Blake Lively's trial date for lawsuit against Justin Baldoni announced
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's public feud has been exponentially accelerating since she filed a lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star and director at the end of last month. On Monday 27 January, a New York judge finally set a trial date for March 2026.
The New York federal judge also moved an initial conference from mid-February to next week, and told lawyers to be prepared to address complaints about pretrial publicity and the conduct of attorneys.
He also confirmed that he would combine the lawsuits each party filed against one another in the trial.
This follows Blake's lawyers claiming in a filing that an attorney for Justin was trying to influence potential jurors over the back-and-forth lawsuits.
They said that attorney Bryan Freedman, representing Justin, was "engaging in this extrajudicial campaign to influence these proceedings and the public perception of legal filings to this Court, and there already is a serious risk that his misconduct is tainting the jury pool."
They added: "The endless stream of defamatory and extrajudicial media statements must end."
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Freedman responded by stating that the "irony is not lost on anyone that Ms. Lively is so petrified of the truth that she has moved to gag it.
"We will always respect the court; however, we will never be bullied by those suggesting we cannot defend our clients with pure, unedited facts," he said.
"All we want is for people to see the actual text messages that directly contradict her allegations, video footage that clearly shows there was no sexual harassment and all the other powerful evidence that directly contradicts any false allegations."
Blake sued Justin, his production company Wayfarer Studios and others, accusing him of sexual harassment and the others of engaging in a "carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out".
Her complaint, filed with the California Civil Rights Department and a precursor to a lawsuit, also included the promotional period, alleging that a crisis PR team was hired to intentionally slander her name and reputation.
Justin then countersued earlier this month, accusing Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds of defamation and extortion, seeking at least $400 million in damages.
The trial will begin on March 9 2026.
