Judge grants modified protective order in Lively, Baldoni case
Published in Entertainment News
NEW YORK — A federal New York judge has granted a modified protective order in Blake Lively’s ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni, the “It Ends With Us” director and co-star she has accused of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman on Thursday granted the protective order to ensure “the confidentiality of certain nonpublic and confidential material” that could be found during discovery, according to court documents viewed by the Daily News.
The protective order does not grant “blanket protections on all disclosures,” but rather applies merely to “limited information or items that are entitled … to confidential treatment.”
Liman attributed the order to the knowledge that discovery in this case will pose potential harm to those involved if confidential documents or information are publicly disclosed.
The “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” designation will only be attributed to information that falls under trade secrets, such as confidential business or creative projects; security measures or medical information, as well as “highly personal intimate information” not “directly relevant” to allegations in the case.
That designation will also extend to nonpublic photographs or recordings of family or other personal relationships — the latter likely affecting texts between Lively and pal Taylor Swift.
Liman said he’s unlikely to seal or make confidential any discovery material introduced in evidence at trial, and further stated the protective order will extend beyond the end of the case. Within a month of the case’s conclusion all relevant confidential or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” material — and their copies — are ordered to be destroyed or returned to the person who produced them. Anyone who doesn’t respect the order could be found in contempt of court.
In late December, the “Gossip Girl” alum filed a complaint accusing 41-year-old Baldoni of harassment and subsequent astroturfing — allegations detailed in an explosive New York Times piece.
On Dec. 31, Lively formally sued Baldoni, who simultaneously filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against the Times.
In January, he filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively as well as her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane, also accusing them of civil extortion.
The order will “ensure the free flow of discovery material without any risk of witness intimidation or harm to any individual’s security,” a Lively spokesman told People in a statement, adding that the actress will now “move forward in the discovery process to obtain even more of the evidence that will prove her claims in court.”
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman, meanwhile, told People they “remain focused on the necessary communications that will directly contradict Ms. Lively’s unfounded accusations.”
Freedman said they are “fully in agreement with” the “narrow scope of protections … as opposed to Ms. Lively’s exceedingly overbroad demand for documents for a 2.5-year period of time, which the court rightly quashed.”
Lively’s camp previously argued the confidentiality is necessary given the high-profile nature of the case, which is set to head to trial in New York next March.
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