The judge dismisses Justin Baldoni’s letter accusing Blake Lively to extort Taylor Swift with a warning
After the filtration of a incendiary letter in which I accused Blake Lively to try to extort Taylor Swiftthe defense of the actress has achieved legally stop Its diffusion. A federal judge has decided Remove the file from the file judicial, qualifying the maneuver as inappropriate and potentially defamatory.
The letter, signed by Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman, claimed that Lively’s legal team had contacted a Taylor Swift representative, demanding than the singer issued a public statement in support To the actress. Not doing so, threatened to disseminate messages of personal text of years of relationship with Lively.
According to the letter, a swift spokesman “replied to thiss inappropriate threats and apparently extortion “in at least one communication written with Lively’s lawyers. Freedman requested access to these exchanges, arguing that they would serve to prove that Lively is intimidating and coercing witnesses Within the ongoing litigation. However, beyond an anonymous source “with a high probability of having reliable information”, no additional tests were provided.
Michael Gottlieb, Blake Lively’s lawyer, denied categorically The accusations.
Now, The judge Lewis Liman, from the Southern District Court of New York, has resolved that The letter must be deleted of the Judicial file and launched A warning direct to the Baldoni legal team: “Lawyers are informed that future improper uses of the judicial file may be sanctioned“
The judge also pointed out that the document had a clear media purposeby insinuating that Lively and his lawyers tried to extort a high profile figure. In addition, he stressed that allowing its inclusion in the process would make the court a “deposit of DIFMAMATORY DECLARATIONS For press consumption. “
“The court has authority to eliminate presentations that are abusive and improper“He explained.
Lively’s lawyers argue that the letter was presented with the intention of “airing” defamatory accusations through the judicial system. In New York, the law protects the media against possible demands when they report on judicial documents, which would have allowed serious accusations against Lively to spread widely.
The letter was registered a few days after Baldoni’s legal team will formally quote Taylor Swift To declare.
His alleged involvement in the legal battle comes from a meeting in 2023, when Lively invited Baldoni to his home in New York to discuss changes in a scene of the movie It Ends with Us. The director states that, once there, he was surprised by the presence of Ryan Reynolds – Marido de Lively – and Swift herself, who praised the actress’s version and, supposedly, pressed her to accept the modifications she had made.
