A New York judge decided Monday that Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's case will go to trial, but not before next year.
As the public rivalry between Blake Lively and her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni grew and intensified, a New York court on Monday set a trial date for March 2026 and rescheduled a first conference from mid-February to next week.Additionally, Lively filed a request for a deposition of a guy she claims was instrumental in inciting online hostility against her during the film's release and promotion in a Texas court, marking a new and distinct front in the legal battles surrounding the unexpected smash last summer.
The lawyers said that by setting up a website to make certain documents and correspondence between Lively and Baldoni public, Baldoni's lawyer was attempting to destroy Lively's career and sway prospective jurors in New York against her.
"There is already a serious risk that his misconduct is tainting the jury pool," the lawyers stated of Bryan Freedman, who was defending Baldoni, who was "engaging in this extrajudicial campaign to influence these proceedings and the public perception of legal filings to this Court."
"The ceaseless stream of extrajudicial and defamatory media statements must end," they continued.
The "irony is not lost on anyone that Ms. Lively is so petrified of the truth that she has moved to gag it," Freedman said in a statement in reaction to Monday's claims.
The attorney declared, "We will always respect the court, but we will never be intimidated by those who say we can't defend our clients with unadulterated facts." "All we want is for people to see the video footage that demonstrates that there was no sexual harassment, the actual text messages that directly contradict her claims, and all the other compelling evidence that directly contradicts any false allegations."
Kevin Fritz, Baldoni's lawyer, accused Lively of a publicity campaign that made Baldoni and other defendants the "objects of public scorn and contempt" in a letter to the judge on Thursday.
Those she sued were "exiled from polite society and suffered damages totalling hundreds of millions of dollars due to Ms. Lively's scorched-earth media campaign," he claimed, as a result of the actions.
Lively requests a deposition order from Jed Wallace, a crisis management expert she claims was responsible for much of the social media manipulation surrounding the movie that swayed public opinion against her through posts on Reddit and TikTok, in the separate filing in Hays County, Texas, which is a prelude to another possible lawsuit.
According to the complaint, publicists who worked with Baldoni and his production company hired Wallace and his Texas-based firm Street Relations as subcontractors.
According to the lawsuit, "he weaponized a digital army across the nation, including in New York and Los Angeles, to create, seed, manipulate, and advance disparaging content on social media platforms and online chat forums that looked authentic."
Although Lively's federal complaint names Wallace, he is not a defendant. An inquiry for comment on the matter was not answered by Freedman, who the document claims represents Wallace's attorney.
In late December, Lively filed a lawsuit in New York against Baldoni, his production business, and others for sexual harassment and reputational assault, seeking an undisclosed amount of money. Baldoni filed a lawsuit earlier this month, alleging extortion and defamation against Lively and her husband, "Deadpool" actor Ryan Reynolds, and demanding at least $400 million in damages.
On Monday, the judge stated that he would probably combine the lawsuits for trial.
The August release of It Ends With Us, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover's best-selling 2016 novel that starts out as a romance but devolves into domestic abuse, exceeded box office projections with a $50 million opening. However, rumors of Lively and Baldoni's animosity surrounded the film's release.
Lively first gained notoriety in the 2005 movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. From 2007 to 2012, she furthered her status in the television show Gossip Girl. Since then, she has acted in movies such as The Town and The Shallows.
Baldoni created the book Man Enough, which challenges conventional ideas of masculinity, directed the 2019 movie Five Feet Apart, and acted in the television comedy Jane the Virgin.
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