Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ legal team requested a gag order be implemented against Justin Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, after he released unedited “It Ends With Us” footage.
On Tuesday, the couple sent a letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman asking him to prohibit Freedman from talking to the media, insisting that his comments could “taint the jury pool” should her sexual harassment case make it to court.
“As Ms. Lively’s counsel have attempted, repeatedly, to caution Mr. Freedman, federal litigation must be conducted in court and according to the relevant rules of professional conduct,” the letter states, per several outlets.
Lively and Reynolds’ counsel claim that Freedman “has given television interviews, appeared on podcasts, issued inflammatory written statements, and leaked information (including, remarkably, documents as banal as document preservation demands to third parties) to the Hollywood press and tabloid media” virtually “every day” since the “Gossip Girl” alum filed her complaint against Baldoni on Dec. 20.
The letter alleges that Freedman’s statements have been “deliberately aimed at undermining the ‘character, credibility, [and] reputation’ of numerous relevant parties.”
Along with continuing “the campaign of retaliation” alleged in Lively’s original cease-and-desist, they claim his statements also “contain numerous new false statements about Ms. Lively and others.”
The motion included several examples of Freedman’s alleged misconduct — such as the newly released video footage and plans to launch a website meant to “directly quash” Lively’s allegations.
While Lively’s counsel argues that Freedman’s behavior violates New York State’s Rules of…
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