Blake Lively Slams Justin Baldoni's Team for Trying to Turn Her Deposition into a ‘Public Spectacle'
However, Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, stated in May that her deposition should be held at Madison Square Garden
But on Friday, July 11, her legal team filed a new motion to request the court to enter a protective order that directs the defendants to take Lively's deposition at a location that avoids a "public spectacle"Blake Lively filed a new motion to request to move the location of her forthcoming testimony in the ongoing legal proceedings between her and Justin Baldoni.
On Friday, July 11, Lively's legal team filed the motion requesting that the judge enter a protective order directing defendants to take her upcoming deposition on Thursday, July 17 at a redacted location, according to legal documents obtained by PEOPLE. They are also requesting that everyone attending the hearing be identified in advance.
Lively's request follows statements from Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, who said in May that Lively's deposition should be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 'Hold the deposition at MSG, sell tickets or stream it, and donate every dollar to organizations helping victims of domestic abuse,' he told PEOPLE.
The actress' representatives tell PEOPLE on Friday, July 11, 'Ms. Lively is looking forward to her deposition next week, and it should follow the same rules as every other witness in this case.'
'Justin Baldoni's lawyer has tried to make this matter a public spectacle at every turn, even proposing to sell tickets to a televised deposition at Madison Square Garden," the statement continued. "This is a serious matter of sexual harassment and retaliation and it deserves to be treated as such.'
PEOPLE reached out to representatives for Baldoni for further comment.
The new filing states that Lively, 37, and her team asked the judge to block Baldoni, 41, and his team from selecting the deposition location.
Baldoni's legal team has "not denied that their intent is to manufacture a harassing publicity stunt by requiring Ms. Lively to parade through paparazzi, or by inviting unknown attendees to the deposition, including members of the media or social media influencers, or any other number of abusive tactics," Lively's team alleges, before claiming Baldoni's team has refused to address their concerns.
'Since virtually the inception of this litigation, Defendants have used even the prospect of Ms. Lively's deposition to generate press interest,' the filing alleges.
'The high-profile nature of this litigation, and the nature of Ms. Lively's retaliation claims, demonstrates a substantial risk of the deposition turning into a publicity event and potentially attracting interested individuals who could pose security risks,' Lively's legal team claims in the filing.
Lively's lawyers called the filing a "reasonable request to prevent the risk of annoyance, harassment, and verbal or physical threats," going on to allege that Baldoni's legal team 'appear to seek another public relations moment, or to create conditions for intimidation or harassment.'
The request comes after Lively accused her It Ends With Us director-costar Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation, which he has denied.
His counterclaims against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, allegations of extortion and defamation, were dismissed by Judge Lewis J. Liman in June, and his legal team opted not to refile amended versions of those claims.
Since then both legal teams have spoken about their next steps, including Lively's deposition. Lively's lawyer, Mike Gottlieb, told PEOPLE in May, "The ultimate moment for a plaintiff's story to be told is at trial. We expect that to be the case here [with Lively]. So we would, of course, expect her to be a witness at her trial. Of course she's going to testify."
Meanwhile, Freedman has spoken about his plans for deposing Lively as they attempt to refute her allegations, saying on TMZ Live on Tuesday, June 10: "I'm gonna ask her questions under penalty of perjury, and she's gonna have to provide evidence, and she's gonna have to provide the truth of the stories."
"We have all of the videotape, all the footage," Freedman continued. "We have, you know, the text messages and we have emails. We're gonna see how consistent her testimony is with the actual facts of what transpired."
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Their trial is set for March 2026 in New York, and attorneys for both Lively and Baldoni have indicated that they plan to testify during the proceedings.
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