'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
In the latest developments in the Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni case, Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, have asked the court to dismiss Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against them. The lawsuit, filed on January 16, 2025, accuses the celebrity couple of extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.
On Thursday, January 30, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively told a federal judge that they would call for the dismissal of Baldoni's lawsuit against them. Their attorney, Michael J. Gottlieb, wrote in the letter filed with the US District Court:
"The Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint."
An official letter requesting the dismissal of the case has not yet been filed but is reportedly incoming. The couple's letter came in response to Judge Lewis Liman's request for a statement that could "indicate in one sentence the Defendant's intent to make a motion to dismiss."
It also comes ahead of both parties facing each other for a pre-trial hearing on February 3, 2025, regarding Lively's request to issue a gag order for Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman. The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni began in December 2024 when the actress filed a lawsuit against her co-star, alleging sexual harassment, inappropriate workplace conduct, and indulgence in a campaign to tarnish her reputation.
Justin Baldoni retaliated by filing two lawsuits - the first one against The New York Times for one of their articles based on Lively's allegations and the latest against Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, and their publicist, Lesley Sloane. The trial for both lawsuits is set to begin on March 9, 2026.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds request the court to issue a gag order against Justin Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman
On January 21, 2025, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively's legal team sent a legal letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman, urging him to issue a gag order against Justin Baldoni's chief attorney, Bryan Freedman.
The couple's request came after Baldoni's legal team released alleged video footage featuring Baldoni and Lively from the sets of their film 2024 film, It Ends With Us. The footage, per Justin Baldoni's team, aimed to disprove Lively's allegations about her co-star in her lawsuit. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds's letter to the court said:
"Mr. Freedman [Baldoni's lawyer] has given television interviews, appeared on podcasts, issued inflammatory written statements, and leaked information (including, remarkably, documents as banal as document preservation demands to third parties) to the Hollywood press and tabloid media."
The couple's letter further claimed that Lively had already issued a cease and desist order against Justin Baldoni's company, Wayfarer Studios, before filing her December 21 complaint against them. The letter alleged that many of Freedman's statements since her filing "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."
It also included various examples of statements Freedman shared with media outlets since the legal battle began. Reynolds and Lively's team also claimed that Blake Lively had sent a cease and desist letter directly to Bryan Freedman on December 23 to stop his statements to the media.
The letter also claimed that Freedman's constant statements to the media violated New York State's Rules of Professional Conduct. It said:
"As Ms. Lively's counsel have attempted, repeatedly, to caution Mr. Freedman, federal litigation must be conducted in court and according to the relevant rules of professional conduct. 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."
On the same day, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds filed their gag order request, Kevin Fritz from Justin Baldoni's legal team wrote to Judge Litman rejecting the request. Fritz called the demand an "intimidation tactic."
"The Lively Parties' desire to force the Wayfarer Parties to defend themselves privately against allegations made publicly is not a proper basis for a gag order. It is tactical gamesmanship, and it is outrageous. If, as the Lively Parties' letter suggests, such a protective order is formally requested, it should be denied," the letter read.
On January 24, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively sent another letter to the court reiterating their request for a gag order against Justin Baldoni's chief lawyer. One of Blake Lively's legal team members, Esra Hudson, alleged in the four-page letter that "the retaliation campaign that Ms. Lively alleged in her Complaint" has continued since the "the CRD Complaint was filed, and may have even been accelerated."
The new letter also highlighted alleged "extrajudicial statements" made by Freedman about the case.
"The Wayfarer Parties are attempting to draw a dangerous false equivalence that may have profound consequences not just for this case, but for other women who are s*xually harassed in the workplace given the high profile of this matter," the legal letter said.
A pre-trial hearing is set to take place on February 3, 2025, to discuss Blake Lively's request for a gag order against Justin Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman.
