The Scorching Bench judges consider it’s too quickly to achieve a ruling in Justin Baldoni and Blake Vigorous’s ongoing authorized battle.
“I believe there’s a lot extra to return on this one which you would change your thoughts each two minutes,” Choose Rachel Juarez completely shared with Us Weekly earlier than celebrating Scorching Bench’s 2,000th episode on Thursday, January 23. “Each time somebody says one thing, you may change your thoughts. I’m withholding judgment. I’ve some robust opinions which can be beginning to type. However I believe we don’t know but.”
Juarez and her fellow Scorching Bench judges Michael Corriero and Yodit Tewolde aren’t affiliated with the case.
In December 2024, The New York Instances broke the information that Vigorous was suing Baldoni for sexual harassment and for allegedly launching a “social manipulation” marketing campaign towards her to “destroy” her popularity. (Baldoni has denied the allegations by way of his lawyer Bryan Freedman.)
Baldoni later sued The New York Instances for libel and false mild invasion of privateness. (A New York Instances spokesperson stood by the story saying it was “meticulously and responsibly reported.”)

The Jane the Virgin star additionally sued Vigorous for $400 million in damages and accused the actress of being “decided to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story.” (Vigorous has additionally denied all of his allegations.)
“While you’re submitting a lawsuit like that and also you’re selecting a quantity, you actually are simply beginning out with a quantity from skinny air,” Juarez defined to Us when reacting to the $400 million quantity. “Nobody’s truly calculated the particular damages.”
She described Freedman as a “good man” and “strategic lawyer” who could have “wished the sticker shock worth of the $400 million.”
“That would appear to me, even when he does get better, to be an unlikely quantity for him to really get better,” Juarez continued. “However I believe they have been sending a message saying, ‘That is how unhealthy what she did is. It’s a $400 million downside.’”

Choose Tewolde joked that she’s ready “to see extra receipts” earlier than selecting a aspect within the extremely publicized authorized battle.
She pointed to a new video of an It Ends With Us scene that Baldoni’s workforce believes proves his aspect of the story.
“Justin Baldoni’s workforce releasing that unedited footage of that one clip and having watched the film now and now piecing it collectively and evaluating it to the phrases in her grievance, I’m sort of not likely seeing issues,” she shared, “however I’m gonna wait and see how this factor performs out.”
What all judges can agree on is that this case can be a “fascinating” one to observe unfold.

“I noticed the film, and I believed it was an excellent film with a superb message and I believed it was completed very effectively, however I believe what that is all going to activate are the precise unedited variations of the scenes which can be a difficulty,” Choose Corriero predicted. “I believe that’s going to be essential for the decide and jury to see.”
Juarez added, “It’s such an evolving course of. That is going to be a captivating one.”
The Scorching Bench judges have been tackling their very own distinctive circumstances on the small display for a number of years now. On January 23, the trio celebrated 2,000 episodes of their courtroom present that options the first-ever three-judge panel.
Whereas their litigants are far much less well-known, Juarez, Corriero and Tewolde are decided to make the best verdict in each case.
“You’re getting to listen to why we come to a conclusion and whether or not we will have a consensus collectively or what’s our rationale,” Corriero teased. “I believe that makes it just a little bit extra intriguing as a result of it provides us a possibility maybe to coach and check our views with one another and entertain.”
Scorching Bench airs weekdays. Verify your native listings.