Blake Lively requests a stronger protective order after receiving ‘violent messages’ amid Justin Baldoni lawsuit

Blake Lively has asked a judge for a stronger protective order after receiving “violent” messages amid her ongoing legal battle with It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni.

Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, have submitted a letter to a judge in New York asking for a stronger protective order (PO) than the court’s “model” one. This came after both Lively and Baldoni agreed to a PO order, as the Gossip Girl alum is suing her former colleague for sexual harassment and accusing him of orchestrating a campaign to “destroy” her reputation. These are claims Baldoni has since denied in a countersuit.

“As detailed in Ms. Lively’s Amended Complaint, Ms. Lively, her family, other members of the cast, various fact witnesses, and individuals that have spoken out publicly in support of Ms. Lively have received violent, profane, sexist, and threatening communications,” the new letter, which was obtained by E! News, stated.

In addition, the actor’s team asked for certain material to be categorized as “an Attorney’s Eyes Only,” which would make those legal documents highly confidential.

The letter also references the online backlash Lively faced last year, claiming it was “so vicious that Meta publicly stated that that ‘kind of online harassment is wrong and we condemn it.”

Reynolds and Lively’s attorneys have argued that the release of certain information is “entirely foreseeable, probable, and inevitable,” and that could result in the couple’s privacy being violated, “exposing them to threats, and creating a climate of possible witness intimidation.”

In her amended complaint, which was filed on Tuesday and obtained by The Independent, Lively addressed some of the backlash she received last summer due to Baldoni’s alleged smear campaign.

The “emotional impact” of the online scrutiny has been “extreme” for Lively and also Reynolds and their four children — James, 10, Inez, eight, Betty, five, and Olin, two — the amendment claims.

“There are days when she has struggled to get out of bed, and she frequently chooses not to venture outside in public,” the document reads. “While she has fought to maintain her personal life and business interests, behind closed doors she has suffered from grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety.”

The filing adds that Reynolds has “been affected mentally, physically, and professionally by his wife’s and children’s pain.

“Worst of all, however, has been the impact on their young children, who have been traumatized and emotionally uprooted in ways that have substantially impacted their well-being.”

Elsewhere in the amended complaint, Lively claimed she was not the only woman Baldoni allegedly made uncomfortable on the set of It Ends with Us. She alleges that other women are willing to corroborate her original claims of harassment in court.

Though the women are unnamed, the document states that they have “given Ms. Lively permission to share the substance of their communications” and “they will testify and produce responsive documents in the discovery process.”

Rumors of a feud between Baldoni and Lively on the set of It Ends with Us — based on the Colleen Hoover book of the same name — started percolating online last year, as they appeared to avoid each other during the film’s promotional tour. At the time, Lively was called out for a “tone-deaf” approach to the movie, with fans claiming she failed to treat its heavy subject matter with the appropriate solemnity.

In the lawsuit against Baldoni, filed in December, Lively alleged that the backlash she received was part of a carefully orchestrated effort by Baldoni’s PR team.

The Jane the Virgin alum is suing The New York Times for $250 million, and he is counter-suing Lively and her husband for $400 million. The lawsuit against the couple alleges that they’re attempting to “destroy” Baldoni’s reputation and career.

In January, a New York federal judge informed both parties to prepare for a trial in March 2026. After this, Lively and Reynolds’ attorneys filed a notice stating that they would seek to dismiss Baldoni’s counter-lawsuit.

On Thursday, Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, asked to be removed from Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively and Ryenold, with Sloane’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley filing a motion in New York federal court. McCawley also asked for her firm, Vision PR, to be removed from the countersuit.

In court documents, Sloane’s lawyer alleges that the publicist was “dragged” into a “smoke and mirrors exercise” by Baldoni’s team “to distract from their own sexual harassment and systematic retaliation.” The filing also alleges that there is no “basis” for the claims that they supposedly launched a “smear campaign” against Baldoni or planting “malicious” stories about the actor.