Blake Lively plans to speak under oath against Justin Baldoni.
Lively, 37, will take the stand in the sexual harassment trial involving her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director, People magazine reported.
The legal conflict, which first took shape in December with Lively’s filed complaint, will reach a New York court for trial in March 2026.
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Lively’s lawyer, Mike Gottlieb, confirmed Thursday that his client would provide testimony.
“The ultimate moment for a plaintiff’s story to be told is at trial,” he said. “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.”
He added, “There are individuals that were witnesses to or experienced misconduct that is relevant to Ms. Lively’s claims. We expect their testimony, particularly about what took place on set, will come out through live witness testimony.”
BLAKE LIVELY VS. JUSTIN BALDONI: EVERYTHING TO KNOW
Gottlieb noted that both parties will have “an opportunity to ask Ms. Lively questions” during the discovery process. “We think there have been a lot of distractions put up to deflect attention from the retaliation campaign that was launched against her,” he said. “And we expect and hope that in discovery we’ll have an opportunity to really focus on what we believe to be the core part of the case, which is that this retaliation campaign was launched against Ms. Lively for her having raised concerns about sexual harassment.”
Baldoni’s legal team stood firm in their defense, and noted in a statement provided to Fox News Digital, “Although obviously uncomfortable for the Lively parties, the truth is not a distraction.”
“The truth has been clearly shown through unedited receipts, documents and real life footage. More to come,” his attorney, Bryan Freedman, said. “Blake was the one who brought her high profile friends into this situation without concern for their own personal or public backlash. As the truth shows, she used her Dragons to manipulate Justin at every turn.”
He continued of Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds: “Ryan’s involvement is very well documented and we continue to discover more intentional misconduct. Was Disney actually complicit in Ryan using shareholder revenues to further a personal grudge? I would be surprised to learn that this type of corporate waste would not lead to much more exposure for those that have been complicit in affecting shareholder revenue.”
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Baldoni mentioned Taylor Swift in his lawsuit by sharing texts exchanged between him and Lively. The “Jane the Virgin” star claimed Lively used her friendship with Swift to threaten him into changing the “It Ends With Us” script. While working on the film, Lively insisted on rewriting the rooftop scene. Baldoni had been hesitant about the idea but told Lively he would “take a look at what she put together,” according to the complaint.
Afterward, Lively invited Baldoni to her New York City home, where the actor-director said he felt Swift and Reynolds pressured him into using Lively’s rewrite of the scene. “Later, Baldoni felt obliged to text Lively to say that he had liked her pages and hadn’t needed Reynolds and her megacelebrity friend to pressure him,” the complaint said.
“I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor [emoji] You really are a talent across the board. Really excited nd (sic) grateful to do this together,” Baldoni’s text said, according to the complaint.
Lively shared a lengthy response in which she referred to Swift and Reynolds as “dragons” who protect her.
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Lively detailed allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional affliction of emotional distress, negligence and more made by Baldoni and lead producer Jamie Heath in a complaint first filed with the California Civil Rights department on Dec. 20 and later in federal court on Dec. 31.
The same day Lively filed her federal suit, Baldoni filed a $250 million suit against The New York Times for a December article about the alleged smear campaign he attempted to run against his co-star.
Weeks later, Baldoni then named Lively and Reynolds in a separate $400 million defamation lawsuit in which he accused the Hollywood power couple of attempting to hijack “It Ends With Us” and create their own narrative.
In addition to releasing a website detailing the timeline of events that allegedly occurred, Baldoni’s team also shared unedited footage from the set of “It Ends With Us.” Both Lively and Baldoni have claimed the footage bolsters their respective claims.
