Justin Baldoni’s recent move with the website and amended lawsuit against Blake Lively has caught the attention of Johnny Depp’s lawyer Benjamin Chew.
Chew, who represented Depp in his defamation case against Amber Heard, recently got candid about Baldoni’s new move in an exchange with Law&Crime, calling it an “aggressive” approach and “very impressive.”
“Usually, you would not do something like that before a hearing… It’s a novel approach, a bold approach,” he said in response to Baldoni’s legal team launching a website with a timeline of events and an amended legal complaint.
Chew added that Baldoni’s team, led by showbiz lawyer Bryan Freedman, appear to be walking a fine line, but have undoubtedly “vetted it carefully” before launching the website.
“Posting a pleading doesn’t seem to me to be out of bounds. These are pleadings made in the public records,” he told the outlet.
“Whenever you’re getting into work product or advocacy pieces, then I think it’s getting closer to the line.”
Chew said the biggest challenge for both sides would ultimately be convincing a jury to care about their client.
“A challenge that we had, and I think the other side had – but they really have it in this case – is to convince a jury of lay people why they should care about a dispute between two very powerful, successful, attractive actors,” he said.
Another source also clarified any misleading speculations about Baldoni’s intention with the website.
“It’s important to point out that nobody is monetizing off this. It’s simply a landing page to have access to legal documents that are already public,” a source told DailyMail.com.
“This is far from a provocation. In fact, it’s yet more evidence that Justin and his team intend to be continually transparent.”
The messy battle between Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds with Baldoni also promoted a stern response from a judge in Manhattan Federal Court on Monday.
“If it turns out that this ends up being litigated in the press in a way that would prejudice the opportunity of a fair trial… one of the tools the court has is to accelerate the date of the trial,” Judge Lewis Liman warned on Monday.
Going sooner than the trial date, currently set for March 2026, would give both parties less time for discovery and building their cases.
The court battle initially began with Lively accusing her It Ends With Us director and costar Baldoni of sexual harassment and extortion, to which, he hit back with a $400 million lawsuit, alleging defamation.
The director also sued The New York Times separately, accusing them of libel.
