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Justin Baldoni has opted to not file an amended claim against Blake Lively after the judge dismissed his $400 million countersuit in the It Ends With Us legal battle, but that doesn’t mean it’s all over yet.

The 41-year-old actor and filmmaker was given the option of amending his lawsuits against Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and The New York Times, but he will pursue “additional legal options” instead.

Justin‘s lawyer Bryan Freedman has released a statement to explain how they will be moving forward in their fight against Blake.

Keep reading to find out more…

“The Court’s decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defense against Ms. Lively’s claims,” Freedman told JustJared.com.

He added, “Discovery is proceeding and we...

Ryan Reynolds is seemingly addressing his and Blake Lively‘s ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni.

The 48-year-old Deadpool & Wolverine actor is in France for Cannes Lion 2025. While appearing at Stagwell’s Sport Beach panel to promote his football club, Wrexham AFC, Ryan cracked a joke about lawyers.

Keep reading to find out more…While handing a bottle of water to an attendee in the crowd, Ryan joked, “I’m not throwing this. I’ve been around lawyers. You can walk up here and grab it,” according to Page Six.

Ryan‘s comments come after a judge declared that Justin and his legal team can obtain Blake’s text messages with Taylor Swift, despite Blake‘s motion to leave them out of their It Ends With Us legal battle.

Every Major It Ends with Us Lawsuit Headline:

Justin Baldoni’s ‘It Ends with Us’ Lawsuits Against Blake Lively, Ryan...

Blake Lively‘s legal team has their planned next movie: subpoenaing Scooter Braun and Hybe.

If you don’t know, Scooter is the CEO of the American branch of the K-Pop corporation Hybe.

People is reporting that they will both be served on Thursday (June 12). Deadline originally reported the news, but said the subpoena was for the company and not for Scooter in a personal manner. People is saying both are being subpoenaed.

Why?

Keep reading to find out more…

Well, Hyber America holds a majority stake in Melissa Nathan’s PR company. Nathan is one of the central figures of this whole story after she was hired by Justin Baldoni during the early stages of the It Ends with Us drama.

Stay tuned as we learn more in the coming days.

Every Major It Ends with Us Lawsuit Headline:

Justin Baldoni & Ryan Reynolds’ Alleged 2023 Text Message Exchange Released, From...

Blake Lively‘s lawyers have responded to Bryan Freedman‘s statement on his client, Justin Baldoni, and the dismissal of their two defamation cases in the It Ends with Us legal saga.

Here’s what’s been going on, since December: Blake accused Justin of sexual harassment and organizing a smear campaign against her in a lawsuit that she filed at the end of 2024. Justin replied with lawsuits of his own: the first against the New York Times for their report on Blake‘s allegations, and the second against Blake and her husband, Ryan. Then, on Monday (June 9), a judge dismissed both lawsuits.

Keep reading to find out more…

Moments after that news broke, Blake‘s lawyers told Just Jared, “Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively….” (You can read their full reaction quote here.)

The next day on Tuesday (June 10), Justin‘s...

(Updated with more details) Blake Lively just had a major win in her multi-lawsuit, multi-million-dollar legal war with Justin Baldoni, and now Taylor Swift’s pal is opening up a brand-new battlefield with the Shake It Off star’s grand nemesis and his company.

Former mega-manager and very public Baldoni buddy Scooter Braun’s Hybe America is being subpoenaed in the sprawling case, I’ve learned. A notice of subpoena was sent today from Lively’s lawyers, with the first attempt to serve it set for Thursday.

(L-r) Scooter Braun & Justin Baldoni in 2019 (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)

Braun has been the CEO of the US arm of the K-Pop corporation Hybe since early 2023, about two years after his Ithaca Holdings merged with the Seoul-based parent company in a just over $1 billion deal.

This new subpoena seeks to hoover up any documents and information that...

The It Ends With Us drama has been going on for several months, with Blake Lively caught in one of the biggest entertainment lawsuits in recent years with her co-star and director Justin Baldoni. The two have made several accusations, with millions of dollars at stake in damages.

As Lively is accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and a smear campaign, Judge Lewis J. Liman just granted the actress' motion to dismiss his defamation lawsuit against her. The dismissal came as a shock; however, the legal drama is far from over. In a new statement to Variety, the Wayfarer Parties have officially revealed their next legal step, arguing that the facts are still on their side.

Bryan Freedman, one of the attorneys for the Wayfarer Parties, which includes not only Justin Baldoni but also crisis manager Melissa Nathan, publicist Jennifer Abel, and Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath, has stated the Lively...

Justin Baldoni‘s lawyer Bryan Freedman has released a statement after a judge dismissed his cases against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, the New York Times, and more.

