Blake Lively’s deposition regarding her ongoing legal case against her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni will not become public.
Judge Lewis Liman, who is presiding over the case, ordered the deposition be sealed and criticized the tactics of the lawyers acting on behalf of Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios.
Judge Liman explained his decision in a court order seen by The Independent, saying: “The Wayfarer Parties’ attachment of the entire, nearly 300-page deposition—after citing only two pages of it in the Letter—served no proper litigation purpose and instead appears to have been intended to burden Lively (and as a result, the Court) and to invite public speculation and scandal.”
He continued: “Even if the cited deposition portions were relevant or provided support for the Wayfarer Parties’ arguments—both of which are far from clear—the Wayfarer Parties have not even attempted to argue that the entire deposition was relevant. Nor could they.
“The conclusion is inescapable that the Wayfarer Parties filed gratuitous amounts of irrelevant pages so that, if Lively moved for continued sealing of the irrelevant pages, the Wayfarer Parties could then use Lively’s response for their own public-relations purposes. The Court has not only the power but also the responsibility to step in.”
Judge Liman granted a motion submitted by Lively’s lawyers to strike the deposition transcript from the docket.
Lively gave her deposition in New York on Thursday last week, with Baldoni personally in attendance.
Baldoni and Lively are involved in several legal actions related to her claim that she was sexually harassed by the director during production of It Ends With Us, and his claim that she and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, attempted to destroy his career.
Baldoni was suing Lively, Reynolds, their publicist, and The New York Times for defamation. In the lawsuit, Baldoni alleged that they tried to destroy his career using false allegations. However, a judge threw out both lawsuits in June, ruling that Lively’s accusations of sexual harassment are legally protected.
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Justin Baldoni’s lawyers had previously suggested that Lively should give her deposition at Madison Square Garden in a pay-per-view event.
Speaking to People in May, Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, said: “Since Ms. Lively is open to testifying, let’s make it count.
“Hold the deposition at MSG, sell tickets or stream it, and donate every dollar to organizations helping victims of domestic abuse.”
Freedman has confirmed that Baldoni will take the stand to testify at the trial, which is scheduled for March 2026. Cameras will not be allowed inside the courtroom.
