Originally appeared on E! Online
Details into Blake Lively’s deposition against Justin Baldoni are coming to light.
Days after the “Gossip Girl” alum was deposed in her legal battle with the actor-director, her attorneys set the record straight on what really happened during her July 31 testimony.
In an Aug. 4 court motion obtained by E! News, Lively’s counsel accused Baldoni and his lawyers of leaking information about the deposition to tabloids, slamming reports that the legal proceeding was a “face-to-face showdown” between the “It Ends With Us” costars.
“The narrative created was that Ms. Lively needed a large contingent of people with her to testify,” Lively’s attorneys wrote in court documents, alleging that the leak made it seem like only Baldoni and his lawyer Bryan Freedman “were present for the deposition on their side.”
The truth, according to Lively’s counsel, was that Baldoni and Freedman were also in the room alongside other defendants named in her lawsuit — Wayfarer Studios executives Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis PR specialist Melissa Nathan — as well as their respective legal representation.
READ Blake Lively Granted Protective Order Ahead of Deposition in Justin Baldoni Legal Battle
In their motion, Lively’s attorneys argued that the leak was to create a “media circus” around her deposition.
Her counsel added, “Ms. Lively affirmatively pursued this litigation with the full intention and desire to have her testimony heard in a legal process, governed by the rules of evidence.”
E! News has reached out to Baldoni’s legal team for comment but hasn’t heard back.
Lively is suing Baldoni for sexual harassment, accusing him of creating a hostile work environment on the set of their 2024 movie. While Baldoni has denied the allegations, his countersuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds was dismissed in early June after a judge determined that the filmmaker failed to prove the couple had defamed him.
Lively is also suing Wayfarer Studios, Nathan and Abel for allegedly spearheading a smear campaign against her as a retaliation for raising concerns over Baldoni. (The defendants have denied allegations that they were purposefully trying to tarnish Lively’s reputation.)
PHOTOSJustin Baldoni, Blake Lively
