Blake Lively Seeks Justin Baldoni's Phone Records to Uncover Alleged Reputation Attack
Blake Lively is taking legal action to uncover the truth behind an alleged smear campaign she claims was orchestrated by her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.
Lively, 37, is asking for phone records from Baldoni, his associates, and his PR team to support her accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation.
The legal dispute, which began with Lively's December 2024 complaint, has escalated with Baldoni's $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloane, People said.
The case, set for trial in March 2026, has stirred public attention and courtroom drama.
Lively's legal team, led by attorneys Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, recently issued subpoenas for phone records from major service providers, such as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
These subpoenas target Baldoni, his associates, and crisis management experts, including Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan. The goal is to expose the full extent of what Lively's team calls a "retaliation plan" to sabotage her career.
In addition to the phone records, Lively's lawyers have also sought Internet records from companies such as Cloudflare and AOL, hoping to trace the digital footprint of the alleged smear campaign.
Lively Pushes for Investigation into Alleged Retaliation Efforts by Baldoni's Crisis Consultant
A spokesperson for Lively stressed that these records could provide "critical and irrefutable evidence" of when and how the retaliation unfolded.
The tension between Lively and Baldoni began after the actress accused him of sexual harassment during the making of their film "It Ends With Us."
In her complaint, Lively claimed Baldoni's PR team had worked to bury her reputation in response to the allegations.
The actress also subpoenaed documents, which were later published in The New York Times, to support her claims.
Baldoni, who has denied the allegations, countered with a lawsuit accusing Lively and her team of civil extortion and defamation.
According to US Magazine, his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, responded to Lively's subpoenas by describing them as an "extraordinary" fishing expedition, criticizing the effort as a desperate attempt to find evidence for what he called "provably false claims."
Meanwhile, Lively's legal team is also looking into the involvement of crisis consultant Jed Wallace, who has been accused of participating in the alleged campaign against her.
Wallace, whose firm Street Relations is named in the subpoenas, filed a separate defamation lawsuit against Lively earlier this month.
As Lively pushes for a deeper investigation into the methods used to discredit her allegedly, her legal representatives remain determined to uncover the truth. "We are looking forward to investigating more about Jed Wallace's entire business model," a spokesperson for Lively said, highlighting the ongoing effort to expose what they see as a concerted campaign to distract from Lively's harassment claims.
