Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni Get March 2026 Trial Date for 'It Ends With Us' Lawsuit

7 hours ago

Blake Lively has moved to depose a key player who allegedly played a part in the smear campaign she says was initiated by Justin Baldoni. Plus, a New York court has set a trial date for the crisscrossing lawsuits between Lively and her 'It Ends With Us' director and co-star.

Transcript

00:00Blake Lively has moved to depose a man who allegedly played a part in the smear campaign

00:04she says was initiated by Justin Baldoni. Plus, a New York court has set a trial date for the

00:09crisscrossing lawsuits between Lively and her It Ends With Us director and co-star.

00:15Lively filed a petition in Texas state court on January 21st seeking a court order for a

00:19deposition of Jed Wallace of crisis management firm Street Relations, who was named in the

00:24complaint the actress filed with the California Civil Rights Department, but not the lawsuit she

00:28filed in federal court. The filing is intended to obtain testimony for use in an anticipated

00:33complaint or to investigate a potential claim in ongoing litigation. Lively's lawsuit against

00:38Baldoni accused Wallace of weaponizing a digital army to create and promote content that appeared

00:42to be authentic on social media platforms and internet chat forums. Baldoni's public relations

00:47team that allegedly orchestrated the campaign to undermine the actress would then feed pieces of

00:51the manufactured content to reporters, with the goal of making it go viral in order to quote

00:56influence public opinion and thereby cause an organic pile-on. Wallace was retained on behalf

01:00of Baldoni and his company Wayfarer, who also brought on veteran crisis PR executive Melissa Nathan

01:06of the agency group. Nathan is named in Lively's lawsuit. Plus, a New York federal judge moved up a

01:11hearing to address an escalating request from Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds to bar Brian Friedman,

01:17Baldoni's lawyer, from talking to the press and biasing potential jurors. The judge ordered that a

01:22pre-trial hearing set for February 11th be moved up to February 3rd, hours after Lively and Reynolds'

01:28legal team sent a second letter alleging Friedman continues to violate court rules by making certain

01:33comments to the media on behalf of Baldoni and Baldoni's production company Wayfarer, among other

01:38tactics. Lively is accusing Baldoni of alleged sexual harassment on the set of the film, as well as

01:43orchestrating a smear campaign following the film's release. Baldoni later filed his own complaint

01:47against the actress and her husband Ryan Reynolds, seeking at least $400 million in damages. The judge

01:54also revealed that the court plans to consolidate the separate lawsuits and set a March 9, 2026 trial

01:59date. For much more on this story and all the latest updates, go to THR.com. This is the Hollywood Reporter News.

Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni Get March 2026 Trial Date for 'It Ends With Us' Lawsuit | THR News Video

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended