Blake Lively Subpoenas Justin Baldoni for Phone Records in Alleged Smear Campaign
Blake Lively is obtaining Justin Baldoni's phone records to find more proof of a supposed smear campaign against her.
Lively's attorneys have issued subpoenas to AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. They seek the phone records of Baldoni, 41, along with producer Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, co-founder of Baldoni’s team at Wayfarer Studios, as reported by Variety on Wednesday, February 12. Furthermore, Lively's legal representatives aim to collect records from Baldoni's publicists, Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan.
A spokesperson for Lively indicated, "Phone records from all involved defendants will reveal the individuals connected to the smear campaign against Ms. Lively." They added, "Such records will deliver vital evidence regarding who participated, and details about when, where, and how their retaliation strategy functioned."
In response, Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, remarked that Lively, 37, has requested "every single call, text, data log, and even real-time location information" from the last two and a half years.
"This expansive fishing expedition shows they are hopelessly searching for any factual basis for their claims, which are demonstrably false," Freedman stated. "They will not uncover anything."
Lively’s public feud with Baldoni began in December 2024, following her sexual harassment lawsuit against him related to their collaboration on "It Ends With Us." She also demanded thousands of texts, emails, and documents, which The New York Times published in its extensive report on Lively’s allegations. She claims Baldoni and his crisis management team plotted to damage her image to conceal her harassment complaints.
Baldoni has denied these allegations and countersued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane, claiming $400 million in damages. Additionally, Lively’s team issued further subpoenas to AOL and Cloudflare as well as consulting crisis expert Jed Wallace, who Lively accused of orchestrating efforts against her. (Wallace previously sued Lively this month, rejecting her claims.)
Her attorneys, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, said, "Ms. Lively’s discovery process will reveal the people and strategies that have worked to ‘destroy’ her reputation and family over the past year."
A representative for Lively expressed eagerness to investigate Jed Wallace's complete business model and his distractions regarding the real sexual harassment and retaliation claims made by Lively. They expressed anticipation to commence this aspect of the discovery.
Lively and Baldoni are scheduled for trial in March 2026. However, during a court session on February 3, federal judge Lewis J. Liman indicated that a trial could be expedited due to the public nature of their ongoing legal disputes.
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