Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s lawsuits explained
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have each filed lawsuits in recent days. This is what each alleges.
Blake Lively’s legal battle with “It Ends with Us” co-star Justin Baldoni is far from over. But the actress has scored a victory when it comes to details from evidence in the high-profile case becoming public.
In a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Lewis J. Liman issued Thursday and obtained by USA TODAY, Liman granted Lively’s previous request to set confidentiality rules for handling “sensitive” information in her sexual harassment lawsuit, which has been consolidated into a single court case with Baldoni’s extortion countersuit and defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.
The order, which circumscribes the publication of court materials deemed confidential, details what Liman described as “an appropriately tailored confidentiality order” in the case that applies to Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, the actors’ representatives and any third parties submitting preliminary information in the legal proceedings.
All parties in the case can now designate certain materials in the case as “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” if the information “is highly likely to cause a significant competitive, business, commercial, financial, or privacy injury” should it become public.
“All persons subject to this protective order acknowledge that willful violation of this protective order could subject them to punishment for contempt of court,” Liman wrote. “This court shall retain jurisdiction over all persons subject to this protective order to the extent necessary to enforce any obligations … or to impose sanctions for any contempt thereof.”
Justin Baldoni’s attorney: ‘Fully in agreement’ with judge’s order
In a statement provided to USA TODAY Thursday, Bryan Freedman said Baldoni and the other parties in Wayfarer’s case welcomed the judge’s order.
“We are fully in agreement with the Court’s decision to provide a narrow scope of protections to categories such as private mental health records and personal security measures that have never been of interest to us, as opposed to Ms. Lively’s exceedingly over broad demand for documents for a 2.5 year period of time, which the court rightly quashed,” he said.
“We remain focused on the necessary communications that will directly contradict Ms. Lively’s unfounded accusations,” he added. “We will oppose any efforts by Ms. Lively and her team to hamper our clients’ ability to defend against her attacks by incorrectly categorizing important information as ‘trade secrets,’ especially considering there were no issues in providing these communications willingly to The New York Times.”
Freedman represents Baldoni; Wayfarer and its CEO, Jamey Heath, and co-founder Steve Sarowitz; as well as the production company’s public relations representatives Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel in the case.
USA TODAY has reached out to Lively’s representatives for comment.
Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds sought relief from ‘violent, profane, sexist’ communications
The ruling comes after Lively and Reynolds sought protection from Baldoni and his legal team in a February letter to Judge Liman. The letter, reiterating claims from Lively’s amended complaint, stated the actress, her family, “It Ends with Us” co-stars and witnesses had received “violent, profane, sexist, and threatening communications” amid the headline-making case.
Baldoni’s multi-pronged legal offensive against Lively and Reynolds has included the launch of a website with previously unseen texts allegedly between him and the couple, as well as the release of a 10-minute behind-the-scenes clip of a slow-dancing scene Baldoni and Lively performed.
Attorneys for Lively and Reynolds later requested an “appropriate protective order,” accusing Baldoni and his legal team of continuing their “harassing and retaliatory media campaign” against Lively with “almost daily media statements or other releases to the press,” according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY at the time.
Baldoni’s team blasted the move at the time, accusing Lively’s side of seeking a gag order while also denying violating any court rules with “extrajudicial statements” that would “materially” influence the case.
Judge details confidentiality order for Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni case
In his Thursday ruling, Liman stressed that the protective order does not grant “blanket protections” on all information shared in the case’s discovery process, during which various facts and documents are disclosed by Lively and Baldoni’s respective legal teams ahead of the actors’ March 2026 trial.
However, the judge did order several limitations on the dissemination of court information that has been designated “confidential” or “attorneys’ eyes only.”
These case details can consist of nonpublic material such as “confidential business plans,” security measures, medical information and “highly personal and intimate information” about Lively and Baldoni not relevant to their lawsuit.
Under the protective order, such sensitive information is not allowed to be disclosed to individuals and entities outside the legal proceedings. Additionally, Lively, Baldoni and other parties in the lawsuit retain the ability to retroactively place discovery material under confidentiality by notifying past recipients of the flagged information in writing.
The “It Ends with Us” stars can also oppose a confidentiality designation by serving a written notice to the legal team of the person seeking the restriction.
Despite the legal safeguards afforded by the order, the court can impose its own limits.
Liman wrote that the court maintains the authority to not grant “confidential treatment” to discovery material submitted to the court. Moreover, case details introduced as evidence during trial can be exempted from confidentiality, despite past designations under the protective order.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
