Blake Lively reportedly filed a “super shady” lawsuit before publicly accusing her “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment in her complaint.
The lawsuit was filed in September with the “Gossip Girl” alum’s firm Vanzan because the plaintiff in an try to subpoena allegedly incriminating textual content messages from Baldoni’s now-ex PR crew with out Lively’s title being hooked up, according to the Daily Mail.
The “Jane the Virgin” alum’s former publicist Stephanie Jones and her firm, Jonesworks, acquired a subpoena requesting all paperwork and communications relating to Baldoni, Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Jones reportedly turned over personal messages between former staffer Jennifer Abel, who continued working with Baldoni, and PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan.
The messages have since been utilized by Lively’s legal crew as the premise for claims that Baldoni, Nathan and Abel orchestrated a smear campaign in opposition to the “Another Simple Favor” actress, 37, whereas selling “It Ends With Us” in August 2024.
An alleged textual content from Nathan learn, “We can bury anyone.”
The lawsuit, nevertheless, was withdrawn on Dec. 19, 2024, just a few days before Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment in a complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department.
A legal professional referred to the tactic as “super shady” whereas talking to the Daily Mail. “They intentionally did this to really work in a very surreptitious and clandestine way,” legal professional Ron Zambrano, who has no relation to the case, claimed to the outlet.
Baldoni’s legal professional Bryan Freedman additionally slammed the lawsuit as a “sham” in a press release to Page Six.
“Ms. Lively’s and Mr. Reynolds’ company Vanzan had nothing to do with this case and they knew it,” Freedman stated.
“This sham lawsuit was designed to acquire subpoena energy with out oversight or scrutiny, and in doing so denied my purchasers the power to contest the propriety, nature, and scope of the subpoena.
“There is nothing normal about this. Officers of the court have a duty of candor to the court and an obligation not to file fictitious lawsuits that have no basis in fact or law. … This was done in bad faith and constitutes a flagrant abuse of process.”
Lively’s legal crew, nevertheless, denied any wrongdoing.
“There is nothing untoward here — just conscientious and thorough investigation,” her attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb stated in a statement to Deadline.
“The Lively parties acted upon reliable information, and employed common tools such as Doe lawsuits and civil subpoenas that are entirely lawful and appropriate for pursuing claims and uncovering the identity of unknown perpetrators of unlawful activities,” they continued.
“This lawsuit unearthed the Wayfarer Parties’ documented plan — in their very own phrases, in their very own textual content messages — to ‘destroy’ Blake Lively, a plan which they executed with out transparency, disclosure, or discover to Ms. Lively or the general public, as a substitute performing in a manner they thought could be ‘untraceable.’
“We have absolutely nothing to hide — Ms. Lively voluntarily disclosed the subpoena in her first filing knowing that it would ultimately be produced to the Wayfarer Parties in discovery, and that is precisely what will happen as Ms. Lively’s claims move forward in the proper litigation process.”
Reps for Lively and Baldoni weren’t instantly out there to Page Six for remark.
The “Age of Adaline” star filed her complaint on Dec. 21, 2024, accusing the actor/director of sexual harassment and making an attempt to destroy her profession after their work on the variation of Colleen Hoover’s novel primarily based on home violence.
Lively filed a formal lawsuit on Dec. 31. Baldoni denied all the allegations in opposition to him.
In January, he filed a $400 million lawsuit in opposition to Lively and Reynolds, 48, which the couple has attempted to get dismissed.
