Blake Lively Reveals Rare Glimpse Inside Stunning $6 Million Pound Ridge Retreat as Justin Baldoni Legal Drama Rages On

Actress Blake Lively has taken a wholesome break from the ongoing drama surrounding her legal battle with former co-star Justin Baldoni—by enjoying a baking session at her idyllic $6 million home in upstate New York.

Lively, 38, who shares four children with her husband, Ryan Reynolds, is understood to have been spending much more time at the family's Pound Ridge property in recent months as she contends with the fallout from the sexual harassment lawsuit she filed against Baldoni at the end of 2024.

While the scandal surrounding that legal action—and Baldoni's countersuit, which was filed in January of this year, before being dismissed in June—rages on, Lively is said to have taken refuge at the rural estate, which she and Reynolds purchased for $5.7 million in 2012.

Now, in a candid Instagram post, the "It Ends With Us" star has shared a rare glimpse into her life at the picturesque property, documenting a baking session that saw her creating a rabbit-shaped cake for one of her daughters.

Sharing images of the sweet treat, which was modeled after her daughter's favorite toy, a much-loved stuffed bunny, Lively shared a sneak peek inside her home, revealing rustic wooden floors, whimsical decor, and unique artwork adorning the walls.

"I saw a beautiful quote along with a well loved child stuffy that said, 'To be loved, is to be changed forever,'" she wrote, while sharing images of her cake alongside its inspiration—her daughter's original bunny and its "back up."

"This bunny has been so loved, so purely for so long. She is a family member. So of course, I had to turn her into cake."

She continued: "My daughter’s favorite treat is Cinnabon buns, so as I was making a vanilla cake I did a last minute pivot when I got the idea to try to make a Cinnabon bun flavored cake."

After detailing her recipe, which saw her adding cinnamon into a traditional cream cheese pound cake recipe before topping the whole thing with a cream cheese frosting, the "Gossip Girl" star declared the treat to be her "new favorite," adding that it was "so, so good."

Lively—who has three daughters, James, 10, Inez, 9, and Betty, 5, and one son, Olin, 2—included multiple photos of the baking session, as well as two images of herself proudly posing with the final result.

While the actress did not share which of her girls the cake was being baked for, the family is celebrating two birthdays this week: Inez, who turned 9 on Sept. 30, and Betty, who turns 6 on Oct. 4.

The baking session comes amid a new development in the Lively v. Baldoni saga—with Deadline reporting on Oct. 1 that the New York Times is asking a court to force the actor to pay it $150,000 in attorney’s fees and damages.

Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer, and several others had previously sued the Times, along with Lively, Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloan. Their $400 million defamation lawsuit was tossed out by a judge in June.

In December 2024, the Times published an in-depth piece about Lively's sexual harassment claims against Baldoni, titled "‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine." It suggested that the actor and director had been part of an orchestrated campaign to "tarnish" the actress' reputation.

All parties have vehemently denied the claims made against them.

Now, the Times is hitting back at Baldoni and Wayfarer by seeking the reimbursement of its legal fees, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

"The New York Times filed a suit against Justin Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, to obtain reimbursement of The Times’s legal fees from their baseless libel suit, which has now been dismissed by a federal judge," the company’s communications senior vice president Danielle Rhoades Ha said in a statement to Deadline.

"New York law allows publishers to recover their fees when they are targeted by suits designed to silence them. That is precisely what happened here. Our journalists covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and Wayfarer and Baldoni should pay for having tried to misuse the courts and mislead the public."

Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, issued a bold response to the legal action, insisting that his client will not "cave to power brokers" and will continue to "stand tall for ... the pursuit of truth."

"Win, lose, or draw, we refuse to cave to power brokers even in the face of seemingly impossible odds," he told Deadline.

"We continue to stand tall for a reason: the pursuit of truth, in the face of giants. Our unwillingness to compromise our values, no matter the odds or the outcome, reflects a simple conviction that standing up for the truth and what is right matters. If the current laws protect legacy media in this manner, perhaps it’s up to us to ignite that change."

In the months since the furor began, Lively has attempted to maintain a relatively low profile, withdrawing from the public eye and focusing on her life at home with her family. She did, however, make a few public appearances to promote different projects, including her beverage brand Betty Buzz.

Privacy is something that the couple have long since prioritized, including at their home in New York City, where they own a lavish apartment inside a "paparazzi-proof" building in Tribeca.

Interestingly, that home got swept up in the legal drama in January, when the latter referred to a meeting that he said he had with the actress at the abode—hinting that pop star Taylor Swift had made an appearance during the encounter.

His comments were made as part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of Baldoni; his production company, Wayfarer Studios; his producing partner, Jamey Heath; his crisis PR manager, Melissa Nathan; his publicist, Jennifer Abel; and It Ends With Us LLC, according to CNN.

Baldoni's 179-page complaint laid out a series of shocking allegations against the couple and even appeared to drag Swift into the fray after rumors emerged that she was the "megacelebrity friend" referred to in the paperwork.

The mention of that friend was made while Baldoni was recounting an incident that he says took place at Lively and Reynolds' expansive Tribeca penthouse—where he claims he was "pressured" into accepting changes to the "It Ends With Us" script that had been made by the actress.

According to Baldoni, he was "summoned" to the couple's New York City apartment to discuss changes that Lively had made to a specific scene in the movie, which takes place between the two lead characters on a rooftop. The actor and director says that when he arrived at the home, he was greeted by Reynolds, who immediately began heaping praise on his wife's script updates.

"As the meeting was ending, a famous, and famously close, friend of Reynolds and Lively, walked into the room and similarly began praising Lively's script," the lawsuit states, per CNN. "Baldoni understood the subtext: He needed to comply with Lively's direction for the script."

Baldoni claims that he later sent Lively a text message to reiterate his appreciation for the changes that she had made, adding that he "would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor," and that he was "excited and grateful" to be working on the project with her. His reference to "Taylor" has led many to believe that the person in question is Swift.

The couple's apartment is mentioned again elsewhere in the lawsuit, when Baldoni says that Reynolds "swore at [him] and accused him of fat-shaming his wife" while the director was paying a visit to the abode.

Baldoni's lawsuit was filed after Lively accused him of sexual harassment in her own complaint that was filed at the end of 2024. That case is due to go before a jury in March 2026.