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In a move straight out of a legal thriller, Blake Lively quietly filed a lawsuit months before the world knew she was accusing It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment — and the details are shaking Hollywood to its core.
According to a bombshell Daily Mail report, Lively’s company, Vanzan, secretly launched legal action in September 2024, not under her name, but as a stealth operation to subpoena text messages from Baldoni’s former PR team. The target? A treasure trove of digital receipts that could prove what Lively’s camp now alleges was a coordinated smear campaign to ruin her reputation while promoting their film.
The subpoena was sent to Stephanie Jones, Baldoni’s ex-publicist, demanding access to communications involving Baldoni, Lively, and Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds. What they got back, sources say, was a stash of texts between PR staffer Jennifer Abel and crisis manager Melissa Nathan. One chilling message allegedly read: “We can bury anyone.” Lively’s lawyers are using this as Exhibit A in their claim that her co-star’s camp plotted to discredit her behind the scenes.
But here’s where it gets even murkier. That hidden lawsuit — filed under the radar and without Lively’s name — was quietly withdrawn on December 19, just two days before she filed her formal harassment complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. Legal chess, or legal trickery? Depends on who you ask.
Baldoni’s powerhouse attorney, Bryan Freedman, wasted no time calling foul. In a statement to Page Six, he slammed the subpoena tactic as a “sham lawsuit” with “no legal basis,” accusing Lively and Reynolds of manipulating the legal system to fish for evidence without facing public scrutiny. “This was a clear abuse of process,” he said.
Lively’s legal team, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, fired back hard. They defended the lawsuit as a standard legal tool — a legitimate Doe case meant to quietly investigate serious misconduct before making public accusations. According to them, it worked. The texts, they say, uncovered a disturbing “plan to destroy Blake Lively,” just as the film’s promotional tour hit its peak last August.
Then came the bombshell: Lively went public with her claims on December 21, and filed her formal lawsuit on December 31, 2024. Baldoni’s response? A jaw-dropping $400 million countersuit, accusing Lively of defamation and malicious interference. That case is now a legal battleground, with Lively and Reynolds fighting to have it dismissed.
As of now, the courts will decide whose narrative holds up. But one thing’s for certain: what started as a quietly filed subpoena has turned into a full-blown war of reputations, with Hollywood’s legal elite — and the public — watching every twist and turn.