Justin Baldoni’s Team Squabble With Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds’ Lawyers Over Subpoenas As Filing Deadline Approaches
Amid a very public weekend for Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, attorneys for Justin Baldoni are doing everything they can to quash a series of subpoenas to telecom companies and others from the power couple to look at calls, texts, emails and maybe anything else they can get their eyes on in the sprawling hostility between the It Ends With Us stars.
Efforts that the Gossip Girl vet, the Deadpool lead and their lawyers want to give no quarter to in this very 21st century version of who-said-what-when? In a case(s) that seems to spin out of control culturally and sometimes legally ever since Lively submitted her sexual harassment and alleged “astroturfing” retaliation compliant with California’s Civil Rights department on December 20 and the subsequent multi-million dollar lawsuits, Lively and Reynolds’ legal team issued subpoenas on February 12 to the likes of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, as well as AOL, Cloudflare, Inc., and one-time self-declared “hired gun” Jed Wallace.
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Over a year out from a scheduled trial start date of March 29, 2026 and with some of the digital aspects of the PR Dark Arts now in the spotlight, the point of the paperwork is to get records for Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, CEO Jamey Heath, financier Steve Sarowitz, publicists Melissa Nathan (of Depp vs Heard trial fame) and Jennifer Abel, and others connected to those individuals to try to paint a complete picture of who was talking to whom and what were they saying, especially about Lively. Also, in a matter overflowing already with cherry-picked texts and more from both sides and others now pulled into the calamity, the info supplied by the subpoenas could be used to establish what the chain of command was in the alleged online smear campaign that tainted Lively before the IEWU premiere in August last year and kneecapped a product launch the actress was promoting.
Claiming that they seek “only non-content data (such as call logs),” the couple’s attorney Esra Hudson on February 15 sent federal Judge Lewis J. Liman (yes, director Doug’s brother, hum “It’s A Small World After All” now) a letter refuting Team Baldoni’s Valentines’ Day request to put the brakes on what they call the “flagrantly overbroad subpoenas served by Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.”
Not today, said the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips partner.
“The records bear directly on Ms. Lively’s claims that the Wayfarer Parties coordinated a retaliatory campaign against her for raising concerns about misconduct on the set of the Film,” Hudson told the NYC-based judge, hoping to knock down any claims of overreach or being overbroad from the other side. “The requests are also tailored to key individuals and relevant time periods, may resolve core factual disputes, and are proportional,” she went on to say. “For example, the requests associated with crisis communications individuals, who appear to have started their work on behalf of Baldoni and Wayfarer in 2024, are limited in time, to a matter of months.”
With the potential redline of the Presidents Day long weekend defanged and an amended complaint from Lively and Reynolds’ team required by February 18, Baldoni attorney Michael Schuster wrote Judge Liman on Sunday to call the information presented by Lively’s lawyer “flatly false.”
“If the Lively Parties were seeking only call, text, and data logs, their Subpoenas would have asked for ‘All call, text, and data logs for phone number [xxx-xxx-xxxx].’ But that is not what they actually ask for (Bold theirs),” the Meister Seelig & Fein PLLC partner exclaimed as Lively and Reynolds themselves were back on the A-list party circuit for the first time in almost two months, including attending the SNL50: The Anniversary Special taping at 30 Rock.
“Instead, the Subpoenas seek ‘All Documents’ relating to the various phone numbers, which is a request of the broadest possible scope and clearly encompasses content as well as—as explicitly requested—location information,” Schuster continued.
The lawyer went on to describe a February 14 meeting between Team Baldoni and Team Lively over the subpoenas that clearly went nowhere fast. In that mix, add the looming return date for the subpoenas and the fact that “certain of the providers have already contacted our clients indicating they intend to comply,” Schuster noted in his letter to Judge Liman’s bulging mailbox: “We respectfully reiterate our request that the Court quash the Subpoenas as promptly as possible.”
With that, also on the calendar, Lively and Reynolds’ side have until February 18 to file their anticipated complaint to the initial NYE document in which they sued Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, Heath, billionaire Sarowitz and flacks Nathan and Abel. Already remarked upon at a hearing earlier this month before Judge Liman, the amended complaint expected Tuesday is very likely to include new details of the dispute on and off the IEWU set. Additionally, alleged social media manipulator Wallace, who Lively’s side say was brought on board to turn the internet against her, is almost certainly going to be added to the suit – especially after Team Lively dropped their deposition demand against the Lone Star state keyboard wiz in Texas court on February 4.
For his part, denying he had anything to do with any smear campaign, Wallace hit Lively with a $7 million defamation suit on February 5. After being sued by Lively on New Year’s Eve, Baldoni and crew sued the actress, Reynolds and their PR chief Leslie Sloane on January 16 in a $400 million defamation and extortion action. Recently ending the $250 million NYE-filed suit against the New York Times for the December 21 ‘We Can Bury Anyone: Inside the Hollywood Smear Machine’ piece, Baldoni’s lead lawyer Bryan Freedman amended his clients’ complaint right at the top of this month to now include the Gray Lady.
In an ironically rare state of unity, both sides last week stressed to Judge Liman that they are not even contemplating a settlement and want to forgo mediation, so don’t think for a second this roller coaster is slowing down any time soon. For instance, that Lively/Reynolds amended complaint is due very soon. For instance also, despite unsubstantiated social media missives that Lively and A Simple Favor co-star Anna Kendrick were not the best of buddies, the two are headed to SXSW for the March 7 premiere of Paul Feig-directed sequel Another Simple Favor from Amazon MGM Studios. As late, great SNL legend Chris Farley might ask: “Can you say media frenzy?”
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