Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds on Thursday expressed their intention to ask a federal court to drop a lawsuit filed earlier this month by her It Ends with Us director Justin Baldoni.
‘The Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint,’ an attorney for the Hollywood power couple, Michael Gottlieb, requested to Judge Lewis Liman in a letter, Variety reported Thursday after reviewing legal documents in the case.
The legal request comes as the first hearing in a spate of lawsuits between the collaborators on the summer hit is set to commence on Monday.
Dailymail.com has reached out to reps and attorneys for Lively, 37, and Reynolds, 48, and Baldoni, 41, for further comment on this story.
Next up in the case is a slated February 3 pretrial conference, which was pushed up from an initial date of February 12, according to Variety, ahead of a trial with a starting date of March 9, 2026 in the case.
Lawyers for Lively and Reynolds have been asking the court to sanction Baldoni lawyer Bryan Freedman with a ‘gag order’ regarding ‘extrajudicial statements’ he made.
Blake Lively, 37, and Ryan Reynolds, 48, on Thursday asked a federal court to drop a lawsuit filed earlier this month by her It Ends with Us director Justin Baldoni, 41. Lively and Reynolds pictured at the NYC premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine in July
The legal request comes as the first hearing in a spate of lawsuits between the collaborators on the summer hit is set to commence next week. Baldoni pictured in NYC in August
Freedman this month has spoken about the case on shows hosted by Megyn Kelly and Chris Cuomo, as well as in the Hulu documentary IMPACT x Nightline: Blake vs. Justin.
Hudson, who is representing Lively and Reynolds, told the judge in a January 24 letter, ‘Requiring counsel to heed the ethical rules that bind them is not a gag order.’
Hudson said ‘it is a mechanism that would ensure the proceedings in this Court are are not prejudiced by counsel’s conduct outside of the courtroom.’
Freedman told Deadline Thursday that lawyers for Lively and Reynolds were looking to stall the proceedings.
‘All these motions to dismiss are just yet another attempt by Ms. Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Leslie Sloan to hide and delay the discovery of the hundreds of pages of true facts and well-documented information that we remain dedicated to providing publicly, with full transparency,’ Freedman told Deadline.
He added, ‘We expect such motions to be denied and, in the meantime, stand ready to oppose each and every one of them.’
Lively last month sued Baldoni amid claims of sexual harassment during production of the motion picture, which was a hit when it arrived in theaters in August.
In Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni, the Gossip Girl alum accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.
Reynolds pictured in NYC on Thursday amid the legal ongoings
The A-list actor was seen autographing items for fans on the winter day
Baldoni has accused Reynolds of mocking him with a Deadpool character named Nicepool
Lively – who is mother to four kids with the Deadpool star Reynolds – filed an 80-page civil rights complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against Baldoni December 20, before officially filing a federal lawsuit on December 31.
In her lawsuit, Lively named a number of Baldoni’s collaborators, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel.
‘I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,’ Lively told The New York Times the day after she filed the complaint.
Baldoni has denied all of the claims against him in Lively’s legal filing, and has sued the newspaper for $250 million in a defamation claim.
Lively and Reynolds asked the court to sanction Baldoni lawyer Bryan Freedman (pictured) with a ‘gag order’ regarding ‘extrajudicial statements’ he made in different media appearances
Lively last month sued Baldoni amid claims of sexual harassment during production of the motion picture, which was a hit when it arrived in theaters in August.
Lively accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – during production of It Ends with Us. Pictured in January 2024 in NYC on the set of the film
It Ends with Us, which also starred Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, arrived in theaters August 9 and was a hit with audiences, as it earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally
Attorneys for Baldoni in mid-January distributed letters demanding various entertainment industry figures safeguard evidence linked to claims that Reynolds wrote a character named Nicepool into the Deadpool 2 film, intended to parody and humiliate Baldoni.
Baldoni on January 16 filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, alleging defamation and extortion. Baldoni told the court the trio had concocted ‘false accusations of sexual harassment’ against him.
Since Lively’s complaint was filed, Baldoni has faced a number of professional consequences, including a lawsuit from a former publicist; and being dropped by the agency WME, which also reps Lively and Reynolds.
WME has denied claims that Lively and Reynolds leaned on them to release Baldoni from their client roster, according to Variety.
It Ends with Us, which also starred Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, arrived in theaters August 9 and was a hit with audiences.
The film, adapted from the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel, earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally, according to Box Office Mojo.
