Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ legal representatives have requested a ‘protective order’ after footage from the set of “It Ends with Us” was released by Justin Baldoni’s team.
Blake Lively filed a legal complaint in December 2024, accusing Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and participating in a ‘smear campaign’ against her.
The “A Simple Favor” actress filed another lawsuit earlier this month, claiming harassment and retaliation by Baldoni, including inappropriate behavior during a slow dance scene. Baldoni’s legal team has dismissed these allegations as ‘categorically false’.
In her recent lawsuit, Lively claims that during the slow dance scene, Baldoni ‘leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, “It smells so good”.’
The lawsuit further alleges that Baldoni ‘caressed Lively with his mouth in a manner unrelated to their roles’.
Last week, Baldoni’s company filed a countersuit against Lively, and on Tuesday, his legal team released the contentious scene’s footage.
In response to the footage, Baldoni’s team stated: “Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism.”
However, Lively’s team criticized the footage as ‘damning’ and ‘an unethical attempt to manipulate the public’.
Lively and Reynolds’ legal team also addressed a letter to Judge Lewis J Liman in the Southern District of New York, seeking an ‘appropriate protective order’.
Court documents obtained by USA Today reveal that the letter accuses Baldoni and his legal team of conducting a ‘harassing and retaliatory media campaign’ with frequent media statements and releases.
This letter follows a cease-and-desist letter, reportedly sent by Lively and Reynolds’ legal team in December 2024.
The cease-and-desist letter allegedly instructed Baldoni’s main attorney, Bryan Freedman, to halt the release of ‘defamatory and retaliatory statements’ about the “Gossip Girl” star.
Baldoni and his associates also received a letter urging them to cease ‘all unlawful conduct toward the Lively-Reynolds parties and their affiliates’.
On Tuesday, Lively and Reynolds’ legal team accused Freedman of making television appearances, participating in podcasts, issuing provocative written statements, and leaking information to the Hollywood press and tabloids ‘almost daily’.
“Those statements not only continue the campaign of retaliation that was the subject of Ms. Lively’s First Cease and Desist, but they contain numerous new false statements about Ms. Lively and others,” they argue.
Lively and Reynolds’ lawyers contend that they have ‘repeatedly’ advised Freedman that federal litigation should proceed in court and adhere to professional conduct standards.
They concluded: “His conduct threatens to, and will, materially prejudice both the Lively Case and the Wayfarer Case by tainting the jury pool, because his statements are deliberately aimed at undermining the ‘character, credibility, (and) reputation’ of numerous relevant parties and likewise include ‘information the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is likely to be inadmissible as evidence in a trial,’ thereby creating a substantial risk of prejudice not just for Ms. Lively, but for numerous other parties in the matters.”
In addition to an ‘appropriate protective order,’ Lively and Reynolds’ legal team has requested a hearing to discuss ‘appropriate conduct of counsel moving forward’.