As legal battle over It Ends With Us escalates, Baldoni’s camp alleges Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds orchestrated secret lawsuit to gain access to private data
Los Angeles [US], April 25:
What was once described by a federal judge as a “feud between PR firms” has exploded into a full-scale legal and public relations war between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. New filings reveal accusations that Lively’s team orchestrated a secret lawsuit to improperly obtain sensitive information.
⚖️ New Allegations Rock Lively-Baldoni Courtroom Battle
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has now accused Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist Leslie Sloane of masterminding a “sham lawsuit” using a company called Vanzan Inc. to secure subpoena power and extract private communications from a former PR executive linked to Baldoni.
Freedman asserts the Vanzan case, filed in September 2024, was deliberately vague, targeting unnamed defendants to avoid alerting those affected and to clandestinely access confidential data — allegedly to fuel a media narrative against Baldoni ahead of It Ends With Us’s release.
“We are just scratching the surface of a broader, more insidious scheme,” said Freedman, promising more explosive revelations to come.
📜 Inside the “Van-sham” Lawsuit
The newly amended complaint accuses Lively’s camp of bypassing normal legal procedures by launching the “Vanzan” lawsuit, claiming not to know the identities of their own employees — a move Freedman calls “laughably implausible.”
The filing alleges that Stephanie Jones of Jonesworks — Baldoni’s former PR firm — cooperated by handing over publicist Jennifer Abel’s private phone data once the subpoena was issued. Freedman’s team now brands this as a coordinated cover-up designed to give plausible deniability.
In retaliation, Jones’ lawyer Kristen Tahler dismissed the accusations as a “desperate ploy” from Baldoni’s side, pointing out that Team Baldoni dropped earlier claims without presenting new evidence.
💥 The Fallout and What’s Next
At the heart of the escalating dispute are claims of a media smear campaign allegedly orchestrated through leaks to The New York Times, fueling the fallout between Baldoni and Lively’s camp.
Baldoni, along with Wayfarer Studios executives and publicists, is pressing forward with his $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit, naming Lively, Reynolds, and others.
Meanwhile, both sides are trying to dismiss portions of the sprawling legal action. Observers expect that The New York Times may soon extricate itself from the case.
“The real smear campaign has been led by the Lively parties and their allies,” said Freedman, vowing continued legal pursuit.
As the clock ticks toward the scheduled March 9, 2026 trial date, the stakes — both legal and reputational — continue to rise for all involved in one of Hollywood’s most bitter legal dramas in years.