Justin Baldoni Moves to Halt Blake Lively’s ‘Fishing Expedition’ for His Phone Records

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On Friday, Justin Baldoni petitioned a judge to safeguard his phone and text logs from being accessed by Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. These records span over several years and contain information such as location data and browsing history from his web browser, which he believes could be sensitive.

In a court letter, attorney Mitchell Schuster for Baldoni stated that the subpoenas issued by Lively are excessively broad and clearly exceeding the necessary limits.

Schuster emphasized that these Subpoenas are exceptionally wide-reaching, intrusive, and unusual in nature. This isn’t a criminal investigation; instead, it’s a civil lawsuit, and Lively and Reynolds aren’t representatives of the FBI.

Earlier this week, Lively’s legal team issued subpoenas to AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. They are gathering additional evidence to strengthen their argument that Baldoni, her director and co-star on “It Ends With Us,” conducted an illegal smear campaign against her as retaliation for her sexual harassment complaint.

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This week, Lively’s lawyers issued subpoenas to AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, seeking additional evidence to fortify their claim that Baldoni, her director and co-star on “It Ends With Us,” retaliated against her with an unlawful smear campaign following her sexual harassment complaint.

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Lively’s attorneys requested subpoenas from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile this week. They are looking for more evidence to support their claim that Baldoni, her director and co-star on “It Ends With Us,” responded to her sexual harassment complaint by launching an unlawful smear campaign against her.

Baldoni and Lively are currently engaged in mutual lawsuits at a federal court in New York City. These cases have also involved Reynolds, multiple publicists and communications specialists, as well as The New York Times. Baldoni claims that Lively damaged his reputation with verifiably untrue accusations.

Additionally, lawyers representing Lively have served subpoenas to Jed Wallace, a crisis management specialist from Texas, as well as internet service providers Cloudflare and AOL. In a statement released on Wednesday, Lively’s team expressed their intention to uncover all the people who have been part of the attempts to harm her reputation.

In response, Baldoni’s team accused Lively’s side of engaging in a “massive fishing expedition.”

The phone company’s subpoenas demand information about Baldoni, Jamey Heath (producer), Steve Sarowitz (co-founder of Wayfarer Studios), Melissa Nathan, and Jennifer Abel – all defendants in Lively’s lawsuit. Additionally, Lively’s team is seeking records regarding several other employees at Wayfarer and Nathan’s PR firm as well.

The subpoenas are requesting details such as call records, text messages, data logs, and cell site locations from the period starting December 1, 2022.

In Schuster’s letter to the judge, he contended that the request is “excessively broad in relation to the demands of the case and intrusively violates the privacy of numerous third parties such as family members, friends, business associates, and anyone who has interacted with the targets over a span of years.”

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In his letter to the judge, Schuster asserted that the request is “far too expansive for the requirements of the case and unjustifiably infringes upon the privacy of many third parties, including family, friends, business partners, and anyone who has communicated with the targets over a considerable period.”

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Schuster wrote to the judge stating that the request is “outrageously disproportionate for the necessities of the case and unjustly invades the privacy of countless third parties, including family, friends, business partners, and anyone who has been in contact with the targets over several years.

Schuster additionally commented that the subpoenas appear to be a “strategic move aimed at the media,” as they were disclosed to the press together with a confrontational statement on Wednesday. The lawyer implied that this action is “hypocritical” considering the Lively team’s criticisms of Baldoni’s media campaign. He further stated that Baldoni does not object to her own media statements, nor to the use of third-party subpoenas issued by her team.

He stated that the Wayfarer Groups are employing these tools, but in a significantly more limited and lawful manner than is suggested.

Baldoni’s legal representative requested the judge to handle the disagreement “as quickly as feasible.

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2025-02-15 04:16