Some backstory: if you didn’t know, Blake accused Justin sexual harassment and organizing a smear campaign against her in a lawsuit that she filed a few months ago. Justin replied with lawsuits of his own: the first against the New York Times for their report on Blake‘s allegations, and the second against Blake and her husband, Ryan. However, on Monday (June 9), a judge dismissed both lawsuits.

Keep reading to find out more…

In reaction to the news, Blake‘s lawyers told Just Jared, “Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively….” (You can read their full reaction quote here.)

Now, we have a response from the Baldoni team.

Bryan Freedman told Just Jared in a statement,...

The legal battle between Green Lantern star Blake Lively and filmmaker Justin Baldoni rolls on, and the latter has faced a major setback today after a judge threw out his $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and the New York Times.

He filed the lawsuit earlier this year, nearly a month after Lively sued him for allegedly sexually harassing her on the set of It Ends With Us.

Baldoni's countersuit claimed Lively had taken messages he'd sent her out of context, planted negative news stories about him, and argued that the Times had "cherry-picked" details in their piece to defame him. We're sure you'll also recall that Deadpool & Wolverine got dragged into the whole thing, with Baldoni's legal team arguing that the Nicepool Variant was based on their client and meant to ridicule him.

Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, executives and PR team of Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel have...

An insider is speaking out about the big Justin Baldoni/Blake Lively legal news today.

If you didn’t see the news, a judge has dismissed Justin‘s $400 million lawsuit filed against Blake and Ryan Reynolds, plus his $250 million defamation lawsuit against the newspaper the New York Times.

Keep reading to find out more…

One insider told People that she “cried with relief” when she heard today’s news.

Another said, “She’s obviously relieved. They both are. She feels vindicated.” And her legal team is thrilled too: “Everyone is happy.”

Blake‘s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, told Just Jared, “Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times. As we have said from day one, this “$400 million” lawsuit was a sham,...

The It Ends With Us legal drama just got even more dramatic. In a shocking turn of events, Justin Baldoni's lawsuit was dismissed.

PerThe New York Post, Judge Lewis J. Liman has just granted a motion to dismiss Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. There were tensions between the two It Ends With Us co-stars Baldoni and Lively from the film's red carpet premiere, which led to backlash against Lively for the way she handled the press junket for the film. A few months later, on Dec. 21, she filed a Crd complaint against the actor, citing sexual harassment and a smear campaign, which Baldoni denied.

Although Lively hadn't filed a lawsuit immediately following the Crd complaint, her grievances were covered in a lengthy feature in The New York Times. Baldoni then sued the outlet for $250 million for libel and later added a new lawsuit against the...

A huge blow to the Justin Baldoni It Ends with Us lawsuits: a judge has dismissed his $400 million lawsuit filed against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, plus his $250 million defamation lawsuit against the newspaper the New York Times.

If you were unaware, the star of the film Blake accused Justin, the film’s actor/director, of sexual harassment and organizing a smear campaign against her in a lawsuit that she filed a few months ago. Justin replied with lawsuits of his own – the first against the New York Times for their report on Blake‘s allegations and the second against Blake and her husband, Ryan.

Judge Lewis J. Liman made the decision on Monday (June 9), but did add that they can file an amended complaint for “breach of implied covenant and tortious interference.”

Keep reading to find out more…

The Judge wrote, via People, “The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged...

(Updated with Blake Lively & New York Times’ statements) Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ team are claiming “total victory” Monday after a federal judge tossed out Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation and extortion suit over what went on during the making of It Ends With Us and the subsequent alleged preemptive astroturfing smear campaign against Lively last year.

Out on the red carpet at the Tribeca Film Festival today, Lively made rare remarks herself online about the dismissal of Baldoni’s case and the future of her own.

“Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us,” the actress and recent Time 100 honoree said on her Instagram Story Monday. “While the suit against me was defeated, so many don’t have the resources to fight back. “I’m more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every...

After some quiet on the East Coast court docket front, once again, the battle royale between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni and the It Ends With Us’ director’s inner circle has become a she said, they said in the federal courts.

Specifically this time it has to do with the emotional distress claims that the Another Simple Favor actress has in her initially filed New Year’s Eve lawsuit against her Iewu co-star/director, his Wayfarer Studios, its execs and PR team.

First filing a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department against Baldoni, Melissa Nathan, Jennifer Abel, billionaire Steve Sarowitz and CEO Jamey Heath zwith California’s Civil Rights Department, Lively took it court formally a few weeks later, and then the lawsuits all round started flying. As of now, with a $400 million and more price tag on things from Baldoni’s own legal action,...

