Blake Lively’s Lawyers Object to Potential Deposition in Justin Baldoni Lawsuit

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In the continuous court case involving Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, a recent shift occurred as Lively’s legal representatives have voiced their opposition to any possible interrogation by Baldoni’s legal team that they might direct at Lively.

As per a recent communication from Justin Baldoni’s attorney, Kevin Fritz (as reported by Deadline), Lively’s legal team has raised objections to Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, participating in any form of deposition.

In a meeting of legal representatives on January 30, 2025, lawyers for the Wayfarer group requested Blake Lively be deposed as soon as possible. Fritz’s letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman states that in this matter, counsel for the Lively team expressed opposition to Bryan J. Freedman personally conducting Ms. Lively’s deposition, citing unspecified comments made by Mr. Freedman. However, when asked to clarify their reasons for this objection, lawyers for the Lively group refused to elaborate.

The note clarifies that it contains nothing that could be used to legally require action, but…

Fritz stated, “Ms. Lively’s legal representative has explicitly communicated that she prefers someone other than Mr. Freedman for taking her testimony in a deposition. However, it is unknown under what circumstances the person being deposed would have the ability to choose their depositor’s attorney. Typically, parties involved in litigation do not possess the authority to decide which of their adversary’s attorneys can or cannot take their deposition, or handle any other part of their case.

Since the lawyer released videos from the set of “It Ends With Us”, Lively’s team has been countering Freedman’s efforts. They claim that Freedman has been attempting to influence public opinion in a negative way towards Lively.

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

The ongoing lawsuit originates from a formal grievance lodged by Blake Lively against Baldoni last month, where she described the deteriorating work conditions during the filming of ‘It Ends With Us’. She alleged that the situation became so uncomfortable that an urgent meeting was convened to address her accusations of a toxic work environment. In this gathering, Lively requested Baldoni to cease displaying nude videos or images of women, to desist from discussing his pornography addiction with her, to avoid mentioning explicit sexual experiences in her presence, and also to refrain from commenting on her weight.

The grievance further states that Wayfarer Studios and the cast had agreed to emphasize the portrayal of Lively’s character’s strength and resilience rather than labeling the movie as a depiction of domestic violence in its promotion. However, Lively alleges that Baldoni violated this agreement by discussing the film’s grim subject matter in interviews instead.

According to Lively’s statement, it was alleged that Baldoni and his public relations manager, Melissa Nathan, brainstormed strategies for a social media smear campaign intended to damage Lively’s reputation. The documents submitted by Lively contain 22 pages of texts between Baldoni’s PR representative and Nathan, where they express a desire to “bury” Lively.

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2025-01-31 21:41