In the ongoing legal battle between Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni, Lively’s legal team has issued a fresh demand to Baldoni’s attorneys as the trial date looms just over a month away.
Lively’s lawyers have addressed concerns in a letter dated April 7 to US District Judge Lewis Liman. They claim that Baldoni and his co-defendants have yet to clarify whether they intend to testify in person during the trial or solely through depositions.
The legal team urged the defendants to disclose this information by Wednesday, aiming to adequately prepare for the proceedings set to commence on May 18.
“The presence or absence of these parties at trial will significantly impact the presentation of evidence, including witness order, preparation for testimony, and the court’s pre-trial decisions,” Lively’s attorneys stated.
They further argue that the defendants’ reluctance to share this basic information seems like a tactic to gain a strategic edge by withholding crucial details that would affect Lively’s ability to finalize witness and exhibit lists and complete other essential exchanges for the upcoming Joint Pretrial Order.
Among Baldoni’s co-defendants are Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath, co-founder Steve Sarowitz, crisis PR expert Melissa Nathan, and publicist Jennifer Abel.
The upcoming trial is set to focus on claims that Baldoni and his co-defendants engaged in an alleged ‘smear campaign’ started by his PR team.
Liman has previously dismissed 10 of Lively’s 13 claims, including all of her sexual harassment allegations.
Blake Lively’s attorneys have made a new demand of Justin Baldoni’s lawyers ahead of their scheduled trial next month
Her attorneys claim Baldoni’s lawyers have not provided them with information about whether he and other co-defendants plan to testify in person or via deposition. Baldoni is seen departing the federal courthouse in Manhattan in February
The two of them starred as love interests in It Ends With Us, a movie inspired by the book written by Coleen Hoover
The two parties now remain in a stalemate, after both Lively and Baldoni rejected their latest effort to settle their legal troubles before the trial.
The Daily Mail understands that no agreement has been reached in the behind-closed-doors hearings in New York on Monday – but more talks could take place soon.
The meetings on Monday were described by Judge Liman as a chance for both sides to tell the court about their ‘updated settlement position.’
At the federal court in New York, Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave held back-to-back remote phone conferences with lawyers for the two sides on Monday, with Lively going first.
Baldoni’s spokespeople did not provide a statement.
Lively claimed in her lawsuit, which was filed in December 2024, that she suffered at least $161 million in damages after Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set and then launched an online ‘smear campaign’ against her.
Baldoni had also filed his own lawsuit, a $400 million defamation case against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds as well as the New York Times.
The judge had earlier dismissed his case entirely.
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A judge has previously dismissed 10 of Lively’s 13 claims , including all of her sexual harassment allegations
In his ruling dismissing most of Lively’s claims, Judge Liman disagreed that Baldoni crossed the boundaries during filming of a dance scene when he added unscripted kisses.
In the film Lively played florist Lily Bloom who gets into an abusive relationship with Baldoni, who played neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid.
In his ruling, Judge Liman wrote: ‘Creative artists, no less than comedy room writers, must have some amount of space to experiment within the bounds of an agreed script without fear of being held liable for sexual harassment’.
Nor did Baldoni ‘fat shame’ Lively when he asked her personal trainer about her weight, the judge said.
‘The physical appearance of the protagonists was part of the product that the producers were intending to offer the audience’, the judge wrote.
‘Lively herself recognized that achieving a ‘certain aesthetic’ was ‘part of the job that we both excitedly signed up for’.
Many of Lively’s claims were dismissed because she did not sign a legal document, known as the Actor Loanout Agreement, which would have governed sexual harassment.
In addition, Lively had so much control over the film that she did not qualify as an employee, so could not sue under the laws she cited, the judge found.
Judge Liman disagreed that Baldoni crossed the boundaries during filming of a dance scene when he added unscripted kisses. Baldoni is pictured entering court in February
But in a win for Lively, Judge Liman did find that there was enough evidence of a retaliation campaign for a jury to decide whether it took place.
The remaining claims that will go to trial are: breach of contract, retaliation and aiding and abetting retaliation, all of which Baldoni denies.
In a statement after the judge’s decision last week, Baldoni’s lawyers Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach said they were ‘very pleased’ with the ruling.
Sigrid McCawley, a member of Lively’s legal team, told the Daily Mail, ‘This case has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial’.
Lively ‘looks forward to testifying at trial,’ McCawley added.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Baldoni’s attorneys for comment.
