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Some familiar names have been deposed in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle, but it’s not Taylor Swift or Ryan Reynolds.
People magazine reports Blake and Justin’s co-stars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, as well as the author Colleen Hoover all sat down for depositions.
According to the outlet, Jenny and Isabela were questioned over the case sometime in the summer, while Colleen testified recently.
In July, Blake testified in a deposition at her lawyer’s office in New York City, which was also attended by Justin and his legal team.
While Baldoni’s team wanted the deposition transcript to be in the public docket, a judge is siding with Lively, who filed a motion to keep the deposition transcript sealed.
In his order, obtained by People magazine, Judge Lewis J. Liman wrote, “The Wayfarer Parties’ attachment of the entire, nearly 300-page deposition — after citing only two pages of it in the Letter — served no proper litigation purpose and instead appears to have been intended to burden Lively (and as a result, the Court) and to invite public speculation and scandal.”
Liman went on, “…The conclusion is inescapable that the Wayfarer Parties filed gratuitous amounts of irrelevant pages so that, if Lively moved for continued sealing of the irrelevant pages, the Wayfarer Parties could then use Lively’s response for their own public-relations purposes. The Court has not only the power but also the responsibility to step in.”
What Blake Lively Said About Alleged Justin Baldoni Smear Campaign in Deposition Transcript
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A month later, Lively’s legal team submitted a redacted transcript of a part of her deposition about an alleged smear campaign against her.
At one point in the deposition, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman asked Lively in the transcript obtained by People magazine, “When did the smear campaign end?”
Lively responded, “It doesn’t feel like it’s ended.”
Freedman then asked, “It’s still ongoing?”
She replied, “It feels that way, ya.”
Freedman then followed up, asking, “Who do you believe is involved in the ongoing smear campaign?”
Lively said, “I believe — outside of what I know through attorneys — I believe that the defendants are involved.”
When Freedman asked who specifically, Lively answered, “All of them. And I believe you are.”
Freedman responded, “And what is the basis for your belief that all of the defendants and myself are involved in an ongoing smear campaign?”
Lively explained, “Outside of what I know through my attorneys, I believe the act of a retaliatory lawsuit and the press that you have done and the statements that you have made about me and my character have felt incredibly retaliatory.”
Blake and Justin are scheduled for a March 2026 trial.
In December, Lively filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department claiming Baldoni sexually harassed her on set.
Two months later, she also accused him of defamation.
He filed a $400 million lawsuit against Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds, but it was dismissed.
Justin also filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times, but that was dismissed as well.