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Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Blake Lively WINS bid to choose deposition location in Justin Baldoni legal battle
Blake Lively 's deposition in her sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin Baldoni will be held at a location of her choosing. The actress, 37, was granted the request to pick the location of her deposition by a judge on Monday according to Variety, after her lawyers argued that Baldoni's, 41, attorneys were trying to turn the proceeding into a media spectacle. The Gossip Girl star is set to be deposed in New York on Thursday in her ongoing legal battle against Baldoni, who was her director and co-star in It Ends With Us. Baldoni's side requested for the deposition to be held at the Park Avenue offices of Meister Seelig & Fein, one the firms handling his case. However, Lively's team objected to the location in a motion last week, claiming they feared a media ambush and Lively being swarmed by paparazzi on her way in and out of the building. Baldoni pushed back on her claim by accusing her of trying to use her 'celebrity status' to gain an upper hand in the proceedings. Lively's team also raised concerns that Baldoni would invite social media influencers to be present at the deposition, which is intended to be confidential. On Monday, Judge Lewis Liman approved for the deposition to be held at a different location, which has been redacted in the public version of the motion. Lively's lawyers also asked for Baldoni's side to provide a list of everyone who will be attending. Liman granted the request, with Baldoni's team instructed that they need to provide the list by noon on Tuesday. The judge also instructed Lively's team to provide printing and copying facilities for Baldoni's lawyers. In a moment of snark, Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman previously told TMZ that Lively's deposition should be live-streamed to an audience at Madison Square Garden. Freedman's suggestion, which Lively's attorney shot down at the time as a publicity-seeking distraction, would be to sell tickets to the event and donate the proceeds to domestic violence victims. Lively's team argued that Freedman's remarks demonstrated he couldn't be trusted to keep things professional if the deposition occurred at the place of his choosing. Mitchell Schuster, one of Baldoni's lawyers, dismissed the concern as unfounded, adding that holding the deposition somewhere else would be inconvenient for his team. The two sides are preparing to face off in court after they clashed while filming It Ends With Us last year. After Lively claimed that Baldoni's side would try to make the deposition into a 'public spectacle', the filmmaker hit back by arguing, via his lawyer, that Blake has not supported her claim with evidence. According to TMZ, Baldoni's defense team believes holding the deposition at Lively's lawyer's office puts them at a disadvantage. Justin's lawyer cited the potential need to consult with his hundreds of pages of notes and to use a conference room to speak in private. Baldoni's side wrote in the filing, 'Although Lively's foot-stomping and use of her celebrity status may have enabled her to seize control of the film, which is the crux of this dispute, her counsel's tantrum has no place in this Court. Lively is bound by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure like every litigant.' The parties have currently agreed to conduct the deposition on July 17, though recent legal filings indicate that the two sides have been in conflict over discovery requirements. In emails between Lively and Baldoni's attorneys that were entered into the record, Lively's lawyers accused Baldoni's team of failing to mail hard drives of evidence to them in a timely manner, which would make it difficult for the Gossip Girl star and her team to examine any documents or videos the defendants may refer to when questioning her. Her legal team also expressed concern in the new filings that Baldoni may hope to have her paraded in front of paparazzi and gawkers if the deposition is held in a less-private location. In a statement to TMZ, Lively's representative said: 'Ms. Lively is looking forward to her deposition next week, and it should follow the same rules as every other witness in this case. In a moment of snark, Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, previously said that Lively's deposition should be live-streamed to an audience at Madison Square Garden; pictured in May 'Justin Baldoni's lawyer has tried to make this matter a public spectacle at every turn, even proposing to sell tickets to a televised deposition at Madison Square Garden,' they continued. 'This is a serious matter of sexual harassment and retaliation and it deserves to be treated as such.' Lively, who along with husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, was dismissed from Baldoni's $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit nearly a month ago, is tentatively slated to take the stand when the trial begins in New York City in March 2026. Insiders close to Lively told the outlet that she was prepared to face a series of difficult inquiries at her deposition, and that Reynolds isn't expected to attend. Lively has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment in a lawsuit; while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400 million suit - the latter of which was dismissed Monday. Baldoni has denied the allegations brought about by Lively, while Lively, Reynolds and Sloane have denied the accusations made in litigation by Baldoni. In June, Lively suffered a setback in the case when a judge denied her attorneys' application for a protective order seeking to block her text messages with Taylor Swift from being entered as evidence. Baldoni's team subpoenaed Lively for text messages, emails and any other messages between her and Swift. His lawyers have subsequently been allowed to pore through the text trail, with all communications related to It Ends With Us set for scrutiny. In one embarrassing text exchange, Lively appeared to refer to herself as the Game of Thrones character Khaleesi, and to Swift as one of her 'dragons.' Elsewhere in Baldoni's filing is the claim that Swift was present at a meeting convened by Lively at her New York penthouse to discuss It Ends With Us script changes. Sources close to Swift insisted the singer had no knowledge of the meeting and simply arrived to find it underway. The situation reportedly left Swift — who is godmother to Lively's three daughters — feeling 'exploited' by her friend of ten years.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blake Lively Wins Ruling That Her Deposition in Justin Baldoni Case Will Be Held on Her Turf
Blake Lively won a judge's ruling on Monday setting her deposition on her home turf, after her attorneys raised concerns that Justin Baldoni's lawyers were trying to turn it into a media spectacle. Lively is set to be deposed on Thursday in her sexual harassment and retaliation suit against Baldoni, her director and co-star in 'It Ends With Us.' More from Variety Justin Baldoni Can Seek Messages Between Taylor Swift and Blake Lively, Judge Rules Blake Lively Moves to Block Justin Baldoni From Obtaining Taylor Swift Communications Marvel Won't Have to Turn Over 'Highly Confidential' Documents About Development of Ryan Reynolds' Nicepool After Judge Tosses Justin Baldoni's Defamation Case Baldoni's side wanted to hold the deposition at the Park Avenue offices of Meister Seelig & Fein, one the firms working on his case. But in a motion last week, Lively's team objected to that location, saying that Baldoni's lawyers were setting up a media ambush, in which Lively would be besieged by paparazzi on her way in and out. They also expressed concern that Baldoni's team would invite social media influencers to sit in on the deposition, which is supposed to be a confidential proceeding. Lively's team asked Judge Lewis Liman to order the deposition to be held at an alternate location — which was kept redacted in the public version of the motion. They also asked the judge to order Baldoni's side to turn over a list of everyone who will be present. In a brief order on Monday, Liman granted the request. He directed Baldoni's lawyers to turn over a list of attendees by noon on Tuesday, and also directed that the deposition be held at the place of Lively's choosing. Lively's team was also directed to make accommodations for Baldoni's lawyers to print and copy documents. Baldoni's lead lawyer, Bryan Freedman, previously told People that he wanted to hold Lively's deposition in public, suggesting in a rhetorical flourish that it be conducted at Madison Square Garden. 'Hold the deposition at MSG, sell tickets or stream it, and donate every dollar to organizations helping victims of domestic abuse,' Freedman told the outlet. Lively's side argued that such commentary showed that Freedman could not be trusted to keep things professional if the deposition were held on his turf. Mitchell Schuster, one of Baldoni's lawyers, argued that concern was unsupported, and that it would be inconvenient for them to hold the deposition at some other location. Best of Variety Final Emmy Predictions: Talk Series and Scripted Variety - New Blood Looks to Tackle Late Night Staples Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
