Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni
Do You Jurors Know Taylor Swift By Any Chance?
Published
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni‘s respective teams have submitted a list of questions they want to ask potential jurors … including one focused on whether they know some of the famous faces who could testify or be mentioned at trial.
Lively’s lawyers submitted the questions — which they worked on collaboratively with Baldoni’s — and #25 mentions several big names.
The question reads, “Do you know any of the following people that you may hear from or about over the course of the trial?” and is followed by a long list that includes Taylor Swift, Ryan Reynolds, Hasan Minhaj, Jenny Slate, “It Ends with Us” author Colleen Hoover and Blake’s sister, Robyn Lively.
Unclear if they mean knowing these celebs personally or just as a fan … but the court’s going to be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know Swift AND Reynolds, let alone the rest of the list.
As we said … the two sides worked on the list of questions together — but that doesn’t mean they’ve agreed on every single one.
Take question #36 for example … Lively’s team wants to ask “Do you have a view that because a person has brought a lawsuit, those claims necessarily have merit?”
However, Baldoni’s side wants to change the question to “Do you have a view that because a woman has brought a lawsuit accusing someone of harassment, discrimination or retaliation, those claims necessarily have merit?” — which Lively argues is inappropriate because it focuses the question on gender.
As you know … the trial is set to begin next month — and Baldoni recently secured a legal victory when a judge tossed Lively’s sexual harassment and defamation claims.
TMZ.com
Lively’s lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, told us this is only a temporary setback since the judge didn’t toss the claims on merit … but Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, lauded the decision as a massive win.
Baldoni’s also asked the court to keep Hoover and Slate’s testimony out of trial because of the judge’s aforementioned decision … claiming the alleged experiences of Jenny and Colleen are a “grab bag of awkward comments, minor confrontations, and perceived slights would have been inadmissible even if Lively’s sexual harassment claims proceeded to trial.”
