Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds seek protective order against Justin Baldoni’s lawyer

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have applied for a protective order against Justin Baldoni’s lawyer.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have asked a judge to silence Justin Baldoni’s lawyer.

The 37-year-old actress is currently suing her ‘It Ends With Us’ co-star and director for sexual harassment and attempting to destroy her reputation, while he has hit back with a lawsuit accusing her of extortion and defamation, and now the ‘Gossip Girl’ star and her husband have sought a protective order to prevent Justin’s legal team from engaging in “improper conduct”.

According to documents obtained by TMZ, the couple alleged Bryan Freedman and his team have embarked on a “harassing and retaliatory media campaign” against them and accused the lawyer of violating court rules that stop legal counsel from making comments to the media that are irrelevant to a case and could prejudice a jury.

Blake and Ryan specifically cited the release of unedited footage from the making of the movie, which was released earlier this week.

The letter alleged the actress previously issued Justin’s Wayfarer Studios a cease-and-desist letter and also send a second to his lawyer last month.

Following the filing, a source close to the ‘Jane the Virgin’ actor branded the move “grossly unfair”.

They told Us Weekly magazine: “It is grossly unfair to impose a gag order after Justin has been defamed by the New York Times in an article that they say has cost him three jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.

“[He wants to] release videos and text messages to prove the allegations are false.”

The insider branded it “unbelievable” that Blake “would go on a takedown campaign against Justin and then immediately turn around and say she wants a gag order so that Justin can’t defend himself.”

Earlier this week, video footage was released which Justin’s team claimed would prove the “mutual respect and professionalism” between the movie’s two leads.

An accompanying statement explained: “Ms. Lively’s complaint alleges that during a scene Mr. Baldoni and Ms. Lively were filming for a slow dance montage, Mr. Baldoni was behaving inappropriately. The following videos captured on May 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Lively’s characterisation of his behaviour.

“The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another. Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. These are all three takes filmed of the sequence.”

But in response, Blake’s team insisted the video – in which the pair joked about Justin’s nose and her spray tan – simply proved her allegations.

They said in a statement: “Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning. Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint.

“The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character.

“Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present.

“Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss. The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk.

“Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognise Ms. Lively’s discomfort.

“They will recognise her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent.”