Entertainment
Blake Lively reacts to harassment claims dismissal against Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively’s legal team has hit back after a federal judge dismissed her sexual harassment claims against Justin Baldoni, insisting the ruling was a legal technicality rather than any kind of vindication for the It Ends With Us director.
Attorney Michael Gottlieb said in a statement shared with PEOPLE that Lively’s harassment allegations “have always been the beating heart of Ms. Lively’s case. They are why she filed her lawsuit.”
He was clear that the dismissal did not reflect the merits of those allegations.
“The Court’s ruling that Ms. Lively’s state and federal harassment claims could not go to trial was about legal issues rather than an endorsement of the defendants’ conduct,” he said, explaining that the claims were barred on technical grounds, Lively had not signed a contract, was classified as an independent contractor rather than an employee, and the alleged conduct took place in New Jersey rather than California.
Federal judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed ten of the thirteen claims Lively filed against Baldoni on Thursday, 2 April, including the harassment allegations, ahead of the trial scheduled for 18 May in New York.
What remains, breach of contract and a retaliation claim under the Fair Employment and Housing Act against Baldoni’s company Wayfarer Studios, will go before a jury.
Both Lively and Baldoni are expected to testify.
Baldoni’s side wasted no time framing the ruling as a significant win.
His lawyers described themselves as “very pleased” that all harassment claims and every claim against the individual defendants had been dismissed, calling what remained “a significantly narrowed case.”
In a separate statement to TMZ, attorney Bryan Freedman went further.
“Neither Justin Baldoni, Jamey Heath nor any of the other defendants have engaged in the sexual harassment of Blake Lively,” he said, adding that his clients had “deserved a vigorous defense which was led through transparency.”
Gottlieb fired back sharply.
“Claiming exoneration based on legal technicalities while facing trial next month tells you everything you need to know,” he said, pointing out that Freedman had not even argued the summary judgment motion he was now publicly spinning, had brought in another firm for the trial, and had been reprimanded by the court the previous week for filing legally frivolous claims.
“What the Court actually decided yesterday is that Blake Lively provided evidence to go to trial on her core claims,” Gottlieb said.
Lively first filed her sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni in December 2024, alleging misconduct on set and a coordinated retaliatory smear campaign, which Baldoni has denied.
Baldoni’s own counterclaims against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, alleging extortion and defamation, were dismissed by the same judge in June 2025, with his legal team choosing not to refile.
Entertainment
Gordon Ramsay reveals ‘most important thing in life’
Gordon Ramsay may have built his reputation on Michelin stars and television fireworks, but when it comes to raising his six children, the lesson he holds above all others is a rather simpler one.
Speaking to Fox News Digital in an interview published on Sunday, 24 May, the 59-year-old chef revealed what he considers the single most important thing he has instilled in his kids.
“The one thing I’ve taught them all, brilliantly, are manners,” he said, adding with characteristic directness: “The most important thing in life, but they cost zero.”
Ramsay shares his six children, Megan, 28, Holly, 26, Jack, 26, Matilda, 24, Oscar, 7, and Jesse, 2, with his wife Tana.
On the professional front, one of his children appears to be following closely in his footsteps.
Ramsay spoke to PEOPLE in February about his daughter Matilda, known as Tilly, who has chosen to pursue a career in food, a decision that clearly delights him.
Ramsay spoke to PEOPLE again at the Fox Upfront event on 11 May, where he was celebrating the renewal of several of his shows including Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Next Level Chef, Next Level Baker, Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service and Gordon Ramsay’s Being Gordon Ramsay.
Asked which of his six shows currently on air is his favourite, he reached for a familiar metaphor.
“I have six shows on air right now. That’s like saying, I have six kids as well, what’s my favourite kid? It depends, it’s the one that least pisses me off at the moment.”
Six kids, six shows, and a firm belief in the power of a please and a thank you. Not a bad philosophy, all things considered.
Entertainment
Patti LaBelle on being called a legend: “I have earned it”
Patti LaBelle has been singing for six decades, earning hit records, Grammys and the nickname the “Godmother of Soul.” As she celebrates her 82nd birthday on Sunday, she said she’s “having fun living it down.”
