Justin Baldoni refuses to back down in $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively

Justin Baldoni has responded to Blake Lively's motion to dismiss his $400 million lawsuit against her. 

Baldoni sued Lively for defamation and other claims after she accused him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a retaliatory smear campaign.

The Gossip Girl alum's lawyers called Baldoni's claims "vengeful and rambling" and an abuse of the legal system, citing California Civil Code Section 47.1, which prohibits retaliatory lawsuits tied to public disclosures of sexual harassment.

However, the Jane the Virgin star's attorney, Bryan Freedman, argues that Lively's motion to dismiss is an attempt to "find that she is immune from any culpability for her wrongful acts." 

Freedman states that Baldoni's complaint provides specific claims of defamation against Lively that are "sufficient to defeat dismissal."

Freedman tells People magazine, "Ms Lively and her circle of Hollywood elites cannot prevent my clients from exercising their constitutional right to petition the court to clear their names from her false and harmful claims."

He adds, "What Ms. Lively is attempting to do is to set a dangerous precedent by barring the courthouse doors to my clients and punishing them for having their day in court, a right protected by the First Amendment."