A decision has been made about the protective order Blake Lively fought for amid her legal battle with Justin Baldoni!
As previously reported, the 37-year-old actress demanded the protective order to block her It Ends With US co-star/director’s team from releasing receipts. Justin wanted to reveal as much evidence as possible to the public to defend himself against the accusations against him, which included that he sexually harassed her and launched a smear campaign against her in retaliation.
Related: Taylor Swift ‘Not Afraid’ Of Blake Lively Mess, Says Insider!
Both parties previously agreed to one. However, Blake requested a strong protective order late last month as she, her family, and supporters of hers “have received violent, profane, sexist, and threatening communications.” She asked for an attorneys’ eyes only category “which applies to ‘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.”
Basically, Blake does not want some evidence to get out! Whether it’s because the receipts are damning or she is trying to protect someone else, like (former?) best friend Taylor Swift, who knows, but she is determined to keep the proof out of the public eye! Now, a judge has made a decision on the matter!
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ on Thursday, Blake is getting the protective order! Per the docs, the judge issued the order allowing Blake and Justin’s legal teams to choose to keep sensitive material for “attorneys’ eyes only” and away from the public. However, People reported the judge determined the designation can only be applied if the material is “highly likely to cause a significant business, commercial, financial or privacy injury.” The judge pointed out the risk of sensitive information being spread through gossip:
“And where confidential information is not disclosed to the media, it may spread by gossip and innuendo to those in the tight artistic community in a position to do harm to one or the other of the parties but in a manner that might not be readily and immediately detected.”
This sounds like a huge victory for the mom of four! She got what she wanted… but there’s also a win in here for Justin. Per TMZ, the judge also noted that “the Court is unlikely to seal or otherwise afford confidential treatment” for any documents exchanged between Blake and Justin that become evidence in the trial — meaning everything will come out eventually if this goes to trial next year and they don’t settle! Blake could end up only delaying the inevitable here!
Justin’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, is seemingly happy with the decision! He told TMZ:
“We are fully in agreement with the Court’s decision to provide a narrow scope of protections to categories such as private mental health records and personal security measures that have never been of interest to us as opposed to Ms. Lively’s exceedingly over broad demand for documents for a 2.5 year period of time which the court rightly quashed.”
Freedman stressed that he will continue to push back on Blake trying to impede Jusitn’s ability to defend himself, saying:
“We remain focused on the necessary communications that will directly contradict Ms. Lively’s unfounded accusations. We will oppose any efforts by Ms. Lively and her team to hamper our clients’ ability to defend against her attacks by incorrectly categorizing important information as ‘trade secrets,’ especially considering there were no issues in providing these communications willingly to the New York Times.”
A spokesperson for Blake also seemed satisfied with how things turned out. They commented:
“Today, the Court rejected the Wayfarer Parties’ objections and entered the protections needed to ensure the free flow of discovery material without any risk of witness intimidation or harm to any individual’s security. With this order in place, Ms. Lively will move forward in the discovery process to obtain even more of the evidence that will prove her claims in Court.”
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments!
[Image via Soul Boom w/Rainn Wilson/YouTube, MEGA/WENN]
