“She feels very fortunate to be surrounded by the most loving family and supportive friends,” a source tells PEOPLE of Lively
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Blake Lively is taking it one day at a time after her legal filing against Justin Baldoni.
Days after the actress sued her It Ends With Us director and costar for alleged sexual harassment, followed by a retaliatory public smear campaign to “destroy” her reputation, a source tells PEOPLE that Lively, 37, has been surrounded by loved ones: “She enjoyed the holidays and very much tries to live in the moment right now.”
The insider says Lively is “in contact with her team” and “knows she’ll have an explosive start to the new year.”
“She still believes she’s doing the right thing. She’s ready to tackle whatever comes her way,” the source adds.
In a bombshell complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department on Dec. 20, lawyers for Lively claimed Baldoni, whose production company, Wayfarer Studios, developed It Ends With Us, sexually harassed the actress and then retaliated against her with a smear campaign after she spoke up. (Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman called the allegations “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt” in a Dec. 21 statement.)
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Lively’s filing — a prerequisite before bringing a workplace harassment lawsuit in the state of California — sets the stage for what has the potential to be an ugly legal battle and shines a light on allegations of ongoing sexism in Hollywood years after the #MeToo movement.
“I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,” Lively said in a statement to The New York Times.
For now, the source tells PEOPLE that the actress “feels very fortunate to be surrounded by the most loving family and supportive friends,” which include husband Ryan Reynolds and their four kids.
“Ryan does everything he can on a daily basis to relieve her stress and to be supportive,” the insider adds of Reynolds, 48.
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As the year draws to a close, Lively’s legal team is currently evaluating her options while awaiting a decision from the California Civil Rights Department, which has 60 days to notify her whether they will investigate the matter.
“If they find some barrier to it, a lot of times they’ll step in and try to mediate a solution with the employer,” legal expert Gregory Doll, a California attorney who is not involved in the case, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “If not, they’ll give her what’s called the right to sue letter, which means that she can go to court now and submit her claim there.”
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If the Simple Favor actress does sue and she and Baldoni, 40, don’t settle beforehand, they’d head to a trial. “The most likely cases that don’t settle are the ones like this where it gets intensely personal between two people,” he notes.
Baldoni could countersue, as well — something Doll says is very likely due to the bitter back-and-forth between the two legal teams. As he predicts, “Based on what I have observed, it’s almost guaranteed that he will file a counterclaim.”