Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds pursue gag order against Justin Baldoni amid legal battle

Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds are escalating their legal battle with her former co-star Justin Baldoni by doubling down on their request for a gag order.

The actress, 37, and her partner, 46, argue that 40-year-old Baldoni’s alleged behaviour, both during filming and in the media campaign that followed the release of the It Ends With Us film has been improper. They are now intent on stopping what they say is an ongoing smear campaign against Lively.

In a letter to Judge Lewis Liman, their lawyer, Esra Hudson, reinforced the need for a protective order to prevent further “extrajudicial statements” by Baldoni’s legal team.

Deadline reported that it said: “Requiring counsel to heed the ethical rules that bind them is not a gag order”.

“It is a mechanism that would ensure the proceedings in this court are not prejudiced by counsel’s conduct outside of the courtroom.”