Breaking ….Caught in the blast radius of multiple multi-million dollar lawsuits between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni over accusations of sexual harassment and an online smear campaign, Taylor Swift can now shake off that pesky subpoena.

In an unexpected move, the It Ends With Us star and director has withdrawn the paperwork seeking information from Swift about what she knew about what went down between her pal Lively and Wayfarer Studios co-founder Baldoni on the domestic violence themed film. Part of the reason the request was dropped was because details that the Bryan Freedman-represented Baldoni and crew sought were already provided, I hear.

Having said that, reps for Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, its execs and publicists did not respond Thursday to request for comment on the withdrawal of the high-profile subpoena against the “Fortnight” superstar and her lawyer J. Douglas Baldridge. Team Swift did respond, with a polite “no comment.

Blake Lively’s lawyers filed a motion on Monday seeking sanctions against Justin Baldoni’s team, accusing his lawyers and collaborators of making “frivolous claims” about the actress.

In the filing obtained by Rolling Stone, Lively requests “sanctions in the form of attorneys’ fees and costs” incurred by the actress, as well as “a formal reprimand for the filing of baseless claims as a means of harassing Ms. Lively and gaining favor in the court of public opinion.” Lively’s motion named Steve Sarowitz, Jamey Heath, Melissa Nathan, Jennifer Abel,...

Days after a federal judge quickly shot down a Taylor Swift circus of sorts that seemed poised to take took over the multiple lawsuits battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, the Another Simple Favor actress is calling out her It Ends With Us co-star for using an investigation on her sexual harassment claims to gum up the legal works.

Lively lawyer Esra Hudson sent a letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman Monday seeking “documents and witness recordings concerning Wayfarer’s purported ‘neutral’ workplace investigation into Ms. Lively’s sexual harassment and retaliation claims (the ‘Investigation’).” Telling the federal judge something he likely already knows, the Manett attorney added: “Wayfarer is withholding such documents and recordings, claiming (at least for now) attorney-client privilege and work product.”

Insisting the “so-called ‘Investigation’ is a disingenuous charade,” Hudson explained that “the Investigation Materials are highly relevant, are necessary for Ms. Lively and the...

Whether they like it or not, Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s friendship and any bad blood between them this week became the heart of Lively’s ongoing legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni – but it didn’t last long.

On Wednesday, lawyers for Lively condemned allegations in a letter by Baldoni’s main attorney that the actress’ team threatened the “Shake It Off” superstar singer with a public drubbing if she didn’t offer a full-throated public support for her old pal as “scandalous” and “completely false.”

On Thursday, just after Bryan Freedman reiterated his claim about the requested support and threats to “release private text messages of a personal nature” if the recently subpoenaed Swift wasn’t publicly behind Lively, the judge in the multimillion-dollar suit between the Iewu stars shut the whole sideshow down.

“The Letter is improper and must be stricken,...

The Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively battle over what went down on It Ends With Us and the alleged astroturfing that followed is starting to seem to look a lot like the Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura case, at least in terms of tactics and texts.

In a shocking letter today to the federal judge overseeing the $400 million and more lawsuits between the Iewu stars, Ryan Reynolds, The New York Times, various PR firms, and Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios, the Jane the Virgin alum’s main lawyer accuses Lively of threatening to shame her ‘Fortnight’ pal unless Swift publicly offers strong support. A claim that Lively and Reynolds’ lawyer Micheal Gottieb initially said was “completely false.” Now another lawyer for the Another Simple Favor star is calling an attempt by Bryan Freedman “to launder scandalous and defamatory allegations about Ms. Lively and opposing counsel into the press.”

In a...

(Updated with statement from Blake Lively) Taylor Swift has had numerous cameos in pal Blake Lively’s multimillion dollar legal war with Justin Baldoni over allegations of sexual harassment and an online smear campaign by the It Ends With Us director against his co-star. Now the “Shake It Off” superstar has taken center stage with a subpoena issued for Swift to reveal what longtime buddy Lively told her, what she knows, and likely a lot more.

Deadline has confirmed that Swift was subpoenaed earlier this week by lawyer Bryan Freedman for Baldoni, executives for his Wayfarer Studios, plus publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel. The roping in of Swift, one of the most famous people on the planet, truly cranks up the volume on the now six-month-old case that went public on December 20 when Lively filed a complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department.

With a settlement looking like a non-starter,...

Handling personal publicity for the likes of Tom Brady and J Balvin, Stephanie Jones knows a thing or two about the power of perception. When it comes to the Jonesworks chief’s ongoing entanglement in the trench warfare between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni over what happened on It Ends With Us and the movie’s fallout, the PR vet paints a distinct portrait of her former client and his Wayfarer Studios cohorts.

