Blake Lively took a swipe at Justin Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, during her July 31 deposition, accusing him of being part of the actor’s alleged smear campaign against her.
According to a heavily redacted portion of her deposition transcript filed by Lively’s team Monday and obtained by Us Weekly, Freedman asked the actress when the alleged smear campaign by Baldoni and his team “ended.”
The “Gossip Girl” alum responded, “It doesn’t feel like it’s ended.” When asked if the alleged smear campaign was “still ongoing,” Lively reportedly replied, “It feels that way, ya.”
“Who do you believe is involved in the ongoing smear campaign?” Baldoni’s lawyer asked.
“I believe — outside of what I know through attorneys — I believe that the defendants are involved,” she replied.
Baldoni’s lawyer sought to clarify which ones, after which Lively responded, “All of them,” adding, “and I believe you are.”
Freedman asked what “basis” the actress had for believing “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,” she said, per the documents.
When asked what the defendants “do that’s part of the ongoing smear campaign,” Lively said, “Like I said, outside of conversations with my attorney, I’m unable to answer that.”
Baldoni’s attorney did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
The actor, 41, was present for the New York City deposition, which took place at the offices of Lively’s attorneys. The documents obtained by Us Weekly were only a small portion of the entire deposition.
According to documents obtained by Page Six on Aug. 4, Lively’s lawyers accused Baldoni and his team of “immediately” leaking “details from the deposition to the tabloid media” in an attempt to “advance a storyline that the deposition was a face-to-face showdown between Mr. Baldoni and Ms. Lively.”
The motion clarified that Lively “testified across the table from Mr. Baldoni, Jamey Heath, Steve Sarowitz, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, all of whom attended this deposition in person, as well as eight attorneys representing the Wayfarer and Wallace Parties, two of whom questioned her” and accused Baldoni’s lawyers of seeking to “create a media circus.”
The motion also stated that Lively felt Baldoni’s team sought to make it appear that she needed multiple team members with her while testifying during the deposition.
Lively and her team scored a legal victory on Friday, when the judge granted her motion to strike her deposition transcript from the docket.
Lively’s rep had previously accused Baldoni’s lawyer of attempting to make the case “a public spectacle at every turn, even proposing to sell tickets to a televised deposition at Madison Square Garden,” according to People.
“This is a serious matter of sexual harassment and retaliation, and it deserves to be treated as such.”
Blake, 37, is embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit against the “It Ends With Us” director and his Wayfarer Studios for his alleged sexual harassment — accusations he vehemently denies — on the set of their 2024 drama.
She’s also suing Baldoni’s publicity team for allegedly masterminding a smear campaign against her following her allegations. Her claim against Jed Wallace, a social media public relations expert, was dismissed in July.
Baldoni. countersued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for extortion and defamation. However, a judge threw out his $400 million suit in June.
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