Justin Baldoni explains why Blake Lively calls his headquarters ‘Buckingham Palace’

The actress’ house was brought up several times during their confrontation and is also the place where the director told her that he had been circumcised while she was pregnant.

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively have been locked in a legal battle since she accused him of sexual harassment on the set of “It Ends With Us.”

Baldoni filed for a deposition in his ongoing battle with Lively on October 6, 2025 in Los Angeles.

In the transcripts obtained by People Magazinethe actor claimed that Lively called her New York home office “Buckingham Palace”, because of the number of famous celebrities who come there.

“She called it Buckingham Palace, as she said, because so many celebrities walked there,” Baldoni said. “I think it was his office in his penthouse, which was where Ms. Lively had requested all of our meetings be held.”

The two have exchanged several accusations since the “Gossip Girl” actress sued him for sexually harassing her on the set of “It Ends With Us,” and also launching a smear campaign against her, which he denies.

He sued her, accusing her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion, but a judge has since dismissed the suit.

Lively’s penthouse has become a recurring figure in the legal showdown as references to it have been made repeatedly.

In a previous filing, Baldoni claimed this was the place where Reynolds “reprimanded” him for allegedly “shaming” his wife during the filming of “It Ends With Us,” according to People.

The Manhattan penthouse was also where Baldoni mentioned to a pregnant Lively that he had been circumcised at a time when they were talking about his baby on the way.

According to the transcript of Baldoni’s deposition, Lively’s attorney, Michael J. Gottlieb, asked her, “Did you at any time indicate to Ms. Lively whether you were circumcised?” and he said, “Yes.”

He was then asked if the actress had asked him such a question, to which he replied: “Directly, no.” Gottlieb went further and asked him who else was in the room when he made the comment.

Baldoni responded: “There were people everywhere. Mr. Reynolds was in and out of the conversation. She had, I think, two nannies. I felt like there was a housekeeper there. Her assistant was walking around. I think she had two assistants there. She and I were sitting on the couch, but there were people all around.”

Newly revealed texts show how Baldoni became frustrated working with Lively and accused her of setting him up by refusing a stunt double in sex scenes.

The actor sent the text to his former agent at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME), Danny Greenberg, adding that he had a “very, very bad week” with her.

He noted that she suggested they meet at her house before taking issue with how the film’s romantic scenes would be shot.

Baldoni claims she “refused” to use a body double during the intimate scene, prompting Sony executives and producer Todd Black to intervene.

“This is just to set a trap for me,” he wrote, also sharing that she wanted a double to be used in her place.

Baldoni, in his alleged text message to his former agent, expressed his displeasure with the way Lively insisted that they both be dressed while filming intimate scenes.

The actor called the whole arrangement a “gigantic clusterf-ck” and noted in the text that he was giving Lively “95 percent of what she wants for peace.”

However, Baldoni said the experience of working with “an actress who rewrites the writer and director” had been “very exhausting” and “time consuming” for him.