Blake Lively granted protective order amid legal saga with Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively has been granted a protective order by a judge amid her ongoing legal battle with It Ends With Us director and co-actor Justin Baldoni.
According to a report by E! News, this means that Baldoni and the Wayfarer Studios would have to let Lively know about the individuals who will attend her deposition two days before the scheduled date, which is July 17.
The entertainment outlet, citing court documents it obtained, reported that Lively is expected to "make arrangements for opposing counsel to have a dedicated computer and the ability to print and copy documents in the space chosen by Lively."
In a July 11 filing, Lively's legal counsel said they decided to request for the protective order as the other party allegedly "refused Ms. Lively’s reasonable requests" to cooperate in the past.
"Defendants have not denied that their intent is to manufacture a harassing publicity stunt by requiring Ms. Lively to parade through paparazzi, or by inviting unknown attendees to the deposition, including members of the media or social media influencers, or any other number of abusive tactics," the document read.
"Despite Ms. Lively’s repeated efforts to confer, defendants have refused to address these concerns and have responded only with their insistence that they alone control all logistics and security issues," it added.
US District Judge Lewis Liman released the order on July 14 after Baldoni's legal team opposed Lively's motion, stating that the latter "relies solely on inapplicable authority and unsupported accusations about opposing counsel and their motives."
"Lively does not present a single fact to support her allegations of a 'plot' to use the deposition as a 'publicity stunt,'" Baldoni's camp said.
They also accused Lively of using her fame for personal gain.
"It is ironic that Lively alleges that the Wayfarer Parties are trying to 'generate press interest' in her deposition, given that she tirelessly ensured that The New York Times widely publicized her allegations and that her 'representatives' provided a self-serving quote to the media about the motion," the document continued. "Although Lively's foot-stomping and use of her celebrity status may have enabled her to seize control of the film, which is the crux of this dispute, her counsel's tantrum has no place in this court."
This comes after it was reported that Baldoni is exploring other legal options after the dismissal of his $400 million countersuit against Lively.
Liman dismissed some cases filed by Baldoni, which involved a $400 million (P22 billion) countersuit accusing Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist of extortion and defamation, and a $250 million (P13.9 billion) libel lawsuit against The New York Times over its Dec. 21, 2024 article titled 'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.
According to the judge, Lively's statements to a California state agency regarding Baldoni's alleged harassment during filming were protected and could not be used as the basis for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios' defamation claim.
Ongoing legal battle
The legal saga of Lively and Baldoni stemmed from the former filing a sexual harassment complaint against the latter and Jamey Heath of Wayfarer Studios, the producer of It Ends with Us, which starred Lively and Baldoni, who was also the director. Lively also accused them of running a smear campaign against her.
In her complaint, Lively accused Baldoni and Heath of telling her about their past sexual relationships and "previous porn addiction." Heath also allegedly showed Lively a video of his wife naked and giving birth. Baldoni and Heath likewise supposedly entered Lively's makeup trailer without permission, "including when she was breastfeeding her infant child." Lively also recalled Baldoni claiming he could communicate with the dead, including her father, Ernie Lively. She found it "off-putting and violative."
The New York Times later published a report titled 'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine, which used excerpts from alleged text messages and emails that Lively obtained through a subpoena and detailed the work of crisis management firm TAG PR for Baldoni, including allegedly planting negative stories in the media.
Baldoni's camp has called the accusations in the report "categorically false."
Later, his camp released a series of video takes during the production of It Ends with Us in an attempt to debunk Lively's sexual harassment allegations against him. Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, in turn, requested a gag order.
On Feb. 3, Baldoni launched a website containing two documents: his $400 million 224-page amended complaint against Lively and Reynolds and a 168-page "timeline of relevant events," which included a compilation of screenshots as an additional exhibit to his amended complaint. It came two days before their first court hearing.
The trial for the Lively v. Wayfarer Studios et al. case is slated for March 2026.