Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni Court Battle: Actress Claims High-Tech Smear Campaign with Auto-Deleting Messages

The latest allegations in the ongoing litigation between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni focus on claims Baldoni allegedly illicitly used technology to orchestrate a smear campaign against his It Ends With Us costar.

Baldoni and his team of attorneys, agents and public relations professionals used an array of digital tricks to conceal critical evidence in the legal proceedings, lawyers for Lively, 38, said in a new court filing reviewed by Daily Mail Wednesday.

‘Defendants have hid the ball at every turn in the discovery process, either failing to produce documents, or improperly cloaking them in the attorney-client privilege,’ lawyers representing Lively said in court documents obtained by Daily Mail.

Lively’s legal team said that maneuvers from Baldoni’s camp forced ‘no less than twelve discovery-related motions to date against’ them. 

A former Baldoni associate in Jonesworks LLC – a PR firm that’s a third-party defendant in the case – raised similar allegations in a filing on Wednesday, Deadline reported after reviewing court documents. 

Daily Mail has reached out to reps for Lively and Baldoni for further comment on the story. 

The latest allegations in the ongoing litigation between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni focus on claims Baldoni, allegedly, illicitly used technology to orchestrate a smear campaign against his It Ends With Us costar. Lively, 38, pictured in NYC last year 

Attorneys for Lively, who is wed to actor Ryan Reynolds, 48, said in the court paper that Baldoni coordinated an effort with associates from Wayfarer Studios and PR professionals such as Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, with apps, auto-deleting messages and other digital elements coming into play. 

Baldoni and his team worked in concert to try to destroy Lively’s reputation with the use of multiple digital resources, which included the app Signal; voice memos; and other software, lawyers for the Los Angeles-born actress said in the court paper.

Baldoni and his associates took multiple actions indicating they were aware litigation could be in the future, and sought to conceal information in the case that would not be advantageous if publicly exposed, Lively’s lawyers said in the court filing.

Details about Signal and other efforts were gleaned from depositions with former employees of Nathan, including Katherine Case and Breanna Butler, Deadline reported, citing legal docs it reviewed.

The Gossip Girl star claimed Baldoni had sexually harassed her while making It Ends with Us, which was a surprise hit when it arrived in theaters in August of 2024. Baldoni denied the allegation.

It earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally – but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars.

The motion picture, which also starred Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, was based off the 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover. 

The storyline of the film centered around a toxic relationship between Lily Bloom (played by Lively) and Ryle Kincaid (played by Baldoni).

It Ends with Us, directed by Baldoni, was a surprise hit when it arrived in theaters in 2024

It earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally – but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars 

According to a logline for the film, Lily (Lively) ‘overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life,’ as ‘a chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents’ relationship.’

In December of 2024, Lively named Baldoni in a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliatory conduct, and intentional infliction of emotional stress.

In her lawsuit, the Gossip Girl alum accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.  

In her lawsuit, Lively named a number of Baldoni’s collaborators, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel.  

Baldoni had initially asked for $250 million in damages from The New York Times mentioning a report it published on the topic, then added it into the $400 million lawsuit he filed this past January.

In the suit, Baldoni named Lively, her spouse Ryan Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, citing the aforementioned report in legal documents. It was thrown out of court this past June. 

All parties have denied all of the allegations against them.