Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds hope to get Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit thrown out!
As you know, the Gossip Girl alum accused her co-star and director of sexually harassing her on the set of It Ends With Us and then retaliating against her when she came forward with the accusations by conducting a smear campaign to destroy her reputation. Justin has vehemently denied the allegations and claimed Blake, Ryan, and publicist Leslie Sloane coordinated a smear campaign against him — not the other way around. He then countersued her for defamation, alleging she cherry-picked messages to misrepresent their interactions. It’s such a mess!
Related: Blake Was A Diva & Justin A CREEP?! What Someone On IEWU Set Said…
Now, Variety has reported that the power couple informed a federal judge on Thursday they will move to dismiss the legal action taken against them. This came after Judge Lewis Liman’s order outlining how the case would proceed. According to the outlet, the judge asked for a letter that would “indicate in one sentence the Defendant’s intent to make a motion to dismiss.” Blake and Ryan’s lawyer, Michael J. Gottlieb, followed the instructions, keeping it short and sweet by saying:
“The Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint.”
Sloane, a defendant in Justin’s lawsuit alongside Blake and Ryan, also submitted a similar statement on Wednesday. Liman will later set a deadline for when to file the motion. Per Variety, the judge further stated he expects to schedule a trial for March 2026 and asked both camps to file a plan to allow a trial by that date. Shockingly, both sides are open to consolidating the two separate federal cases into one proceeding to make that happen. Whoa!
But before all that, we have the first hearing on Monday to worry about. In court, the two legal teams are expected to duke it out over Blake and Ryan’s request for a gag order to prevent Justin’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, from going after them in the press, which the pair argue could sway a potential jury. However, that is not the only matter they will hash out!
On Thursday, Justin’s team said they want to take Blake’s deposition as soon as possible. There is a problem, though! They claim her lawyers said the actress refuses to allow Freedman to do it due to “unspecified statements made by Mr. Freedman.” Whoa! And the Jane the Virgin alum’s lawyers aren’t happy about the demand! His other attorney, Kevin Fritz, argued:
“We are unaware of any situation that would warrant the deposed party to have a choice in which attorney takes her deposition. Parties to litigation simply do not have the right to dictate which of their opponents’ attorneys may or may not take their deposition or perform any other aspect of the opposing party’s case.”
Fritz now wants this matter to be addressed at the hearing. Jeez! A lot is going to go down in that courtroom next week!
Will Blake and Ryan get their wishes? Or will Justin score his first huge win here? Hmm. Everyone will just have to wait to see how this plays out!
[Image via MEGA/WENN & Access Hollywood/YouTube]