As a May courtroom showdown between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively approaches, lawyers for the former co-stars continued to hash out key pretrial issues Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman.
The civil case centers around the actors’ 2024 film “It Ends With Us,” based on Colleen Hoover’s novel. The movie turned litigious when Lively sued Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment on set and alleging his production company, Wayfarer Studios, retaliated against her after she complained about the alleged misconduct. Baldoni, who also served as the film’s director, and Wayfarer have denied all of her claims.
Earlier this month, the judge tossed out 10 of Lively’s 13 claims against Baldoni, allowing three to move forward: breach of contract, retaliation and aiding and abetting in retaliation.
On Tuesday, neither of the actors attended what was expected to be the final pre-trial conference before the May 18 trial.
During the roughly three-hour hearing, the actors’ legal teams debated over expert witness testimonies.
Both Baldoni and Lively’s attorneys said they’d likely require roughly three weeks to present their cases.
Liman, however, did not finalize timing, nor did he narrow down the witness list. The judge instead asked both side to look into the availability of some of the expert witnesses they plan to call at trial to participate in a pre-trial hearing in a week.
He asked specifically about two Lively’s witnesses: Aron Culotta, a computer science professor at Tulane University who has studied online harassment; and Dina Mayzlin, a University of Southern California marketing professor who has studied the manipulation of online reviews. He also asked about one of Baldoni’s witnesses: Nicole Alexander, a former marketing executive at Meta who has written a book about the ethical use of AI in marketing.
Lively’s team argued that their client missed out on the opportunity to make up to $35 million for a sequel to “It Ends With Us.”
“Baldoni had suggested at one point that Ms. Lively would direct the sequel, and the lead actress would be compensated more,” Naeun Rim, an attorney for Lively, said.
But Baldoni’s attorneys called the payday surrounding a potential sequel speculative. They also pushed back on Lively’s claim that she lost between $39 million and $143 million in the aftermath of the film’s release, saying any losses can’t be pinned on their client.
“Ms. Lively has a track record of brands that have not succeeded,” Amir Kaltgrad, an attorney for Baldoni, said Tuesday, adding that “she is seeking pie in the sky damages here.”
Representatives for Baldoni and Lively declined to comment to NBC News.
The hearing did not touch on witnesses beyond the experts.
In a filing earlier this month, Baldoni’s team requested to block evidence from several people involved with the film, including: Hoover; producer Alex Saks; film co-star Isabela Ferrer; script writer Christy Hall; Liz Plank, the co-host of Baldoni and Jamey Heath’s podcast; and Claire Ayoub, a director who worked with Baldoni on a different film.
The case has also drawn in celebrities such as Ryan Reynolds, Lively’s husband, and pop star Taylor Swift, Lively’s friend.
Marlene Lenthang contributed.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are getting pulled into the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni legal drama. Blake and Justin’s teams faced off in court for a new summary hearing on Jan. 22 after more explosive messages were unsealed.
