It would appear Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are trying to make a big move against Justin Baldoni and his lawyer. This follows the It Ends With Us director filing a $400 million lawsuit against the couple (and others) and releasing unedited footage from the film that disputes a claim made in Lively’s initial complaint against her co-star and his production company. In the latest update to come from the ongoing legal battles, Lively and Reynolds' lawyers have reportedly filed a letter to the court requesting a gag order on Justin Baldoni’s legal team, which is led by Bryan Freedman.
The day after the release of the unedited footage from It Ends With Us, TMZ reported that Lively and Reynolds’ lawyers filed a letter in court requesting a protective order. This was requested to:
...stop Baldoni's lawyers -- led by Bryan Freedman -- from engaging in ‘improper conduct’ including going on an alleged ‘harassing and retaliatory media campaign’ against Blake and Ryan. They say he's violating court rules that stop a lawyer from making statements to the press that are irrelevant to a case and might prejudice the jury.
Reportedly, this letter specifically references the footage released yesterday.
For context, in Lively's complaint that accused Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni and others of sexual harassment, among other things, a scene of her dancing with her co-star was used as an example of a time he made her uncomfortable with his comments. In Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against his co-star and Ryan Reynolds, he claimed this did not happen. His team then used the footage as a way to show he didn’t make the comments the actress said he made in her complaint.
Now, notably, along with this scene, Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, has been doing many interviews about his client's and Lively’s situation and how they plan to proceed.
Apparently, one source close to Baldoni alleged that this request from Lively and Reynolds’ is “grossly unfair” following the New York Times article that broke the news about the Gossip Girl star’s allegations against the director. They also claimed that the Jane the Virgin star wants to “release videos and text messages to prove the allegations are false.”
All of this comes after myriad lawsuits were filed in both directions. Following Lively’s complaint that was published in The New York Times, Baldoni sued the publication for libel, claiming it “cherry-picked and altered communications stripped of necessary context." That was followed by the massive suit against Lively and Reynolds that made claims about defamation, civil extortion and more. The Age of Adaline star also filed a lawsuit against Baldoni and his production company – claiming the same things mentioned in her complaint, which includes sexual harassment and allegations that the director and his team ran a smear campaign against her.
Amid all of this, the It Ends With Us director’s lawyer has been outspoken and made bold claims about how they plan to defend their client. Now, the couple they're suing apparently wants him to stop talking.
This reported gag request is the latest update in the ongoing legal battle that has come out of the It Ends With Us rumors and drama that were speculated about during the film’s release window last summer. However, we do not know the outcome of it yet.
As we learn more about this reported order against Baldoni’s lawyer and the various lawsuits at play regarding what happened between the actor and Blake Lively while making It Ends With Us, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
