Justin Baldoni’s legal battle with his “It Ends With Us” co-star Blake Lively has left him “devastated financially and emotionally,” his lawyer Bryan Freedman said Monday at a pre-trial conference in Manhattan.
Speaking in front of a judge assigned to oversee the stars’ warring lawsuits, Freedman added that the accusations Lively leveled against the “Jane the Virgin” alum and his co-defendants — “It Ends With Us” producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, their production company Wayfarer Studios and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel — have allegedly amounted to “hundreds of millions of dollars of prejudice.”
“My grave concern is that my clients suffered hundreds of millions of dollars of prejudice as a result of actions they were blindsided by,” he said.
Freedman also pleaded with the judge to fast-track the case, claiming his clients were “suffering greatly.”
Michael Gottlieb, attorney for Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, insisted they were not dragging their heels.
In her lawsuit filed in New York on New Year’s Eve, Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and, along with his associates, orchestrating a public smear campaign against her. The claims, which the “Gossip Girl” veteran first made in an interview with The New York Times, mirrored those included in the her California Civil Rights Department Complaint against Baldoni.
He denied her accusations.
For his part, Baldoni sued The New York Times for defamation and filed a countersuit against Lively, accusing her and Reynolds of civil extortion, defamation and more. Her team denied his claims.
“Our clients are devastated and want to move the case along as quickly as possible,” Freedman said outside the courtroom on Monday.
“We just couldn’t be more pleased with how the case was handled today, how it was managed. We’re going to move as quickly as we possibly can and prove our innocence, in a world where sometimes people judge you before they give you a chance. And we’re going to change that.”
Lively’s legal team also struck an optimistic note after Monday’s proceedings.
“We are pleased with the result of today’s hearing and eager to move forward immediately with discovery in this case,” attorneys Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson said in a statement, per People.
“The court granted our request that all attorneys in the matter actually follow the rule of law and not make any statements that could prejudice a jury,” they added, referring to the judge’s warning that lawyers for both Lively and Baldoni steer clear of making “extrajudicial statements” that could sway potential jurors before the trial scheduled for March 2026.
Neither Baldoni nor Lively were present in court on Monday.
The Post has reached out to both sides for comment.
