Blake Lively Claps Back After Justin Baldoni’s Lawyer Dares Her to Testify Live for the World!

Blake Lively Claps Back After Justin Baldoni’s Lawyer Dares Her to Testify Live for the World!

Blake Lively’s camp has fired back after Justin Baldoni’s lawyer challenged her to have her testimony broadcast live at Madison Square Garden.

Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s attorney, suggested airing Lively’s testimony at the arena after her legal team confirmed she is ready to testify under oath at the upcoming trial involving her It Ends With Us co-star.

'If Blake Lively is really serious about testifying for the world to see, let's live stream it in Madison Square Garden and give the money to the domestic violence survivors,' Freedman told TMZ.

Sources close to Blake Lively have emphasized just how serious her ongoing legal dispute with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni has become. They firmly denied claims that the lawsuit is part of a publicity stunt.

Representatives and legal teams for both Lively, 37, and Baldoni, 41, have not issued additional public statements.

The back-and-forth escalated when Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, publicly responded after Lively’s attorney, Mike Gottlieb, confirmed to People that Lively is ready to testify under oath in the upcoming trial.

“The ultimate moment for a plaintiff’s story to be told is at trial. We expect that to be the case here [with Lively],” Gottlieb told People. “Of course she’s going to testify.”

Gottlieb also addressed speculation that Lively’s high-profile friends, including Taylor Swift and Hugh Jackman, may be subpoenaed to testify. He pushed back, saying:

“It’s completely unclear what claims or defenses in the case any of these celebrities… have any relevance to at all.”

“This is a case about what happened to Blake Lively when she raised claims of sexual harassment on the set,” Gottlieb explained. “It’s not a case about how songs were chosen for the movie. It’s not a case about fictional Marvel characters in Deadpool movies.”

“You have to ask the question, then, why are these people being subpoenaed?” he added. “Do they have any actual relevance to the case at hand? You can't just go around subpoenaing people because they’re famous and you think it will generate a bunch of headlines. And the federal courts don't tolerate that kind of behavior.”

As of now, it remains unclear whether Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, will testify. He is currently named as a defendant in Baldoni’s countersuit. Lively’s legal team is actively working to have those claims dismissed.

Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, swiftly hit back at Gottlieb’s statements, accusing him of trying to deflect attention from the core of the case.

“Although obviously uncomfortable for the Lively parties, the truth is not a distraction,” Freedman told People. “The truth has been clearly shown through unedited receipts, documents and real life footage. More to come.”

Freedman continued:

“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’s “dragons” comment referenced alleged text messages from Lively to Baldoni in which she likened her celebrity friends to Khaleesi’s protectors in Game of Thrones: “For better or worse, my dragons protect what I fight for.”

Meanwhile, Freedman addressed the separate accusations against Reynolds, stating:

“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 December, Lively filed an 80-page civil rights complaint with the California Civil Rights Department before proceeding with a federal lawsuit weeks later. In that lawsuit, Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, body shaming, and leading a smear campaign to ruin her reputation—allegations Baldoni has denied.

Baldoni and his team countered by claiming Lively manipulated text message evidence and misled the public about their working relationship. Lively’s lawsuit also named Baldoni’s collaborators, including Wayfarer Studios, its CEO and financial backers, and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel.

In response, Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit on January 16 against Lively, Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane, alleging defamation and extortion. The lawsuit followed a $250 million defamation suit Baldoni filed against a major U.S. newspaper over its December 21 article titled “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” which the paper strongly denies.

Since Lively’s complaint, Baldoni has faced mounting fallout, including being dropped by WME, which also represents Lively and Reynolds. WME has denied any suggestion that the couple pressured them to sever ties with Baldoni.

Both legal teams have since agreed to consolidate their federal cases into one trial.

Released on August 9, It Ends with Us, starring Lively, Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar, and Kevin McKidd, became a box office success. Adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, the film grossed $148 million domestically and $350 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Lively, who first gained fame in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) and later starred on Gossip Girl (2007–2012), has also appeared in The Town (2010), The Shallows (2016), A Simple Favor (2018), and The Rhythm Section (2020).

Baldoni is best known for his role as Rafael Solano on Jane the Virgin (2014–2019). He has directed films like Five Feet Apart (2019) and Clouds (2020), and authored the 2021 book Man Enough on redefining masculinity.