Blake Lively has emerged victorious in the latest chapter of her ongoing legal saga with her "It Ends With Us" co-star and director, Justin Baldoni. The actress has secured a ruling that restricts access to certain sensitive materials in their heated court cases to "attorneys' eyes only." Lively is suing Baldoni for his alleged misconduct on the set of their film and for retaliating against her in a legal filing submitted in December. Amid a whirlwind of legal complaints, media scrutiny, and public relations drama, Baldoni countered with a defamation lawsuit targeting Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
As the legal gears turn in anticipation of a May 2026 courtroom confrontation, Lively has sought to limit the dissemination of certain discovery materials to her legal representatives alone, given the high-profile nature of the parties involved and the risks of potential leaks. On Thursday, Judge Lewis Liman granted her request, cautioning that even sharing the information with clients posed a risk of disclosure.
Details pertaining to the stars, including trade secrets, security precautions taken by the actors, all medical information, and "deeply personal and intimate details concerning third parties," will be confined to the lawyers handling the case. Not even their clients will have access to this confidential information. "The danger of disclosure is substantial," emphasized Judge Liman, highlighting the potential for "gossip and insinuation" stemming from any leaked materials.
Baldoni's legal team objected not to shielding the materials from public and press scrutiny but to the stipulation preventing the attorneys from sharing the information with their clients, which they deemed detrimental to litigating the case effectively and potentially precipitating further legal disputes.
However, Judge Liman did not grant Lively's legal team everything they requested. He narrowed the scope of the attorney-only materials to encompass information that is "highly likely to incur significant business, commercial, financial, or privacy harm." He also remarked that maintaining secrecy would expedite the discovery process.
Lively's lawsuit alleges that during filming, Baldoni made blatantly inappropriate remarks, coerced her into sexually compromising situations without consent, and orchestrated a social media smear campaign with his publicists in retaliation for her speaking out.
Conversely, Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, and their public relations representative accuses them of extortion, defamation, and breaches of contract.
The trial date for this highly anticipated case is set for May 29, 2026.