In a filing late Thursday to dismiss amended counterclaims by Baldoni, Wayfarer execs and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, Jones and her team turned their legal high-beams on the alleged “effort to chill disclosure, shift blame, and distance itself from its own conduct.” The memorandum of law placed in the federal docket says Team Baldoni’s alleged “blatant harassment is repugnant and should be dismissed out of hand.”

With just under a year until the trial...

Earlier this year, a federal judge called the various bitter and big bucks-demanding lawsuits between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni over what may have occurred during the making of It Ends With Us and the film’s release essentially “a feud between PR firms.”

Turns out back in early March Judge Lewis J. Liman was just looking at the tip of a potential iceberg. Turns out Baldoni lawyer Bryan Freedman agrees with the judge, though not in the way Judge Liman meant.

“We are just starting to scratch the surface of a much broader and more insidious scheme,” the ever-quotable attorney said today as new paperwork against Baldoni’s former PR firm Jonesworks and its founder Stephanie Jones hit the court dockets. “To be clear, Jones and Jonesworks are equally implicated in this misconduct.”

On the other side, Jones’ lawyer Kristen Tahler says the latest move by Team Baldoni and...

Another day, another update in the ongoing It Ends With Ussaga that has become the Blake Lively lawsuit against Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios. In a new update from the Baldoni camp, it's been revealed that Lively gained access to the cell phone records of Jonesworks CEO Stephanie Jones (a PR firm) by means of a Jane/John Doe-stylized lawsuit using one of her companies, Vanzan. Back on September 27, 2024, a subpoena was filed to gain access to the correspondence between Baldoni and his PR representatives, Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan (who were at the time working for Jonesworks before spinning off to form their own company). And now, Baldoni's lawyers are on the attack about it.

In a new quote from Deadline, Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, called the whole thing a "sham":

"Ms. Lively's and Mr. Reynolds' company, Vanzan, had nothing to do with this case, and they knew it.

Five months after Blake Lively filed her sexual harassment and retaliation complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department against her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios and inner circle, a previously unrevealed subpoena-seeking lawsuit from Lively peels back some of the questions about when she knew about an alleged online smear campaign against her, and how did she know it?

In partial response, we now know that Lively gained the info in the late summer and early fall of last year in a targeted shadow suit of sorts, and the information came from Jonesworks boss Stephanie Jones.

Eventually revealing a treasure trove of what looks on the surface like incriminating and unpalatable texts and other correspondence from Baldoni’s Melissa Nathan- and Jennifer Abel-led PR team, the September 27 filing has been kept under the radar until this past week. Lively’s name...

Candace Owens has an update on the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal case. Owens revealed a major flaw in Lively’s lawsuit, with regard to Stephanie Jones’ involvement in the case. Owens claimed that the subpoena to Jones that revealed the text messages between Baldoni and Jennifer Abel was fake.

Baldoni’s team earlier claimed that his former PR firm, Stephanie Jones, leaked confidential documents to Lively’s team. Jones’ attorneys claimed that she was instructed to hand over sensitive text messages as per a subpoena from Lively’s legal team.

Owens believed that the subpoena was fake, sharing that it was supposedly sent out before both sides took any legal action. It wasn’t just Owens who expressed doubt over the subpoena. Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, called the document “a phantom subpoena” and shared that Jones handed over the messages out of spite.

Candace Owens expresses doubt...

Justin Baldoni’s former publicist, Stephanie Jones, is hitting back at his claims that she leaked confidential information as part of an effort to defame Blake Lively.

In dual filings Thursday night in U.S. District Court in New York, attorneys for Jones say she produced the sensitive material not as a voluntary act of subterfuge, but in response to a subpoena. A story in the New York Times about the tangle behind the scenes of the film, set off a media frenzy by drawing on some of that information, which included text messages from principal figures.

Baldoni and Lively, co-stars in the hit 2024 film It Ends With Us, have been engaged in a multi-front legal battle in recent months. While the film was a left-field commercial smash, its production and marketing formed the core of an interconnected and explosive set of legal claims between members of both camps. The...

Even before Blake Lively filed her sexual harassment and retaliation complaint with California’s Civil Rights department on December 20 last year, Justin Baldoni alleges that Ryan Reynolds had a major role in his spouse and Baldoni’s blood feud over what really happened during the making of It Ends With Us and ahead of the film’s summer 2024 release.

Now, in an April Fool’s Day opposition filing, Iewu director Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, exec and publicists are determined to block the Deadpool star’s desire to be dismissed from the $400 million and counting defamation and extortion case against Lively, Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloane and the New York Times. “Reynolds and Lively exploited Lively’s false insinuations to coerce the Wayfarer Parties to cede to them power and authority to which they were not entitled,” a memorandum of law from Team Baldoni states of what allegedly went down.

