Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni Lawsuit Sets First Court Hearing Date

by

In the ongoing legal issues between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, a New York court has formally scheduled a date for the initial hearing between the two parties to take place.

When is the first court hearing date in the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni lawsuit?

On Tuesday (as reported by THR), U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman disclosed that the court intends to merge the multiple lawsuits filed by each party into a single case. A preliminary trial date has been proposed for March 9, 2026, during which all the disputes between both parties will be addressed in a court of law.

In addition to setting the initial court hearing date, Judge Liman also arranged for a pre-trial hearing on February 3, 2025, which was brought forward from February 11. This change came about due to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ legal team persistently asserting that Baldoni’s legal team, headed by Bryan Freedman, and his production company Wayfarer, are attempting to tarnish the reputation of Lively and Reynolds online.

In a document submitted on Monday, Lively argues that the continuous flow of harmful and unlawful statements from the media needs to cease. This won’t happen without the court stepping in, according to Lively. The defendants of Wayfarer are being backed by a billionaire who has vowed to invest $100 million to damage Lively and her family’s lives. Mr. Freedman is utilizing this financial backing, his network of current and past clients, and an obvious media and social media strategy to tarnish the reputation of Ms. Lively ahead of the trial by maliciously portraying her character.

Last week, Lively’s legal team submitted a petition in Texas state court with the aim of questioning Jed Wallace. According to Lively’s initial lawsuit, Wallace is accused of contributing to and disseminating content that tarnished Livery’s reputation during the early exchanges between Lively and Baldoni. It was alleged that Wallace was employed by Baldoni and Wayfarer, and compensated for posting on platforms like Reddit, where he attacked Lively while defending Baldoni.

Lively’s complaint alleges that Baldoni created a hostile work environment

The legal dispute arises from a formal grievance that Blake Lively lodged against Baldoni last month. In this complaint, she alleges that the atmosphere on the set of It Ends With Us became increasingly hostile, to the point where a meeting was convened to address her concerns about an unprofessional work environment. During this gathering, Lively requested that Baldoni cease sharing explicit videos or images of women with her, that he refrain from disclosing his history of pornography addiction to her, that he avoid discussing sexual encounters in her presence, and that he also desist from commenting on her weight.

The complaint further alleges that Wayfarer Studios had agreed with the cast, including Blake Lively, to emphasize her character’s strength and resilience rather than portraying the movie as a narrative about domestic violence. However, according to Lively, Ian Baldoni went back on this agreement and instead highlighted the film’s serious storyline in his interviews.

In the documents submitted by Lively, it is stated that Baldoni and his PR manager, Melissa Nathan, had conversations about launching a social media smear campaign intended to damage her reputation. The filing contains approximately 22 pages of text messages between Baldoni’s publicist and Nathan, suggesting they aimed to “bury” Lively online.

Read More

2025-01-28 21:10