Justin Baldoni is suing his former publicist, claiming she ignited the legal turmoil between him and Blake Lively by leaking private text messages.
In the midst of the ongoing legal drama surrounding It Ends With Us, Baldoni, 41, and his publicist, Jennifer Abel, filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on March 21 against Stephanie Jones, the founder of PR firm Jonesworks.
The lawsuit accuses Jones of breaching client confidentiality by sharing private messages that later became key evidence in a separate lawsuit filed by Lively.
Jones had been representing Baldoni and his company, Wayfarer Studios, when reports emerged last summer about a fallout between the It Ends With Us director and Lively.
This lawsuit marks the sixth tied to the production of the film. The dispute began in December 2024 when Lively, 37, filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, producer Jamey Heath, Wayfarer co-founder Steve Sarowitz, and others, accusing them of sexual harassment and orchestrating a campaign to tarnish her reputation.
The New York Times later reported it had reviewed “thousands of pages of text messages and emails” obtained through a subpoena, which seemed to be from Abel’s phone—seized by Jonesworks shortly after Abel informed Jones she was leaving to start her own PR firm.
In response, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against the New York Times, accusing the publication of libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and breach of contract.
Baldoni has also filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, 48.
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