Manhattan judge Lewis Liman told the stars' lawyers not to make any more “extrajudicial statements” that could influence a jury ahead of the trial set for March 2026, reports the New York Post.
He said, “You’ve got a lot in front of the court that gives, I think, the public plenty to feast upon.”
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively star in It Ends with Us. Photo / Sony Pictures
It came after Lively’s attorney Michael Gottlieb accused Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman of attacking the star with “inflammatory comments” about her motives and character.
Those comments had been “reposted and circulated hundreds of times, perhaps more, to outlets all around the world”, he said.
Baldoni has countersued Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds. Photo / Getty Images
Meanwhile, Freedman accused Lively’s team of having worked with the New York Times for several months ahead of the publication of their article titled ‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.
“My grave concern is that my clients suffered hundreds of millions of dollars of prejudice as a result of actions they were blindsided by,” he said.
“Not to sound like a 4-year-old fighting a 4-year-old with ‘They started it’, but in these kinds of cases, once someone says something it becomes fact: There’s no way to fight against it. This was not started by us, your honour.”
Lively sued her co-star in December last year for US$250 million (NZ$442m), accusing him of sexual harassment and damaging her reputation. She will reportedly file another suit with more claims and new defendants next week, according to her lawyer.
Baldoni, who has denied the claims, countersued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for US$400 million (NZ$707m) for defamation.
During the hearing this week, Lively’s attorney said the case names “a significant number of high-profile individuals” and asked the court for a protection order to keep the information secret.
Both sides must file their proposed terms of the order by March 11 for approval.
