NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A federal judge presiding over the heated public feud between actors and Justin Baldoni over whether sexual harassment occurred during the making of 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鈥檚 attorney had made inflammatory statements publicly that were devastating to Lively.
He said she was 鈥渧ery eager to move forward and have her day in court.鈥�
Bryan Freedman, representing Baldoni and his production company, said his clients had suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in damages due to Lively鈥檚 claims that she was sexually harassed on the movie set.
Freedman said he didn't want to say 鈥渢hey started it,鈥� 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, 鈥淒eadpool鈥� actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion and seeking at least $400 million in damages.
鈥淚t Ends With Us,鈥� an adaptation of that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August, with a $50 million debut. But the movie鈥檚 release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.
Lively became widely known after she appeared in the 2005 film 鈥淭he Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.鈥� She bolstered her stardom on the TV series 鈥淕ossip Girl鈥� from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including 鈥淭he Town鈥� and 鈥淭he Shallows.鈥�
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy directed the 2019 film 鈥淔ive Feet Apart鈥� and wrote 鈥淢an Enough,鈥� a book pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity.
Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