“Reynolds and Lively,...

One name that has frequently surfaced in the ongoing legal battle between the It Ends With Us stars, Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively has been the former’s ex-publicist, Stephanie Jones. A polarizing figure in celebrity PR, Jones is known for working with several high-profile clients, including Dwayne Johnson.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson | Credit: WWE

The Jumanji star previously worked with Jones before parting ways with her firm, Jonesworks, in 2023, reportedly due to the ongoing tensions between the publicist and his team.

Why did Dwayne Johnson leave Stephanie Jones’ firm, Jonesworks?

Justin Baldoni recently filed a lawsuit against publicist Stephanie Jones, alleging that Jones “maliciously” leaked private information, which Baldoni claims initiated a significant legal conflict with his It Ends With Us co-star, Blake Lively. (Variety)

Baldoni reportedly left Jonesworks in the summer of 2024 while subsequently transitioning to Jennifer Abel’s new agency. However, he is not the first public...

Roe Jogan (podcast listeners will get the joke) is known to have an opinion on pretty much every trending topic recently. And it seems that the Lively-Baldoni feud is not the exception.

A bitter legal fight between actress Blake Lively and actor-director Justin Baldoni has taken Hollywood by storm, and podcast host Joe Rogan has jumped into the fray, siding with Baldoni. The dispute stems from their work together on the film It Ends With Us, a story about a woman caught in a violent marriage.

Lively claims Baldoni sexually harassed her on set and later tried to ruin her reputation. Baldoni fired back, accusing Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion, with lawsuits now piling up on both sides.

Related: Justin Baldoni’s Lawyer Slams Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds in Explosive Legal Battle

The trouble started last December when Lively filed a complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department.

Joe Rogan loves to be known for straight talk, and the podcast kingpin certainly stripped down his take on Blake Lively’s accusations of sexual harassment and an online smear campaign by Justin Baldoni to very simple three words this weekend.

“They f*cked up.”

Putting himself firmly in Baldoni’s corner, the long time UFC commentator unleashed on the multiple lawsuits that has held Hollywood and the nation’s attention through thick, thin and Trump 2.0 since the Another Simple Favor star filed a complaint on December 20 with California’s Civil Rights department against her It Ends With Us co-star/director. Talking with ex-professional mixed martial artist Brendan Schaub on a March 22 edition of the Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan proclaimed ‘the whole thing is crazy.”

Crazy or not, or crazy in a whole other way, Lively and Baldoni’s suits against each other are set to go to trial starting March 9, 2026. As various parties,...

Since the beginning of the It Ends With Us legal drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, the internet and the industry as a whole have been weighing in. Controversial podcast host Joe Rogan is next.

Baldoni has been silent on social media since the ongoing lawsuits, but he has received support from social media, as well as other people who have worked with him. Lively received support from several It Ends With Us stars, including Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate, as well as author Colleen Hoover, who has since distanced herself from the whole ordeal, deleting the photos from her social media, and moving on to other projects. In a new episode of his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, the podcast host addressed the situation and called out the A-list couple.

#JoeRogan is riding hard for #JustinBaldoni ... tearing into #BlakeLively and #RyanReynolds for lawyering up against him. Full story in bio!

The legal fight between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has intensified. After a series of legal motions and filings, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has strongly criticized Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.

Lively recently filed a motion to dismiss herself from the case, which Freedman called “one of the most abhorrent examples of abusing our legal system.” He argued that Lively and her legal team are trying to twist laws to suit their own interests.

Lively, Reynolds, the New York Times, and PR executive Leslie Sloane are all attempting to exit Baldoni’s $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit. Lively’s lawyers claim a 2023 California law protects her from legal action in this case. However, Baldoni and his team firmly reject this claim.

Related: Justin Baldoni Fights to Keep Nyt in Blake Lively Legal Battle as Paper Pushes for Exit

As of now, no settlement discussions are taking place,...

Leading up to the premiere of It Ends With Us last year, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reached an uneasy truce in which it was agreed that neither side would bad-mouth the other to the press. As far as they were concerned, it was in their best interest to keep the peace in order not to undermine the movie.

But around that time, Stephanie Jones, the then-publicist for the film’s production company, reached out to a Daily Mail reporter over a story it had published about the simmering feud despite Baldoni’s instructions not to, with the aim of quelling concerns that she wasn’t engaged in the public relations dispute, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday against the Jonesworks founder. Shortly after, Baldoni dropped Jones’ firm and signaled his intent to follow his publicist at Jonesworks, Jennifer Abel, to her newly launched PR shop. This caused Jones to seize Abel’s phone,...

