The high-profile legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni continues. However, it looks like Ryan Reynolds’ wife may have experienced a Mariah Carey-esque moment after the judge overseeing her case against the Jane the Virgin actor reportedly embarrassed her in court.
Lively first filed a legal complaint against Baldoni in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign to damage her reputation. Her It Ends With Us co-star later filed a countersuit against her and Reynolds in January 2025, alleging extortion and defamation. He has denied all of Lively’s claims.
While the judge has dismissed Baldoni’s lawsuit, Lively’s case is still moving forward. She has even requested to choose the location of her deposition, which has been rescheduled for July 31.
What the Judge Told Blake Lively in Court?
During an emergency hearing on Wednesday, Judge Lewis Liman allegedly remarked that he hadn’t heard of either Lively or Baldoni before taking on their case—seemingly echoing Mariah Carey’s iconic “I don’t know her” comment when asked about Jennifer Lopez back in 2003.
The judge made the comment ahead of the 37-year-old actress’s scheduled deposition, after Baldoni’s lawyer, Kevin Fritz, suggested that Lively was receiving “special treatment simply because she’s a celebrity.”
Seemingly irritated by Fritz’s claim, the judge quickly shut it down, calling it a “serious issue” and stopping him from making such “accusations.”
“There are problems that the court is trying to deal with and it’s helpful for me if you frame it in language and words that the court is accustomed to,” Lima retorted. “It does not help me — and it’s not helped me in this case — to start throwing around accusations.”
The judge acknowledged that both Baldoni and Lively are “people of high profile,” but reiterated that he had not known who they were before being assigned to the case.
“I didn’t know who your client was, I did not know who the plaintiff was. Their names were unknown to me,” he stressed.
Liman continued, stating that their celebrity status was irrelevant to the proceedings.
“Celebrity, as you know, and everybody knows, can be fleeting. It’s also not relevant to the court,” he added. “So, your point is well taken that celebrity is irrelevant. Now let’s make it irrelevant. We don’t need to talk about it.”
Why Did the Judge Dismiss Justin Baldoni’s $400 Million Lawsuit Against Blake Lively?
In June, Judge Lewis Liman granted the motion to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Blake Lively, along with the $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times, in a shocking legal twist.
The judge explained that the 41-year-old actor and Wayfarer Studios had not alleged that “Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her [California Civil Rights Department] complaint, which are privileged.”
Liman went on to say that Baldoni’s lawsuit claimed “Reynolds and [publicist Leslie] Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct, and that The Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign.”
However, he added, “The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the ‘Times’ would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law.”
But while the court dismissed the defamation claims, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, emphasized that Lively hasn’t won just yet.
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