Chris Pine Ordered by Judge to Be Deposed After Being Accused of Using His Overseas Vacation to Delay

A judge ordered Chris Pine to appear for a deposition within the next 20 days after the actor was accused of using various excuses to avoid being deposed, In Touch can exclusively report.

According to court document obtained by In Touch, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled Chris, 44, will have until October 25 to be deposed in the court battle with his neighbor, Helen Yu.

The judge said Chris can appear via Zoom only if he produces all documents requested by Helen. As In Touch first reported, earlier this week, Helen, a well-known entertainment lawyer, asked the court to order Chris to be deposed.

She accused the actor and his team of giving her the runaround when trying to schedule a depo date. Helen claimed she had been trying to set a date for Chris’ deposition since January 2023.

She said she served four separate notices, but the actor has yet to appear. She said that in July she was told by Chris’ team the actor would be busy filming a movie and on vacation until October.

Helen said she scheduled an October 2 deposition based on that information.

However, she said Chris’ team asked for another continuance. Helen said she needed to depose him before the trial in November.

“Either [Chris] does not want to be deposed, or his counsel is attempting to get around the trial court’s ruling denying his most recent application to continue the trial by refusing to cooperate in scheduling [Chris’] deposition and enabling discovery to be completed. In either case, the behavior is unacceptable,” Helen’s motion read.

In response, Chris asked the court to deny Helen’s emergency request. He accused Helen’s motion of being “unnecessary and misleading at best.” The actor’s lawyer said that Chris had never refused to be deposed and had been trying to work out dates with Helen.

Chris said his lead lawyer is busy with another trial at the moment and has limited availability.

The actor said he proposed extending the deadline to complete discovery in the case but Helen would not agree.

“[Helen] has not agreed and in doing so, has manufactured a claim for irreparable harm supporting this application. The court should not reward her gamesmanship,” his lawyer argued.

Weeks after the court denied Chris’ previous request, he asked for the trial date to be pushed by six weeks. On top of that, Chris said Helen never checked with him about his availability before scheduling her past deposition attempts.

“There is no consideration for [Chris’] availability and indignation after [Chris] objects,” his lawyer wrote.

“[Chris] has not appeared at these depositions because of scheduling conflicts as he travels extensively because of his career.”

The judge denied Chris’ plea and instructed him to be deposed by the end of the month. Last year, Helen sued Chris for trespass, nuisance, and negligence. The two are neighbors in L.A. and their properties share a boundary.

The entertainer purchased his three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 2,205 square-foot home in 2010 for $3 million.

In court documents, Helen accused Chris of installing numerous Ficus Benjamina trees on his property that allegedly caused issues for her.

Her lawsuit claimed, “Ficus Benjamina are known to have extremely invasive root systems. Through action or inaction, [Chris has] unreasonably, negligently, or intentionally caused or allowed the root systems of [his trees] which were planted on the boundary line between the properties and encroach upon [Helen’s home], causing substantial and ongoing damage to the [Helen’s home], including cracking of walls and substantial damages to the plumbing and pipes, pool, pool deck, and other areas of in or around [Helen’s home], creating an unreasonably unsafe condition, and interfering with [Helen’s] use and enjoyment of [her] property.”

Helen demanded unspecified damages. Chris denied all claims of wrongdoing in the suit. He countersued Helen, claiming she installed a fence that was on his property line.

Chris demanded the fence be moved. Helen’s lawyer scoffed at the countersuit. “The hardship that [Helen] would suffer if forced to removed improvements from the disputed property would be greatly disproportionate to any hardship that [Chris] would suffer if the improvements are permitted to remain,” Helen’s attorney said.

The case is ongoing.

Chris, who is currently on a press tour promoting his new children’s book, recently addressed his Princess Diaries costar Anne Hathaway announcing a third film is in the works. “It could save the world,” Chris told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager during an October 8 interview on Today With Hoda & Jenna. He also admitted, “I don’t know anything.”