Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni lawyers spar during first court hearing

Lawyers for actors Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively spent their archetypal time successful tribunal sparring implicit the intersexual harassment and different allegations that person erupted surrounding their film, It Ends With Us.

In December, Lively filed a ineligible ailment against Baldoni, accusing him of intersexual harassment and starting a smear run against her. Baldoni has denied her claims and, successful response, sued her connected a assorted grounds, including defamation.

The movie co-stars were not required to be the pretrial gathering astatine national tribunal successful Manhattan connected Monday.

But the hour-and-a-half proceeding inactive turned heated arsenic lawyers for each broadside claimed the different was badmouthing their lawsuit extracurricular of court.

The lawsuit "is expected to beryllium resolved present successful court", Lively's attorney, Michael Gottlieb told Jude Lewis Liman. "It's not expected to beryllium resolved successful the press."

Mr Gottlieb accused Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, of making "inflammatory extrajudicial comments" astir Lively's "character and motives" during appearances connected quality channels.

In response, Mr Freedman said Mr Gottlieb was trying to enforce a "gag order" preventing him from talking to the media. Baldoni, helium said, was the 1 who had suffered harm to his reputation.

"My lawsuit is devastated financially and emotionally," Mr Freedman told the court.

Based connected a bestselling caller by Colleen Hoover, It Ends With Us became a container bureau deed aft it was released successful August. But contempt its fiscal success, rumours of a bitter feud betwixt Baldoni and Lively began swirling earlier the movie was adjacent released.

• Justin Baldoni ramps up Blake Lively feud with caller website
• Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni: What you request to know

Both sides successful the ineligible fights person "given the nationalist plentifulness to feast upon", Judge Liman said connected tribunal successful Monday.

He said that if the lawsuit ended up being "litigated successful the press", helium could beryllium forced to determination up a March 2026 proceedings day truthful that jurors bash not go prejudiced against either of the defendants.

The justice besides said helium would follow a New York Bar Association measurement - Rule 3.6 - that bars lawyers from making statements publically that could sway the result of a trial.

Monday's proceeding came aft Baldoni filed an amended ailment against Lively, which included a 168-page "timeline" of events successful the case. His squad besides launched a website with the caller ailment arsenic good arsenic different publically disposable videos and substance messages surrounding the case.

Lively's lawyer brought up the website successful tribunal connected Monday. "Who created the website?" Mr Gottlieb asked. "Who funded it?"

Mr Gottlieb besides took contented with out-takes Baldoni has released from a romanticist country successful It Ends With Us, which helium says proves that Lively's allegations of intersexual harassment are unfounded.

But Lively has responded by saying the footage of the brace filming a dilatory creation country is "damning" and corroborates her claims.

Lively's squad connected Monday pledged to record an amended ailment of its own, which would impact adjacent much radical successful the case.

Several different parties already are embroiled successful the ineligible drama. Baldoni is suing the New York Times for libel, claiming his co-star gave the outlet beforehand entree to her civilian rights complaint. The Times was the archetypal a communicative to people astir her suit past December. The New York Times has denied these allegations.

Several nationalist relations firms who worked with Baldoni and Lively during their movie are besides defendants successful the case.

Some of those matters volition beryllium dealt with successful a abstracted proceedings aft Lively and Baldoni's, Judge Liman said connected Monday.

He besides said Baldoni and Lively's ineligible teams would request to hold to a protective order, a ineligible papers that shields radical progressive successful the lawsuit from different idiosyncratic accused of abusing oregon harassing them.

Such an bid is necessary, Judge Liman said, due to the fact that of the "significant fig of high-profile individuals" successful the lawsuit and the "nature of the allegations".

During the hearing, Baldoni's lawyer besides pressed the justice to instrumentality to the pre-trial docket that some sides suggested, saying his lawsuit wanted the lawsuit to advancement "as rapidly arsenic possible".

Judge Liman agreed to Baldoni's lawyer's request, with a fewer tiny docket changes.

"There volition travel a clip that the assemblage volition talk connected this issue," Judge Liman told the court.