Justin Baldoni seeks to block Jenny Slate and Colleen Hoover evidence in Blake Lively trial

The “It Ends With Us” legal saga between co-stars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively continued with a new filing Friday in which Baldoni asked a judge to block evidence from co-star Jenny Slate and author Colleen Hoover. Baldoni and Lively starred in the 2024 movie “It Ends With Us,” which Baldoni directed. But the movie turned litigious when Lively sued Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment on set and alleging his production company, Wayfarer Studios, retaliated against her after she complained about the alleged misconduct. Baldoni and Wayfarer have denied all of her claims. Last week, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman tossed out 10 of Lively’s 13 claims against Baldoni — including sexual harassment, defamation and conspiracy. But trial is still set for May in New York, centered on Lively’s three remaining claims: breach of contract, retaliation and aiding and abetting in retaliation. Baldoni’s attorneys filed the motion on Friday requesting the judge block evidence “of the alleged bad experiences of other women.” NBC News has reached out to Baldoni, Wayfarer and Lively for comment on the filing. Baldoni’s filing said that evidence, which centers on the alleged experiences of seven other women, is a “grab bag of awkward comments, minor confrontations, and perceived slights.” One piece of the evidence is from “It Ends With Us” co-star Jenny Slate. “Specifically, Slate complained to Lively that Baldoni said Slate looked ‘sexy’ in her character’s wardrobe (a pair of black leather pants), was ‘unprofessional,’ and sometimes made awkward jokes,” the filing said. Slate raised her concerns with producer Alex Saks and in turn “received a prompt apology from Baldoni, and experienced no further incidents,” the filing said. “Slate herself testified that she felt her issues were adequately resolved on set,” it said. The filing also seeks to block evidence from Colleen Hoover, the author of the book “It Ends With Us.” “Hoover played no part in Lively’s workplace experience. She had no contractual right to participate in the film and was not present on set,” the filing said. The other women listed include Saks; film co-star Isabela Ferrer; script writer Christy Hall; Liz Plank, the co-host of Baldoni and Jamey Heath’s podcast; and Claire Ayoub, a director who worked with Baldoni on a different film. The filing said neither Plank nor Ayoub worked on the movie and their concerns are “distinct” and “not similar to the concerns Lively professed to have about sexualized comments and encounters.” “The incidents in question are so attenuated from any actionable discrimination claim that they will serve only to waste time and confuse the jury about what is and is not relevant,” the filing said. Baldoni’s attorneys said Lively was unaware of any of these “other bad act incidents” during the filming of “It Ends With Us” except for the comment directed at Slate. “Such evidence therefore does little to establish the existence of a hostile work environment,” the filing said. Baldoni’s attorneys said Lively offered the women’s accounts as evidence “to convince the jury that Baldoni and Heath are ‘bad guys’ who should be made an example.”