Justin Baldoni Claims Former Publicist ‘Initiated’ Legal War With Blake Lively

This time round, Baldoni has taken intention at his former publicist, Stephanie Jones, who he believes leaked the textual content messages that sparked Vigorous’s lawsuit.

This comes after Blake Vigorous and her husband, Ryan Reynolds requested a decide to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit in opposition to them.

In response to Variety, Baldoni’s former publicist, Stephanie Jones, has change into the newest particular person to get dragged into his authorized warfare with Vigorous.

Jones was a consultant of Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios final yr when reviews of a rumored rift between the actor and Vigorous began swirling.

At her firm, Joneswork PR, she labored alongside Baldoni’s present publicist, Jennifer Abel, who can be suing her.

The duo declare Jones “initiated” the authorized warfare by allegedly leaking Abel’s textual content messages to Vigorous’s workforce.

“It’s simple that Stephanie Jones initiated this catastrophic sequence of occasions by violating probably the most fundamental of privateness rights, in addition to any remaining belief her purchasers held,” Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman mentioned in a press release to the publication.

He continued, “No stranger to stirring up disaster situations for departing purchasers, Ms. Jones maliciously turned over communications from the telephone she wrongfully took from her personal companion to her cohort, [Lively’s personal publicist] Leslie Sloane, instantly after Jones was terminated for trigger by Wayfarer because of her personal wrongful habits.”

In December 2024, the rumored feud between Vigorous and Baldoni was inadvertently confirmed when the actress filed a lawsuit accusing the “It Ends With Us” director of sexual harassment and fostering a poisonous work atmosphere.

Vigorous additionally claimed that he induced her “extreme emotional misery” together with his habits on the set of their movie.

She alleged that tensions reached a boiling level, prompting a gathering to deal with her complaints in opposition to the director.

Through the assembly, Vigorous requested that there be “no extra displaying nude movies or photos of ladies” to her and that there be “no extra point out of Baldoni’s alleged earlier’ pornography dependancy.'”

The actress additionally demanded “no extra discussions about sexual conquests” in her presence, “no additional mentions of forged and crew’s genitalia,” and the cessation of conversations about her weight or her late father.

Moreover, Vigorous known as for the slicing of any extra “intercourse scenes, oral intercourse, or on-camera climaxing” by Baldoni “exterior the scope of the script [he] authorized when signing onto the venture.”

Shortly after Vigorous’s lawsuit, Baldoni hit the actress with a hefty lawsuit, alleging that she and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, tried to “destroy” him.

In response to authorized paperwork obtained by Variety, Baldoni filed a 179-page grievance within the Southern District of New York, accusing the Hollywood energy couple of civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privateness. 

“At backside, this isn’t a case about celebrities sniping at one another within the press,” Baldoni’s lawsuit learn on the time. “It is a case about two of probably the most highly effective stars on the planet deploying their huge energy to steal a complete movie proper out of the fingers of its director and manufacturing studio… When Plaintiffs have their day in courtroom, the jury will acknowledge that even probably the most highly effective movie star can’t bend the reality to her will.”

The actor sought $400 million in damages. Earlier than submitting his countersuit, Baldoni’s lawyer despatched out a litigation maintain letter to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Disney CEO Bob Iger, and director Tim Miller relating to the actor’s “anticipated claims” in opposition to Reynolds, Vigorous, and different unnamed events.

The letter demanded that the studio executives maintain “any and all paperwork regarding the event of the Nicepool character” and “communications regarding the event, writing, and filming of storylines and scenes that includes Nicepool.”

Reynolds just lately requested {that a} decide let him out of Baldoni and Vigorous’s bitter authorized battle.

In courtroom paperwork obtained by TMZ, the actor claimed that Baldoni’s determination to file a lawsuit in opposition to him was fueled by his “thin-skinned outrage over a film character.”

The remark was in reference to the “Deadpool & Wolverine” character, “Nicepool,” whom Baldoni has alleged was an intentional reference to him, right down to the character’s man-bun coiffure.

Reynolds additional states that his calling Baldoni a “predator” is an opinion protected by regulation, doubling down on the allegation that the director sexually harassed Vigorous.

“Mr. Reynolds has a First Modification proper to carry Mr. Baldoni— or any man who Mr. Reynolds believes sexually harassed his spouse—in ‘deep disdain,'” the paperwork learn. “The Court docket ought to dismiss the defamation declare as to Mr. Reynolds with prejudice as a result of the Predator Statements are expressions of opinion that deserve ‘absolute safety’ by regulation.”

Vigorous’s attorneys have additionally filed for all instances in opposition to the actress to be dropped, tagging Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit as “vengeful and rambling.”

They declare his countersuit is a “profound abuse of the authorized course of that has no place in federal courtroom.”

“The regulation prohibits weaponizing defamation lawsuits, like this one, to retaliate in opposition to people who’ve filed authorized claims or have publicly spoken out about sexual harassment and retaliation,” the paperwork learn.

“The best to hunt authorized redress and the appropriate of the press to report on it are sacred rules which are protected by a number of privileges, together with the litigation and honest report privileges, that are absolute,” it continued, per the Daily Mail.

In response to Vigorous’s newest request,  Baldoni’s lawyer, Freedman, mentioned, “Vigorous’s latest movement to dismiss herself from the self-concocted catastrophe she initiated is without doubt one of the most abhorrent examples of abusing our authorized system.”

He added, “Stringent guidelines are put into place to guard the harmless and permit people to rightfully defend themselves.”