It’s hard to be reminded of your mortality, but from time to time, celebrities apparently need to hear it.
And that’s allegedly what happened to Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni when a judge at an emergency hearing told the actors who are suing each other that “celebrity is fleeting.”
The Lively and Baldoni scandal has been making headlines recently with Baldoni’s counter cases against Lively getting thrown out in June.
Last December, Lively filed a lawsuit with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging that Baldoni created a hostile workplace through inappropriate comments while shooting the film It Ends With Us.
“Their names were unknown to me”: Judge in Blake Lively case says he didn’t know them previously
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According to various online accounts, Lively and Baldoni were called for an emergency hearing on July 19th, the night before Lively’s deposition was supposed to take place (it has since been rescheduled for July 31st).
During the hearing, Judge Lewis Liman warned the actors that “celebrity is fleeting.”
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Judge Liman reportedly admitted during the hearing that he had no idea who Blake Lively or Justin Baldoni were.
“I’m well aware that your client [Baldoni] is a person of high profile. So is the plaintiff [Lively],” the story quoted Liman as saying.
Image credits: NDZ / Star Max / Getty Images
“’I have told you before, before I came into this case, I didn’t know who your client was, I did not know who the plaintiff was. Their names were unknown to me,” he continued.
Lively’s response to hearing that the Judge didn’t know who she was is drumming up the internet rumor mill.
“I’m team Justin, but this seems fake”: Netizens call foul on Lively getting upset over judge’s admonition
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Several publications are reporting that Lively took the news poorly.
According to Realitytea.com, a witness who saw Lively’s reaction to the judge saying he didn’t know her left her “rattled.”
Quoting an unnamed source, the publication says: “The source recounted that Lively looked like she’d been slapped,” the story said, continuing, “The judge denying her fame came as a surprise to her because she is used to being adored and fawned over.”
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Whether she really did look like she’d been slapped is up for debate.
Some people say the story could be fake because Judge Liam certainly does know who Lively and Baldoni are.
“I mean I’m team Justin but this article seems… fake,” one person said.
Image credits: blakelively / Instagram
Other people noted that Lively and Baldoni might not have even been at the emergency hearing.
“I didn’t realise she was present at the hearing. I thought it was just her legal team. This doesn’t make sense,” one person said.
Others are saying it’s all a ploy invented by Lively’s lawyers to change the public opinion that she is getting preferential treatment.
Judge Liam also said that “celebrity is fleeting” regarding special treatment
Image credits: justinbaldoni / Instagram
That preferential treatment was the topic of discussion during that same emergency meeting with Jude Liam.
Liam’s remarks came during the hearing when Baldoni‘s attorney, Kevin Fritz, complained that Lively, 37, had been given “special treatment simply because she’s a celebrity,” with regard to delaying her deposition.
Media reports, however, that Judge Liman stopped Fritz, saying that “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.”
“It does not help me – and it’s not helped me in this case – to start throwing around accusations,” the judge is quoted as saying.
Image credits: Gent’s Talk Podcast / YouTube
“As far as I’m concerned, whether they have celebrity at the moment or not is irrelevant. Celebrity, as you know, and everybody knows, can be fleeting. It’s also not relevant to the court,” Judge Liam reportedly said.
Lively had sought to control the scope of her deposition, asking for a change of location, which she was granted. Her deposition is scheduled for July 31st.
She also asked that the questioning be limited to seven hours. It’s not clear whether that request was also granted.
Blake Lively’s case against Justin Baldoni will take place in March of 2026
Image credits: It Ends With Us / Netflix
Troubles began last summer during the press tour for the film.
Baldoni directed and co-starred in the film, but avoided public interactions with Lively on the red carpet. In December of 2024, Lively filed a formal complaint, alleging s*xual harassment on the film’s set—including unwelcome touching, improvised intimacy, and invasions of privacy (such as entering her trailer while she was breastfeeding).
And she accused Baldoni and his PR team of orchestrating a retaliatory smear campaign.
Baldoni responded with his own suit: a $250 million libel suit against The New York Times and a $400 million countersuit against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist, accusing them of defamation, extortion, and undermining his creative control.
Image credits: It Ends With Us / Netflix
His cases were thrown out in June of this year.
A trial on Lively’s claims is scheduled for March of next year.
The messy legal battle has only snowballed in recent months, with the incident apparently affecting Lively’s friendship with her close pal, Taylor Swift.
Baldoni’s team subpoenaed Lively for text messages, emails, and any other messages between the friends.
One memorable exchange included a text from Lively in which she appeared to refer to herself as the Game of Thrones character Khaleesi, and to Swift as one of her ‘dragons.’
Netizens remain divided over the Lively-Baldoni scandal
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