Judge seeks to limit lawyer commentary on Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni suits

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NEW YORK – A federal judge, weighing in for the first time in duelling lawsuits between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, on Feb 3 ordered lawyers on both sides to limit their commentary outside court, in an effort to tamp down some of the back-and-forth accusations in the highly publicised dispute.

At a hearing in United States District Court in Manhattan, a lawyer for the American actress objected to what he called “inflammatory” comments by Mr Bryan Freedman, an attorney for American actor Baldoni, as he contests her allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation surrounding their movie It Ends With Us (2024).

Since Lively came forward in December with claims against Baldoni – who directed the movie and starred in it with Lively – Mr Freedman has done media interviews and provided statements disputing the her accusations that she was the victim of harassment and then a smear campaign.

At the hearing, a lawyer for Lively, Mr Michael Gottlieb, said that Freedman had unfairly attacked the actress’ character – including by accusing her of bullying behaviour – warning that his statements threatened to taint the pool of potential jurors for an eventual trial.

“You’re not supposed to launch attacks on the other party’s character,” Mr Gottlieb said.

Lawyers for Baldoni have countered that Mr Freedman’s comments have followed ethics rules and were made in response to a “media feeding frenzy” started by Lively.

Mr Freedman also read aloud statements from Lively’s legal team, including one that described Baldoni’s lawsuit as employing a strategy associated with harassment called Darvo, which stands for “deny, attack and reverse victim and offender”.

“This has not been a one-way street,” Mr Freedman said at the hearing.

The conflict between the two high-profile stars has become a fixation for Hollywood, tabloids and social media in recent weeks. The legal dispute also includes a producer, public relations executives and journalists.

Presiding over a courtroom full of journalists and lawyers for the various parties, Judge Lewis Liman of US District Court in Manhattan ordered that the attorneys abide by a New York rule that aims to prevent a lawyer from making public statements outside c...

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