Blake Lively has secured a significant legal victory in her ongoing courtroom clash with It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni.
According to Page Six, a federal judge ruled in Lively’s favour on Friday, August 8, granting her motion to strike her recent deposition transcript from the public docket as he slammed Baldoni’s team for uploading it in the first place.
The deposition, which took place last week in New York, saw Baldoni’s lawyers question the Gossip Girl alum about sexual harassment claims she made in her lawsuit, as well as accusations that Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni, 41, was present during the proceedings.
Lively’s legal team argued that attorneys for Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios uploaded the nearly 300-page transcript purely to fuel a media narrative, noting there was “no plausible legal reason to do so.”
Judge Lewis J. Liman strongly agreed, stressing that “the Court has not only the power but also the responsibility to step in.”
Liman wrote that the filing “served no proper litigation purpose” and appeared intended to “invite public speculation and scandal.”
“The Wayfarer Parties have not even attempted to argue that the entire deposition was relevant. Nor could they,” the judge stated, calling the excessive, irrelevant pages “gratuitous.”
Lively, 37, is suing Baldoni for alleged sexual harassment on the film’s set, as well as his publicists for allegedly spreading damaging falsehoods.
Baldoni has denied all allegations, but his countersuit against Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds was dismissed in June.
The case heads to trial in March 2026.
