Judge Grants Partial Access – Blake Lively Wins Key Ruling in Lawsuit Against Justin Baldoni!

A New York judge has partially granted Blake Lively’s subpoena request for two years of phone records from actor and director Justin Baldoni, his public relations team, and employees of his production company, Wayfarer Studios. The actress, who has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Baldoni, will now be required to narrow the scope of her request after the court ruled that some of the demands, particularly those related to Wayfarer Studios, were “overly intrusive” and disproportionate to the needs of the case.

In his ruling, Judge Lewis Liman acknowledged that Lively’s request raised privacy concerns. “This request implicates legitimate privacy interests,” Liman said, noting that even though Lively had agreed to exclude the content of calls or messages, the phone records themselves could still contain sensitive information. Such details could reveal personal connections, including which doctors, psychologists, or even acquaintances were in communication with the parties from Wayfarer Studios.

Lively’s subpoena sought phone records from December 2022 through the present, as part of her ongoing lawsuit against Baldoni and several others. She argues that the records will help identify those involved in a negative media campaign that she claims was orchestrated against her. However, Judge Liman questioned the relevance of the full timeline, pointing out that, according to Lively’s complaint, the alleged smear campaign didn’t begin until August 2024. He expressed skepticism about how communications from 2022 and 2023 could help identify individuals connected to the campaign.

Despite this, the court ruled that Lively could still subpoena non-parties, rejecting Baldoni’s request to exclude them from the subpoena. “The Wayfarer Parties may assert a privacy interest in their own phone records, but they have not provided any basis for asserting an interest in the communications of non-parties,” Liman stated.

Baldoni’s legal team has characterized the decision as a win, with attorney Bryan Freedman criticizing Lively’s subpoena as an attempt to invade privacy. “The Court put a stop to Ms. Lively’s egregious attempt to invade our clients’ privacy,” Freedman said in a statement to Variety. He further asserted that the ruling reflected the court’s recognition of the subpoenas as a “desperate fishing expedition” intended to salvage claims that had already been debunked.

Lively filed her lawsuit against Baldoni in December, claiming that he sexually harassed her on set and that he, along with other co-defendants, orchestrated a smear campaign against her. Baldoni, in turn, countersued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million, alleging that they attempted to “destroy” his reputation with their own smear campaign. Additionally, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against The New York Times for publishing the story about Lively’s legal action.

As the legal battle continues, the court’s mixed ruling represents a pivotal moment in the ongoing dispute, with Lively and Baldoni’s legal teams closely monitoring the next steps in the case. The narrowing of the subpoena request is expected to further shape the direction of the legal proceedings in the coming months.