The It Ends With Us legal saga has now grown to six lawsuits, with Justin Baldoni accusing former publicist Stephanie Jones of leaking text messages to Blake Lively’s team, which helped spark the unfolding drama.

The new suit is actually a counterclaim to a lawsuit Jones filed last December against Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios, crisis manager Melissa Nathan, and publicist Jennifer Abel (who was previously Jones’ partner at her PR firm Jonesworks). Jones accused them of defamation and breach of contract, alleging they kept her in the...

Amid his expansive and ongoing legal battle with Blake Lively, “It Ends With Us” director and star Justin Baldoni has filed a counterclaim against his former publicist, Stephanie Jones, alleging that she “maliciously” leaked his private texts.

Jones filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, former Jonesworks publicist and Rwa Communications founder Jennifer Abel and crisis PR rep Melissa Nathan in December, alleging that the group had worked together to undermine and publicly smear her reputation. On Thursdsay, Baldoni responded with a counterclaim filed in the Southern District Court of New York.

In the claim, Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios accuses Jones, the founder and CEO of PR firm Jonesworks, of “despicable and surreptitious” actions that went on to “stir up unnecessary drama and discord … and generally [caused] more problems than she was solving.” Among those actions was “voluntarily and maliciously” breaching her agreement with Wayfarer by sharing confidential information with other parties,...

Has Stephanie Jones caused the messiest fallout of 2024 between It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni and actor Blake Lively? Justin Baldoni and his new publicist, Jennifer Abel, allegedly claim that Stephanie Jones, a veteran Hollywood publicist, is the linchpin behind the ugly $400 million celebrity legal battle between Baldoni and Lively.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in It Ends With Us | Credits: Wayfarer Studios

Stephanie Jones founded Jonesworks, the former firm of It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni, which managed his Wayfarer Studios. Jennifer Abel is an ex-employee of Jonesworks who worked closely with Jones and Baldoni. Jones has been in the spotlight amidst the Baldoni-Lively lawsuit controversy. Her firm was the focal point of launching the drama and classified details, catalyzing the lawsuit further.

Stephanie Jones: The powerhouse publicist who managed Justin Baldoni Justin Baldoni / Credits: CBS

Stephanie Jones is not a rookie name in Hollywood. Over the years,...

After 24 hours of dismissal motions, accusations of doubling crossing, stay denials and more, the multi-pronged legal trench warfare between It Ends With Us stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has gone to Def Con One – at least according to Bryan Freedman.

“Ms. Lively’s recent motion to dismiss herself from the self-concocted disaster she initiated is one of the most abhorrent examples of abusing our legal system,” the eminently quotable litigator said after the Gossip Girl alum filed paperwork in federal court on March 20 to get the matter tossed in federal court.

Joining her hubby Ryan Reynolds, the New York Times and PR boss Leslie Sloane in wanting out of Baldoni’s $400 million defamation and extortion complaint, the sexual harassment and “astroturfing” relation claiming Lively and her Willkie Farr & Gallagher Llp and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips lawyers assert the Jane the Virgin vet is actually prevented by a 2023 California law from going after her.

It Ends With Us' Justin Baldoni and the rest of the Wayfarer Parties are not backing down. Although all of the defendants in his lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and more have filed for dismissal, Baldoni's lawyers are doubling down on their legal complaints.

Baldoni is not backing down from a legal battle. Despite the ongoing controversy and undeniable damage to his reputation, the Jane the Virgin star is determined to win. Per Variety, Baldoni and Jennifer Abel have filed a lawsuit against publicist Stephanie Jones.

Jones' firm Joneswork PR represented Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, until last summer when the rumors of a rift between him and Lively started. Abel, his current publicist, was Jones' partner. She was working on the speculation as to why Lively and several It Ends With Us co-stars unfollowed the director on Instagram. Baldoni left Jones and joined Abel at her new PR firm,...

Justin Baldoni is suing his former publicist Stephanie Jones.

The 41-year-old actor and filmmaker, along with his current publicist Jennifer Abel, are waging a battle against the Joneswork PR boss and claim that she “initiated” the It Ends With Us legal drama.

Stephanie formerly represented Justin and his production company Wayfarer Studios while Jennifer worked under her as the point-person on Justin‘s account. It was previously reported that Jennifer had quit Jonesworks PR in summer 2024 and had planned on staying on through the end of the It Ends With Us press tour, but her position was terminated.

It has since been reported that Stephanie was the one who leaked Jennifer‘s text messages to Blake Lively‘s team, which has been considered to be the catalyst for all of the lawsuits.