“At 82, I am really living it down, not up. But having fun living it down. I play cards. We have card games on Saturday nights,” LaBelle said. “How easy is it to play cards and take other folks’ money? That’s what I do, and I love it.”
Just like her high notes, she has staying power. LaBelle is still professionally singing, something she said she has to do.
“Singing is my life,” she said, adding that her voice is “big. It’s loud. It’s soft. It can rap. It can do opera, on a good day.”
LaBelle spent her childhood in Philadelphia, a place she still calls home. Back then, she was a shy girl named Patsy Holt.
“My mother had to pay me to go outside. I was very, very, very shy. I would sing in my bedroom with the broom as a microphone. So I knew I had a voice and my mother and father loved my voice,” LaBelle said.
At age 10, she joined a church choir where a duet unlocked the magic of performing. She said she still remembers getting the chills the moment when everyone stood up and said, “Hallelujah.”
As a teen, she started singing with a group. A record label executive suggested she change her name to LaBelle, which means beautiful, but with that advice came a nasty assessment. He called her “quite ugly.”
“It gave me hurt, just total, total hurt, because I knew how much he loved my voice. And I knew, no matter what anyone said about me, I am who I am, I’m not gonna change. The only thing that changed was my nose. I had a huge nose, so I had it done,” she said. “And that’s all I’ve ever had done. My nose, because it was not pleasing to me.”
When Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles became simply Labelle, they changed their style to what the singer described as “outrageous crazy outfits.” They turned “Lady Marmalade,” a song about a Creole prostitute, into a classic hit.
“We were singing about the revolution and sexual things before any Black girl or White girl group sang,” LaBelle said.
“When we sang [Lady Marmalade], we didn’t know what ‘voulez-vous coucher avec moi’ meant. It means, ‘Will you sleep with me tonight?’ So we got a lotta flak from the nuns and different people. And I was saying, at that time, ‘Well, a hooker has to make money too,'” she laughed.
The group split in 1977 but stayed friends. LaBelle said she was petrified when she stepped out as a solo artist for the first time. Getting therapy “helped a whole lot,” she said.
“I learned that I’m never gonna stop singing. And if it’s with a group or alone, that’s what I’m gonna do for the rest of my life,” LaBelle said.
LaBelle’s other talent is cooking. She’s written several bestselling cookbooks and has her own line of food and houseware products, Patti’s Good Life. Her hometown is filled with fans, and even visiting a Philadelphia ShopRite to hand out pancake mix caused quite a stir.
LaBelle isn’t planning to give up singing anytime soon.
“It’s never my last show. I’ll be singing until I can’t no more,” she said.
And on her 82nd birthday, maybe the real gift is that LaBelle knows exactly who she is — a mother, grandmother, and yes, a legend.
“I love it. I should be called, ‘Legend, legend, legend, legend.’ Yes. I love it,” she laughed. “I have earned it. Yes, I have.”
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch an extended interview with Patti LaBelle (Video)
Entertainment
Drake sets new record at ‘Iceman,’ ‘Habibti’ and ‘Maid of Honour’
Drake has made Billboard chart history, becoming the first artist ever to simultaneously occupy the top three positions on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Iceman, the album he had been building towards for nearly two years, debuted at number one with 463,000 equivalent album units in its first week.
Behind it, Habibti landed at number two with 114,000 units and Maid of Honour at number three with 110,000, all three released on the same night in a surprise triple drop that caught even the most devoted fans off guard.
The number one position alone would have been a landmark.
Iceman gives Drake his 15th chart-topping album, surpassing Jay-Z’s previous record for the most number ones among solo male artists and R&B and hip-hop acts.
It also draws him level with Taylor Swift for the most number ones among solo acts overall, a list only the Beatles sit above, with their record of 19.
In terms of raw numbers, Iceman‘s opening week is the second biggest of 2026 so far, behind only BTS’ Arirang, which moved 641,000 units. It is, however, the biggest opening week of the year for any R&B or hip-hop record.
The rest of the Billboard 200 reshuffled accordingly.
Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide, previously sitting at number one, dropped to four.
Ella Langley’s Dandelion holds at five, followed by Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem, two Michael Jackson titles, Lucki’s Dr*gs R Bad, and BTS’ Arirang rounding out the top ten.
For Drake, it is a statement of intent, and one that lands in the record books before the conversation has even fully begun.
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