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Blake Lively to testify against Justin Baldoni at trial, lawyer confirms

Jami Ganz, New York Daily News on

Published in Entertainment News

NEW YORK — Blake Lively is preparing to testify in the trial against her “It Ends With Us” director and co-star Justin Baldoni, whom she accused of sexually harassing her on the set and waging a subsequent smear campaign.

A lawyer for the 37-year-old “Gossip Girl” alum confirmed in a statement to People that she will “of course” take the stand against the “Jane the Virgin” alum, 41.

Lively and Baldoni have been locked in a tense legal and PR battle ever since December, when Lively first leveled her allegations in a complaint, followed by a formal lawsuit.

Baldoni then filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times for a deep-dive into Lively’s claims, titled “We Can Bury Anyone.”

He followed that with a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane, also accusing them of civil extortion.

“The ultimate moment for a plaintiff’s story to be told is at trial,” said Lively’s attorney, Mike Gottlieb. “We expect that to be the case here. So we would, of course, expect her to be a witness at her trial. Of course she’s going to testify.”

 

Her legal team also anticipates testimonies from “individuals that were witnesses to or experienced misconduct that is relevant to Ms. Lively’s claims … particularly about what took place on set,” per Gottlieb.

Among those potential witnesses is Reynolds, 48, who “may or may not” testify depending on whether Baldoni’s countersuit claims against him get dismissed.

While Gottlieb categorized the enduring press battle as among the “distractions put up to deflect attention” from Lively’s claims, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman maintains “the truth is not a distraction.”

“The truth has been clearly shown through unedited receipts, documents and real life footage,” Freeman said in a statement to People.

The case is scheduled to go to trial in New York next March.


©2025 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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