Keep reading to find out more…

“It is undeniable that Stephanie Jones initiated this catastrophic sequence of events...

Justin Baldoni and Jennifer Abel have filed a lawsuit against publicist Stephanie Jones in the latest salvo in the dizzying legal battle between the “It Ends With Us” director and star and Blake Lively.

Jones represented Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios last summer when press reports first emerged of a rift between the director and Lively. Abel was Jones’ partner at Joneswork PR and running point on the Baldoni account as speculation mounted about why Lively and some cast members had stopped following the director on Instagram. What happened next has become a matter of intrigue and resulted in a sprawling legal morass that has consumed Hollywood and sparked intense public interest.

“It is undeniable that Stephanie Jones initiated this catastrophic sequence of events by violating the most basic of privacy rights, as well as any remaining trust her clients held,” Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement to Variety.

Two days after Deadpool & Wolverine's Ryan Reynolds requested his claims in Justin Baldoni's lawsuit to be "dismissed with prejudice," Blake Lively is following in her husband's footsteps. It also comes with a snarky twist.

The It Ends With Us legal drama is still ongoing, with all of Justin Baldoni's defendants having attempted to dismiss the claims against them. First, it was Lively's publicist Jennifer Abel, who alleged that stating the cast hated him was not grounds for defamation. Second, it was The New York Times, who claimed Baldoni's entire case was based on the one sentence where it might've sounded like the parties hired Melissa Nathan for a smear campaign against Lively, and later Reynolds, whose team argued that the actor's beliefs shouldn't be the basis for defamation. Naturally, Lively followed suit with a new addition from California law, per Deadline.

Lively's new move requests to dismiss...

With a strong recommendation that Justin Baldoni and his team catch up on California law, Blake Lively wants the latest version of her It Ends With Us co-star’s $400 million defamation and extortion against her, Ryan Reynolds, the New York Times, publicist Leslie Sloane and Vision PR tossed to the legal curb.

“The Court should dismiss all claims against Ms. Lively with prejudice, deny leave to amend, and award Ms. Lively all relief sought,” declares a memorandum of law just filed in federal court in NYC along with Lively’s motion to dismiss. Centering on a Golden State measure from 2023 that aims to safeguard accusers, and seemingly undercut Baldoni, Lively’s lawyers assert “the law prohibits weaponizing defamation lawsuits, like this one, to retaliate against individuals who have filed legal claims or have publicly spoken out about sexual harassment and retaliation.”

Having all started with the sexual harassment and retaliation...

Ryan Reynolds is one of the many big names to be caught in the It Ends With Us legal battle. The actor is named in Justin Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit that alleges defamation, extorsion, and a smear campaign.

Reynolds is the latest defendant in Justin Baldoni's lawsuit to request a dismissal, per Deadline. This comes a few weeks after Blake Lively's publicist Leslie Sloane also requested a dismissal. On Mar. 18, Reynolds his motion against Baldoni's lawsuit, slamming Baldoni's "gossip rag" lawsuit.

The request claims, "Mr. Reynolds is a defendant in this action for one reason, and one reason only: because billionaire Plaintiff Steve Sarowitz promised to spend up to $100 million to “ruin” Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds." This was an allegation from Blake Lively's First Amended Complaint, which also featured some alleged problematic comments about the war in the Middle East.

Speaking about Baldoni's own Fac, filed on Jan.

(Updated with statement from Baldoni lawyer) Claiming that Justin Baldoni has nothing but “clickbait” falsehoods and “hurt feelings” on him, Ryan Reynolds wants out of the It Ends With Us star’s $400 million defamation and extortion suit against the Deadpool leading man, Blake Lively, the New York Times and Vision PR’s Leslie Sloane.

“The entirety of Plaintiffs’ defamation claim appears to be based on two times that Mr. Reynolds allegedly called Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,'” a memorandum of law filed Tuesday in federal court by Reynolds’ attorneys declares, referring to an amended complaint by Baldoni and others earlier this year. “But, the Fac alleges no plausible facts that suggest Mr. Reynolds did not believe this comment to be true.”

Following his longtime publicist Sloane and the Nyt in wanting out of the sprawling suit that Judge Lewis J. Liman on March 6 called a “feud between PR firms,” Reynolds...

Justin Baldoni‘s lawyer has made it clear that they likely will not settle the Blake Lively-It Ends with Us legal issues outside of court.

Bryan Freedman went on a podcast and was asked about all the happenings.

Keep reading to find out more…

Freedman said on The Town podcast, “Justin has been destroyed by this. This is a really serious thing and in this day and age, the only way that you can truly get back is to prove your innocence… That’s what we’re actively working [towards]. So that may only be able to be done in a courtroom.”

