Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni: Why Judge Threatened to Move Up Trial Date

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal teams had their first showdown in court on Monday.

In a hearing, Judge Lewis J. Liman asked both sides to tone it down and follow the New York Rules of Professional Conduct to prevent the possibility of tainting the jury pool.

Though the trial is scheduled for March 2026, Liman threatened to move up the case if the war between the two parties continue to get ugly.

Lively, Reynolds, and Baldoni were not present for the court hearing, which was held after a gag order request against Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freeman was filed.

Last month, Lively’s team asked for a hearing to be scheduled as soon as possible to “address the appropriate conduct,” due to “imminent harm caused by Mr. Freedman’s misleading and selective statements and leaks.”

Despite Lively’s court filing, an official gag order was not put in place.

Liman also reprimanded both sides for some of their actions. 

Over the weekend, Baldoni’s team launched their website, which included docs like his amended lawsuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds. The website also included a downloaded 168-page document of a timeline of events, with text messages and email exchanges, to refute Lively’s claims. 

Liman told Freeman, “You can’t just attach a factual narrative.”

“What is the purpose of that attachment?” Liman went on, “You can’t just give me a whole bunch of documents.” 

The website went live days after Lively and Reynolds requested that Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit against them be dismissed.

Last week, Lively’s team also expressed that they didn’t want Freeman to be the lawyer that conducted her deposition. 

In response, Liman told Lively’s lawyer Michael Gottlieb, “I don’t think you’re going to be the one who chooses who takes Ms. Lively’s deposition.”

Both parties don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but they were both satisfied with how the 90-minute hearing went. 

Following the hearing, Freeman said, “Our clients are devastated and want to move the case along as quickly as possible. We just couldn’t be more pleased with how the case was handled today, how it was managed. We’re going to move as quickly as we possibly can and prove our innocence, in a world where sometimes people judge you before they give you a chance. And we’re going to change that.”

Gottlieb also expressed that he was “very happy” with the hearing, telling TMZ, “We are pleased with the result of today’s hearing and eager to move forward immediately with discovery in this case. The Court granted our request that all attorneys in the matter actually follow the rule of law and not make any statements that could prejudice a jury. This case deals with serious allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation. We will hold the defendants accountable, and we are confident that once all the evidence is submitted in this matter, Ms. Lively will prevail.”

Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, he fired back with a $400-million defamation.

The lawsuits are being treated as one case.

“Extra” spoke with Freeman before he entered the courtroom for the hearing.

Bryan opened up about how Justin and his family are doing amid all the drama, saying, “It’s really rough for them and to be wrongfully accused of anything and to see your wife go through that and to see your young children go through that and to be accosted wherever you go to try to get away from this, it’s a really difficult thing.”

Defending Justin, Bryan said, “He’s feeling like you would feel if you were wrongly accused of something. You’d feel pretty devastated. He’s looking for justice.”

As for what he wanted to happen in the courtroom, Freeman answered, “Truth, veracity,  honesty, and to not see the destruction of people’s lives unnecessarily.”

Would they be releasing more documents on the website? He said, “I assume through the course of the litigation, that will happen naturally.”