Blake Lively called out Justin Baldoni’s lawyer while being questioned during her deposition — telling him she believed he was part of the alleged smear campaign against her, Us Weekly can exclusively report.
On Monday, August 11, Lively’s team filed a heavily redacted portion of Lively’s deposition transcript. As Us previously reported, the Gossip Girl alum was grilled by Baldoni’s legal team on July 31 in New York City.
Baldoni, 41, his lawyer Bryan Freedman and various members of his team were present. Lively had a team of attorneys next to her. The transcript reveals a small amount of the whole deposition.
“When did the smear campaign end?” Lively, 37, was asked by Baldoni’s lawyer. She said, “It doesn’t feel like it’s ended.”
“It’s still ongoing?” Baldoni’s attorney asked Lively. She said, “It feels that way, ya.”
“Who do you believe is involved in the ongoing smear campaign?” the attorney followed up.
Lively replied, “I believe — outside of what I know through attorneys — I believe that the defendants are involved.” When asked which ones by Baldoni’s lawyer, Lively said, “All of them. And I believe you are.”
Baldoni’s lawyer subsequently asked, “And what is the basis for your belief that all of the defendants and myself are involved in an ongoing smear campaign?”
“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,” Lively said.
Baldoni’s lawyer responded by asking, “What about the defendants, what did they do that’s part of the ongoing smear campaign?” She said, “Like I said, outside of conversations with my attorney, I’m unable to answer that.”
As Us previously reported, Lively and her team accused Baldoni’s team of leaking information about the deposition to the media.
Lively’s motion read, “This began by selectively sharing from a ‘source in the room’ that [Baldoni] was in attendance, apparently to advance a storyline that the deposition was a face-to-face showdown between [Baldoni] and [Lively].”
The actress said Baldoni’s team wanted to make it look like she needed a large team around her to testify, “while misleadingly suggesting that only [Baldoni] and [Freedman] were present for the deposition on their side.”
She said Baldoni had eight lawyers with him and various other team members.
Freedman scoffed at the allegations made by Lively’s team. “[Lively] also fails to explain why any such ‘leak’ could not have originated from [Lively], her husband [Ryan Reynolds], her multiple attorneys, legal or administrative staff from the law firm representing her (whose office she demanded host the deposition), or the catering staff employed thereby who served lunch,” Freedman argued in response.
“Putting aside the identity of the culprit, the identities of those in attendance for her deposition are not newsworthy because all parties are entitled to attend all depositions,” he argued.
As Us previously reported, Lively sued Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us. She claimed he hired a crisis PR team to smear her in retaliation for complaining about his behavior.
Baldoni denied all allegations of wrongdoing. He claimed Lively used her star power to seize control of the film, which he costarred and directed, after production wrapped. He accused her of being the one to smear his name.
A spokesperson for Lively previously told Us, “We are very pleased with the outcome of her deposition, and now look forward to deposing Justin Baldoni and each of the codefendants in short order. Deposition testimony is confidential for good reason – it’s evidence in a legal proceeding and is subject to objections and evidentiary rules. Juries aren’t just handed deposition transcripts to read at home, and instead they listen to testimony that is presented at trial under a judge’s supervision.”
The duo is headed to trial in March.
