Blake Lively’s legal team subpoenaed phone records of Justin Baldoni and others involved in an alleged smear campaign created to “destroy” and “bury” the actress’ reputation.
Blake Lively is on the hunt for “receipts.”
Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ legal team subpoenaed phone records of Justin Baldoni and others involved in the courtroom showdown over an alleged plot to ruin the actress’ reputation. Lively accused Baldoni of setting out on a smear campaign after allegedly sexually harassing the “Gossip Girl” star on the set of “It Ends With Us.”
“Ms. Lively has initiated discovery that will expose the people, tactics, and methods that have worked to ‘destroy’ and ‘bury’ her reputation and family over the past year,” Lively’s lawyers, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“We will now receive all of the ‘receipts’ that, unsurprisingly, are nowhere to be found on Mr. Freedman’s website, and like Ms. Lively, those ‘receipts’ will have their day in court.”
BLAKE LIVELY VS. JUSTIN BALDONI: EVERYTHING TO KNOW
The legal team sent out subpoenas to phone carriers and internet providers in a move they claim will uncover “irrefutable evidence” Baldoni spearheaded a smear campaign to destroy Lively’s reputation.
“Phone records belonging to all of the individual defendants will expose the full web of individuals who were involved in the smear campaign against Ms. Lively,” another statement read. “Such records will provide critical and irrefutable evidence not only about who, but also about when, where, and how their retaliation plan came together and operated.”
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, slammed the move as a “fishing expedition.”
JUSTIN BALDONI CLAIMS BLAKE LIVELY ‘NEVER INTENDED’ TO FILE LAWSUIT: DOCS
“Subpoenas are an ordinary part of the litigation process,” Freedman told Fox News Digital. “What is extraordinary is what the Lively Parties are seeking. They are asking for every single call, text, data log, and even real-time location information for the past 2.5 years, regardless of the sender, recipient, or subject matter.”
“This massive fishing expedition demonstrates that they are desperately seeking any factual basis for their provably false claims. They will find none.”
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Lively’s team also subpoenaed records of Jed Wallace, who they claim helped Baldoni lead a negative campaign against the actress.
“In their internal private messages that Baldoni’s team never expected anyone would see, they bragged that thanks to Jed’s work they saw a shift in the narrative to putting a spotlight on Blake and laughed at how sad it was that people so easily want to hate on a woman,” Lively’s lawyers told Fox News Digital. “We look forward to investigating more about Jed Wallace’s entire business model and what else he was doing to distract from the very real sexual harassment and retaliation claims made by Ms. Lively. We are delighted to be able to start discovery on it.”
Meanwhile, Wallace along with his crisis PR firm, Street Relations Inc., sued Lively for defamation on Feb. 4. The actress had named Wallace and his crisis consulting firm in her initial complaint with the State of California Civil Rights Department but not her formal lawsuit. However, Wallace insisted reputation damage was already done and sued Lively seeking punitive damages in an amount of “not less than $6,000,000.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital about the defamation lawsuit, Lively’s legal team said, “Another day, another state, another nine-figure lawsuit seeking to sue Ms. Lively ‘into oblivion’ for speaking out against sexual harassment and retaliation. This is not just a publicity stunt — it is transparent retaliation in response to allegations contained within a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint that Ms. Lively filed with the California Civil Rights Department. While this lawsuit will be dismissed, we are pleased that Mr. Wallace has finally emerged from the shadows, and that he too will be held accountable in federal court.”
WATCH: HOW COULD RELEASED TEXTS IMPACT BLAKE LIVELY-JUSTIN BALDONI CASE?
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
In December, Lively detailed allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional affliction of emotional distress, negligence and more against Baldoni and film producer Jamey Heath in a complaint first filed with the California Civil Rights department and later in federal court.
Baldoni, in his own lawsuit filed in January, insisted that Lively “falsely” had accused him in an attempt to repair her reputation amid the fallout around the movie’s press tour after the actress took control of the film. Baldoni’s legal team claimed that Lively had no evidence of a deliberate smear campaign and instead worked to repair her reputation by accusing the actor and others of sexual harassment.
Both sides have denied the allegations.
