An early trial? The unexpected twist in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle
‘It Ends With Us’ co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are set to go to trial next year - but that date could be brought forward.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal dispute is set to go to trial in spring next year, but the judge overseeing the case has warned that he will move up its start date if the public war of words between the pair’s representatives goes on.
Per Forbes, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman told Lively and Baldoni’s lawyers at a pretrial hearing earlier this month that the March 2026 date will be brought forward if the case continues to be “litigated in the press”.
What is the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal dispute all about?
The feud between Lively and Baldoni came about during production of the summer 2024 hit movie It Ends With Us, in which the two actors co-starred.
In late December, Lively filed a civil rights complaint that alleged that Baldoni, who was also the director of It Ends With Us, sexually harassed her during filming of the romantic drama, which has grossed over $351 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
In her complaint to the California Civil Rights Department, which was published in full by the New York Times, Lively also claimed that Baldoni had orchestrated a post-production smear campaign to try to “destroy” her reputation.
On New Year’s Eve, Lively then lodged a New York lawsuit against Baldoni. In a statement, she accused her former co-star of “retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns”, per the Hollywood Reporter.
Baldoni denies Lively’s allegations, and has responded by filing a $400 million defamation lawsuit against the 37-year-old and her husband, the Deadpool actor and Wrexham FC co-owner Ryan Reynolds.
Lively and Baldoni lawyers trade public shots
Ahead of next year’s trial in New York, Lively and Baldoni’s representatives have been busy firing barbs in the media.
Per Variety, this state of affairs led both sides to accuse the other of trying to unfairly influence public opinion when the legal teams came face to face in their February 3 pretrial hearing in the Big Apple.
How has the legal battle been played out in the media?
In early January, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman accused Lively of engaging in a “pattern of bullying” and threatening to “take over” his client’s movie.
Baldoni’s representatives have set up a website on which they have published messages he exchanged with Lively and Reynolds, alleging that the evidence they possess backs up their claims about the former Gossip Girl star. “We have all the receipts and more,” they said, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Freedman, per Variety, argued in this month’s pretrial hearing that the public war of words between the legal teams was “not started by us”.
He noted that Lively’s lawyers have referred to Baldoni as an abuser who follows a “DARVO” playbook: “Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”
Neither side wants mediation, lawyers tell judge
On Thursday this week, Lively and Baldoni’s representatives issued a joint letter to Judge Liman, in which they both stated their commitment to going to trial, rather than attempting to avoid court through a mediation process.
Mediation would be “inappropriate”, the letter said, according to Business Insider.
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