Blake Lively is set to testify under oath in the legal battle against Justin Baldoni.
The 37-year-old actress will take the witness stand in the upcoming sexual harassment trial involving her It Ends With Us co-star and director, according to People magazine’s latest report.
The high-stakes legal showdown, which began with Lively’s initial complaint filing in December, is scheduled to unfold in a New York courtroom in March 2026.
Credit: Jennifer Graylock/INSTARimages
Mike Gottlieb, Lively’s attorney, confirmed on Thursday (May 8, 2025) that his client would provide testimony.
“The ultimate moment for a plaintiff’s story to be told is at trial,” he said. “We expect that to be the case here [with Lively]. So we would, of course, expect her to be a witness at her trial. Of course she’s going to testify.”
He elaborated, “There are individuals that were witnesses to or experienced misconduct that is relevant to Ms. Lively’s claims. We expect their testimony, particularly about what took place on set, will come out through live witness testimony.”
Gottlieb emphasized that both sides will have “an opportunity to ask Ms. Lively questions” during the discovery phase. “We think there have been a lot of distractions put up to deflect attention from the retaliation campaign that was launched against her,” he stated. “And we expect and hope that in discovery we’ll have an opportunity to really focus on what we believe to be the core part of the case, which is that this retaliation campaign was launched against Ms. Lively for her having raised concerns about sexual harassment.”
Baldoni’s legal team maintained their strong defense position, stating to Fox News Digital, “Although obviously uncomfortable for the Lively parties, the truth is not a distraction.”
“The truth has been clearly shown through unedited receipts, documents and real life footage. More to come,” his attorney, Bryan Freedman, declared. “Blake was the one who brought her high profile friends into this situation without concern for their own personal or public backlash. As the truth shows, she used her Dragons to manipulate Justin at every turn.”
Freedman continued, addressing Ryan Reynolds‘ involvement: “Ryan’s involvement is very well documented and we continue to discover more intentional misconduct. Was Disney actually complicit in Ryan using shareholder revenues to further a personal grudge? I would be surprised to learn that this type of corporate waste would not lead to much more exposure for those that have been complicit in affecting shareholder revenue.”
In court documents, Baldoni revealed text exchanges with Lively that mentioned Taylor Swift. The Jane the Virgin actor claimed Lively leveraged her friendship with Swift as a pressure tactic to alter the It Ends With Us script. During production, Lively pushed for changes to the rooftop scene, though Baldoni was initially hesitant. According to the complaint, he told her he would “take a look at what she put together.”
The situation escalated when Lively invited Baldoni to her Manhattan residence. There, the actor-director alleges Swift and Reynolds created an intimidating atmosphere to force his acceptance of Lively’s scene revisions. The complaint states, “Later, Baldoni felt obliged to text Lively to say that he had liked her pages and hadn’t needed Reynolds and her megacelebrity friend to pressure him.”
According to court documents, Baldoni’s text read: “I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor [emoji] You really are a talent across the board. Really excited and (sic) grateful to do this together.”
Lively’s response characterized Swift and Reynolds as “dragons” who protect her interests.
![Apple Watch Series 10 [GPS 42mm case] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminium Case with Black Sport Band - S/M. Fitness Tracker, ECG App, Always-On Retina Display, Water Resistant Jet Black Aluminium Case with Black Sport Band 42mm case + Small/Medium band GPS Without AppleCare+](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/6105jZyXyPL._AC_SL1500_._SL160_.jpg)
