It Ends With Us is an adaptation of Coleen Hoover's bestselling book. (Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures via AP)
The federal judge presiding over the heated public feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has warned their lawyers to obey court rules about public statements to ensure a fair trial.
Judge Lewis Liman suggested he could make the trial scheduled for March 9, 2026 start sooner if lawyers were able to stop making fiery public comments that could contaminate a potential jury pool.
Neither actor attended the Manhattan federal court hearing where lawyers again repeated their claims that their adversaries were not playing fair.
Since rumours of the rift between Baldoni and Lively first emerged, several lawsuits have been filed by various parties.
The Lively-Baldoni rift explained
Photo shows A composite image of Baldoni and Lively smiling at the It Ends With Us premiere
Lively says Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath sexually harassed her during the filming of the movie, and several industry safety standards were not adhered to.
She claims she and Reynolds addressed the issue before the film was released and accuses Baldoni of retaliating by orchestrating a smear campaign to "destroy" her reputation.
Baldoni is counter-suing Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds on claims of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy.
He says Lively used false "sexual harassment allegations to assert unilateral control over every aspect of the production".
Lawyer Michael Gottlieb, representing Lively, complained that Baldoni’s lawyer had made inflammatory statements publicly that were devastating to Lively.
He said she was “very eager to move forward and have her day in court.”
Bryan Freedman, representing Baldoni and his production company, said his clients had suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in damages due to Lively’s claims that she was sexually harassed on the movie set.
Freedman said he did not want to say “they started it,” but that this is what occurred when Lively took her complaints about Baldoni to the media.
This week Baldoni created a website complete with a timeline detailing his claims against Lively.
Over the weekend, a website called "thelawsuitinfo.com" was launched, which links to two files:
- Baldoni's amended complaint
- A 168-page document titled "timeline of relevant events"
The website was not a surprise to people familiar with the case, however, with Baldoni's legal team previously floating the idea of publishing a site.
Lively's lawyers claimed Baldoni would use such a website to turn potential jurors against her, saying his legal team was: "…engaging in this extrajudicial campaign to influence these proceedings and the public perception of legal filings to this court, and there already is a serious risk that his misconduct is tainting the jury pool."
In response, Baldoni's lawyer said: "All we want is for people to see the actual text messages that directly contradict her allegations, video footage that clearly shows there was no sexual harassment and all the other powerful evidence that directly contradicts any false allegations."
The judge overseeing both Lively's lawsuit and Baldoni's countersuit, Lewis J Liman, has told both sides to prepare for a March 9, 2026, trial.
He has indicated that he will probably combine the lawsuits for trial.
There was going to be an initial conference in mid-February, but Judge Limin brought that conference forward to this week.
He told both sides to be prepared to address complaints about pre-trial publicity and lawyer conduct.
ABC/Wires
