Lawyers for Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni get a reality check from federal judge

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NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge presiding over the heated public feud between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni over whether sexual harassment occurred during the making of “It Ends With Us” warned lawyers Monday to obey court rules about public statements meant to ensure a fair trial.

Judge Lewis J. Liman suggested he could make the March 9, 2026, trial happen sooner if lawyers were unable to stop making fiery public comments that could contaminate a potential jury pool.

Neither actor attended the Manhattan federal court hearing where lawyers again repeated their claims that their adversaries weren't playing fair.

Attorney Michael Gottlieb, representing Lively, complained that Baldoni’s attorney had made inflammatory statements publicly that were devastating to Lively.

He said she was “very eager to move forward and have her day in court.”

Bryan Freedman, representing Baldoni and his production company, said his clients had suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in damages due to Lively’s claims that she was sexually harassed on the movie set.

Freedman said he didn't want to say “they started it,” but that this is what occurred when Lively took her complaints about Baldoni to the media.

Lively sued Baldoni, his production company and others in New York in late December for sexual harassment and attacks on her reputation and sought unspecified damages. Baldoni sued last month, accusing Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion and seeking at least $400 million in damages.

“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.

Lively became widely known after she appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” She bolstered her stardom on the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”

Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity.