Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni judge responds to 'accusations'

Lewis Liman is a judge overseeing the court case of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who has said he did not know either of the stars, despite them being celebrities.

His statement comes in response to the 41-year-old's lawyer, Kevin Fritz, who said the It Ends With Us actress was being given “special treatment simply because she’s a celebrity.”

The "accusations," Lewis said, were a “serious issue,” noting, “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."

He continued, "It does not help me — and it’s not helped me in this case — to start throwing around accusations," adding, “I’m well aware that [Baldoni] is a person of high profile. So is [Lively]." 

“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," the judge added.

However, Lewis emphasized that the status of the individuals has no bearing on the court's rulings.

“As far as I’m concerned, whether they have celebrity [status] 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,” the judge noted. 

“So, your point is well taken that celebrity is irrelevant. Now let’s make it irrelevant. We don’t need to talk about it," he concluded.

Last December, Blake accused Justin of sexual harassment during their work on It Ends With Us. Meanwhile, the latter denied the allegation.