Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ lawyers have requested a court-ordered gag order on their attorney Bryan Freedman, citing his “extrajudicial statements” made against the actress in media interviews. The request comes as Freedman is set to take a deposition from Lively in her lawsuit against Baldoni for sexual harassment and retaliation.
Lively filed a complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department on December 20, alleging that Baldoni’s behavior was “revoltingly false” and that she had only one “heinous pivot left” when faced with evidence. Freedman has responded by attacking Lively’s character, stating that she is “doubtful” about the validity of her claims.
The proposed gag order would prevent Freedman from making any further public statements about the case or taking a deposition from Lively. Lively and Reynolds have filed notice that they intend to dismiss Baldoni’s $400 million defamation and extortion suit against them.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for February 3 in New York City, where the gag order request will be discussed. Freedman’s attorney has objected to taking Lively’s deposition, citing unspecified grounds for their objection. The case has been filled with media attacks and counterattacks from both sides, including private correspondence and text messages.
The situation remains fluid, with Freedman potentially launching a website containing communications from the production of “It Ends With Us” before Monday’s hearing.
Source: https://deadline.com/2025/01/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-deposition-denied-1236273896