Blake Lively wins right to choose deposition location in harassment case against Justin Baldoni

Hollywood star Blake Lively has scored a legal win in her ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit against actor-director Justin Baldoni, as a judge ruled that her deposition will be held at a location of her choosing to avoid a media circus.

The 37-year-old Gossip Girl alum is set to be deposed in New York on Thursday, but had objected to the original location proposed by Baldoni’s legal team, citing concerns over paparazzi attention and attempts to turn the proceeding into a “public spectacle.”

According to court documents obtained by Variety, Lively’s legal team argued that Baldoni’s side was intentionally fueling media interest, even accusing them of possibly inviting influencers to the deposition. In a pointed motion last week, her lawyers described the situation as an “ambush waiting to happen.”

Judge Lewis Liman sided with Lively on Monday, allowing the deposition to take place at a redacted, private location. Additionally, the judge ordered Baldoni’s team to submit a full list of everyone attending by noon Tuesday and required Lively’s team to provide adequate printing and copying facilities during the session.

The ruling follows a controversial comment by Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, who sarcastically suggested the deposition be live-streamed at Madison Square Garden with ticket sales going to charity, a remark Lively’s team cited as further proof of the opposing counsel’s “publicity stunts.”

“This is a serious matter of sexual harassment and retaliation, and it deserves to be treated as such,” a spokesperson for Lively told TMZ, rejecting what they called attempts to turn the case into a media event.

Lively is accusing Baldoni, her co-star and director in the upcoming film It Ends With Us, of sexual harassment and retaliatory behaviour. 

Baldoni, 41, has denied all allegations and previously filed a $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist Leslie Sloane. That case was dismissed last month.