Host Matt Belloni then questioned the “damage to both sides” and why they might want to settle this more quickly.

“You keep referring to it as a circus—and I get it. But the reality is this is not a circus when you go through an experience like this,...

Going into full anti-msm mode, Justin Baldoni is determined that the New York Times will not get itself dismissed from the It Ends With Us star and director’s sprawling $400 million and counting legal brawl with Blake Lively.

“This dispute should be resolved by a jury at trial,” a wide-ranging March 14 memorandum of law in opposition from Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, CEO Jamey Health, financier Steve Sarowitz and publicists Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan retorts of the Nyt‘s February 28-instigated attempt to be dropped from the matter long before the trial kicks off in March 2026.

“A pietistic bastion of the media establishment, the Nyt has long presumed itself beyond accountability,” the 36-page Maga-sounding memo filed in federal court in NYC adds. “Not here. The Nyt went past merely reporting on Plaintiff Blake Lively’s (“Lively”) California Civil Rights Department Complaint (“Crd Complaint”) and actively vouched for the veracity of its false narrative.

The entertainment industry is now witnessing yet another controversy as the lead actors of It Ends With Us– Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni – are involved in a court battle. What started out as a s*xual harassment allegation has turned into a legal war with the two big names in Hollywood dealing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in It Ends With Us | Credit: Sony Pictures

While there is animosity between the lead actors, their battle has grown beyond and involved Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and some publicists as well. The complexity has escalated as each side presents new facts into the case that could shift the dynamics of this high-stakes drama.

Blake Lively’s sexual harassment accusations against Justin Baldoni started the legal battle Blake Lively in It Ends With Us | Credit: Sony Pictures

Blake Lively first took a legal route by filing a complaint with...

Trying to plug leaks, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have succeeded in what can be shown to whom in their legal conflict with Justin Baldoni, at least for now.

“The parties have levelled accusations of theft of trade secrets and the disclosure of confidential sensitive information against one another,” a pragmatic Judge Lewis J Liman noted in a ruling issued Thursday with some degree of understatement almost a year before the trial between the It Ends With Us begins in May 2026.

“The Court’s model protective order is not sufficient for the needs of these cases,” the federal judge added, issuing most of the Attorney’s Eyes Only protection that A-listers Lively and Reynolds sought for the discovery process.

Unless you’ve been stuck in space with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams the past four months, you’d know this has been a high-profile matter since Lively filed...

Blake Lively and her legal team have scored a big victory in her ongoing battle against It Ends with Us director/co-star Justin Baldoni.

If you don’t know, there have been ongoing lawsuits between the pair revolving around on set behavior.

Keep reading to find out more…

On Thursday (March 13), Judge Lewis Liman granted Blake‘s request to keep some information private – aka “attorneys eyes only.”

Blake and her team did not want sensitive information made public during the discovery phase of the trial because of the public facing nature of this case, where many celebrities and publicists are involved.

The judge wrote (via Variety), “These cases involve both business competitors and allegations of sexual harm. Discovery will necessarily include confidential and sensitive business and personal information. The risk of disclosure is great.”

Justin‘s lawyers are okay with keeping sensitive information private, but they did want the ability to share with clients,...

Ever since August 2024, fans have gotten a chance to peek behind the curtain of entertainment PR. With Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni caught in a very public and messy legal drama following It Ends With Us, the audience found out more about what happens behind the scenes.

Words like astroturfing, smear campaigns, and crisis PR weren't terms regular people were familiar with if not working in the PR industry. Following the ongoing legal drama, which includes defamation, sexual harassment, and smear campaign claims, everyone got a peek at what publicists and PR specialists deal with. Everyone expects the legal drama to end up becoming a documentary at some point, and Netflix is one step ahead, winning a bid for a drama series about a PR crisis, Deadline reports.

The upcoming drama will star Lizzy Caplan as a crisis PR executive who "helps high-profile clients navigate the worst days of their...

Blake Lively’s longtime publicist Leslie Sloane wants out of her client’s legal battle with Justin Baldoni. However, the It Ends With Us director says no way.

On the same day the federal judge in the Lively-Baldoni melee called the matter a “feud between PR firms,” lawyers for Baldoni submitted paperwork in the court docket drawing a line on the Vision PR boss’ wish to exit the whole thing.

“As alleged in the Wayfarer Parties’ First Amended Complaint, the Sloane Parties played an active and integral role in a conspiracy to inflict harm on the Wayfarer Parties,” said a March 6-filed memorandum of opposition from Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, execs and his own PR team of Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel against Vision PR founder Sloane’s motion to have herself and her firm dismissed from the sprawling suit.

In many ways the memo intentionally or not sums up...