Blake Lively has won another legal victory amid her ongoing battle with Justin Baldoni, being granted her motion to keep her deposition sealed for now.
A New York federal judge on Friday ruled that the 292-page rough draft transcript of the actress’ deposition will remain sealed and out of the court docket — and therefore out of the headlines — at least until it’s been properly reviewed and finalized.
Lively shared her testimony in a July 31 deposition regarding her sexual harassment suit against her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director, as well as production company Wayfarer Studios, which is co-owned by Baldoni.
Her deposition was later attached to a recent court motion from Baldoni’s attorneys, despite the transcript being filed under seal.
“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,” Judge Lewis Liman ruled on Friday, agreeing with Lively’s Aug. 4 motion to strike the testimony from the docket.
“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,” Liman continued. “The Court has not only the power but also the responsibility to step in.”
Earlier this week, Lively’s attorneys claimed Baldoni’s team leaked details from her deposition to tabloid media by “selectively sharing” information in an apparent attempt to “advance a storyline.”
On Wednesday, Baldoni’s lawyers responded to the allegations, writing in a filing that Lively “does not cite any evidence” to back up her claims — “not surprising as there is none.”
Floating the theory that potential leaks could have come from Lively’s own side, not theirs, Baldoni’s attorneys also questioned why the 37-year-old actress assumed their team was culpable, pointing to several other possible sources.
“Ms. Lively also fails to explain why any such ‘leak’ could not have originated from Ms. Lively, her husband [Ryan Reynolds], her multiple attorneys, legal or administrative staff from the law firm representing her (whose office she demanded host the deposition), or the catering staff employed thereby who served lunch,” they wrote.
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images
Justin Baldoni’s lead counsel, Bryan Freedman, is seen at US District Court in Manhattan in February. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
The judge’s ruling on Friday is just the latest update in the legal saga that began in December, when Lively filed a lawsuit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of “It Ends With Us” and a retaliatory smear campaign.
Baldoni’s subsequent countersuit against Lively, Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane — which sought $400 million in damages for alleged defamation and civil extortion — was dismissed in early June, along with his $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times for publishing its deep-dive into Lively’s claims.
Both Lively and Baldoni are expected to testify at trial, which is scheduled to begin next March.
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