and passion now for your wife? You didn't show up with her at the courthouse in January. You. I like. I'm confused. If you should have been more mad on the set, why aren't you more mad now? So we'll see. But he didn't address anything about her losing in court. So I wonder if that's signs. Like a sign of a bad. A bad bad. I don't know. Ryan's dad is deceased. Oh, is he deceased? So maybe this is his brother. He does have a few brothers, doesn't he? This may be his brother then. That commented on Blake Lively's Terry. He just looks like an older man. Oh, I guess this is. I guess this is the brother. Oh, yeah. Happy birthday, Ryan. To a great friend, kind person and a good citizen. I thought I'd share a fond memory. Our 2025 flight to Dublin. My first digital camera caught my first photobomb. If you're out there somewhere, kind sir, thank you. That made our day. I guess he and Ryan were taking a photo on a flight back in 2005, and there was a random guy in the background that smiled and he photobombed. Okay, so this is. This is Ryan's brother that commented on Blake's post. So it. We know it all. It was all too real. Whatever. His silence is deafening. That it is. I got jury duty questionnaire for the New York county, but if it's for this case, I won't get picked. I cannot lie. I would love to be on this jury. I would love to be on this jury because I would just. I feel like. I don't know. I would love to. I mean, we're all this jury. We are the jury, the court of public opinion. I suspect that both parties will keep Taylor Swift out of court. Yeah, I would imagine. I don't see how Taylor would be relevant. Like, even. What was it yet Billy Bush was like, is Brandon Skinner and Isabella Ferrer and Jenny Slater, are they going to be in court? What are they going to say? And I was like, actually, I don't think they will be in court. I don't think there's a need for any of them to be in court. Maybe at best, Jenny Slate. I think she may be the most relevant to bring in because Blake at least did express concerns on the set based off of her text messages with Jenny Slate. But outside of that, I don't think there's any. Like, Isabella would be completely irrelevant to the retaliation and contract dispute. Isabella wasn't there for the all hands decked. Neither was Brandon Sklenar, neither was Jenny. They weren't there for that meeting. That meeting is where the 17 point list was presented. So I'm assuming everybody that was at that meeting would likely be pulled into this, and then it's going to come down to the reputational harm and, you know, all of this stuff. So I don't think that there's any opportunity for them to be relevant at trial because I don't think. I mean, they could testify to onset behavior, but this isn't about onset behavior. Toxic workplace has been thrown out. Sexual harassment has been thrown out. So I don't think they have a strong leg to stand on in terms of holding some sort of credibility when it comes to speaking about retaliation or a contract dispute that they weren't really present for. So. Yeah, and if anything, they've. They've already been subpoenaed or not subpoenaed. They've been deposed. Jenny Slate was deposed. Isabella was deposed. So I don't think Brandon's. Glenar got deposed. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe Brandon was deposed. But. Right. Was Brandon Sklenar deposed? I don't remember seeing his deposition. I don't think he was, but I don't think. Yeah, there's no court confirmed record that Brandon Skinar was deposed. Correct. Lots of people. Blake Lively was deposed. Justin Baldoni was deposed. Does not appear Brandon Skinar was ever deposed, but his text messages were dragged in. Okay, all right, that's what I got for you. Tomorrow is Thursday, April 9, and then Friday is the hearing. So lots going on. Lots going on. All right, guys, I love you. I appreciate you. You have a great rest of your day. I will talk to you this evening. We'll talk to you this evening. We're gonna chat live on Zoom. If you're a member of no Filter all Access, there's a bonus episode out now. Q and A. I answer all your questions, so check out the Q and A episode. Join us for tonight's Zoom call and I will talks to you later. Bye. Love you. Appreciate you. Have a good day. Leave an Apple podcast review so I can give you guys shout outs come Friday. All right, ciao for now, guys. Bye.
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