Blake Lively asks for more protection following 'violent' messages amid Justin Baldoni legal battle
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds submitted a letter requesting 'additional protections' after amending the original lawsuit to add 'significant additional evidence and corroboration'.
Lively filed a lawsuit against her It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni - among others - in December, alleging sexual harassment and taking part in a campaign to destroy her reputation.
Baldoni denied the accusations and returned the gesture with his own $400 million lawsuit - with her legal team also denying the allegations - and Lively has since amended her original complaint, with the updated version having been filed on February 18.
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The amended complaint claims two other actors from It Ends with Us have agreed to testify about Baldoni's alleged behavior and Lively's lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said the amended version of the lawsuit 'includes previously undisclosed communications' between Lively and 'numerous other witnesses' and 'provides significant additional evidence and corroboration of her original claims,' People reports.
The amendment also includes the alleged 'emotional impact' left on Lively, Reynolds and their children, which details the Gossip Girl suffering from 'grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety', while the Deadpool actor is said to be have been 'affected mentally, physically, and professionally by his wife’s and children’s pain'.
In response to the amended complaint, Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman said to People on February 19 that it's 'filled unsubstantial hearsay of unnamed persons who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims'.
He argued Baldoni and his clients 'have been transparent in providing receipts, real time documents and video showing a completely different story than what has been manipulated and cherry picked to the media,' arguing the 'upcoming depositions' will be 'enlightening' and reveal Lively's 'lack of actual evidence'.
Since the amended complaint was filed, on Thursday (February 20), attorneys for Lively and Reynolds submitted a letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman in the Southern District of New York requesting 'additional protections' alleging Lively and others who've publicly shown their support for the star have been on the receiving end of 'violent, profane, sexist and threatening communications'.
Lively and Reynolds' team has also reportedly requested certain material be shifted into a category titled 'Attorney's Eyes only', The Independent reports.
The category is for 'Confidential Discovery Material of such a highly confidential and personal, sensitive, or proprietary nature that the revelation of such is likely to cause a competitive, business, commercial, financial, personal or privacy injury'.
Representatives for Baldoni responded stating they do 'not condone dangerous rhetoric targeted toward anyone no matter the situation'.
They told UNILAD: "Anyone receiving violent messages by anonymous parties is abhorrent.
"When private parties were wrongfully accused by Lively and her paid team of wrongdoing, they received continuous death threats and visits to private homes where young children reside after their addresses were leaked on her initial complaints.
"No one should have to face that, especially private parties who do not have means for security detail. We do not condone dangerous rhetoric targeted toward anyone no matter the situation."
UNILAD has contacted representatives for Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for comment.
Topics: Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, Celebrity, Film and TV, US News
Poppy Bilderbeck