The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni over the production of It Ends With Us continues to unfold with new explosive allegations, leaked HR complaints, and a subpoena that could change everything. As the lawsuit develops, evidence is emerging that Baldoni’s alleged misconduct was known on set and ignored, raising major concerns about retaliation and a potential studio cover-up. People reports.

The Subpoena That Could Change the Case

With just one day left to amend her lawsuit, Lively’s legal team made a decisive move. On February 12, 2025, Lively’s lawyers filed a broad subpoena against 14 individuals, including Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios executives, and PR strategists, demanding:

• Call logs and data records from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile
• Location tracking data spanning 2.5 years
• Correspondence between PR firms and Wayfarer executives regarding Lively

The request aims to uncover a potential smear campaign and to validate Lively’s claim that Baldoni and his team actively sought to discredit her after she spoke out.

Baldoni’s lawyer, Mitchell Schuster, immediately criticized the request as “flagrantly overbroad,” stating that it invades the privacy of numerous individuals unrelated to the case. He argued that this is civil litigation, not a criminal investigation, and dismissed Lively’s legal maneuver as a media ploy. However, Lively’s team insists the records will expose a coordinated effort to silence and retaliate against her.

Baldoni’s Legal Team Fights Back

Baldoni’s legal team is actively pushing back against the subpoenas, arguing that they overreach beyond the scope of the case and could set a dangerous precedent. Schuster emphasized that the request is not limited to case-relevant information, but seeks personal data, location tracking, and conversations with third parties not involved in the lawsuit.

“This is civil litigation, not a criminal prosecution, and the Lively Parties are not the FBI,” Schuster wrote in a letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman, arguing that the scope of the subpoena is unnecessarily invasive.

Baldoni’s attorney also accused Lively’s team of using the subpoena as a PR stunt, stating that previous legal filings were leaked alongside “a lengthy and combative statement” to the press.

Lively’s team responded through a spokesperson, pointing out contradictions in Baldoni’s position. The spokesperson highlighted that Baldoni’s own legal team had previously claimed to have “receipts” proving Lively was a “bully”, but now appeared to be “afraid to produce” any actual evidence.

“If they have so many receipts, why are they so afraid to produce them?” Lively’s spokesperson said.

The spokesperson further argued that Baldoni’s team admitted to strategizing a PR response if Lively spoke out, including planting stories that painted her as a “bully” who was “weaponizing feminism”.

“They have admitted that they created a plan in case she ‘made her grievances public,’ in which they planned to plant stories suggesting Ms. Lively was a ‘bully’ and ‘weaponizing feminism,’” the spokesperson said. “Now they want to block the very discovery that would expose them. If they didn’t do it, they would have nothing to hide.”

Leaked HR Complaints: The Smoking Gun?

In addition to the subpoena, new leaked HR complaints suggest that Lively wasn’t the only woman on set who experienced misconduct. Allegedly, three separate complaints were filed against Baldoni with Sony—Wayfarer Studios’ distribution partner.

The first complaint, filed on May 29, 2023, alleged “gross and unwanted comments” made by Baldoni to a female cast member. Another actress later filed a complaint regarding Baldoni’s comments about her body, after which he allegedly avoided her because he believed she and Lively were “colluding.”

One of the more shocking leaks involves actress Jenny Slate, who allegedly experienced inappropriate touching from Baldoni during an on-set adjustment of her posture. Reports also suggest that Isabella, the young actress who played a teenage Lily Bloom, may have been involved in one of the complaints. If true, this would be particularly alarming, as she was a minor at the time of filming.

These complaints were reportedly circulated among content creators and influencers before being reported on by mainstream outlets. However, their authenticity remains uncertain, as key details—including the dates of filing—were redacted in the leaks.

The Coppola Reference: Baldoni’s Attempt to Get Ahead of Allegations?

Perhaps the most damning evidence comes from Baldoni’s own internal emails. On July 26, 2024, Baldoni sent an article to his PR team about Francis Ford Coppola’s misconduct on the set of Megalopolis, where Coppola was accused of kissing cast and crew members without consent.

Baldoni’s response to the article was telling. He wrote:

“This is the shit that I’m sure they want to do—unnamed sources etc.”

This suggests that Baldoni expected allegations and was preparing to discredit them before they even surfaced. Just three days later, on July 29, 2024, Baldoni and PR strategist Jennifer Abel mapped out a “social and digital combat plan” to get ahead of any publicity regarding Lively’s HR complaints.

This plan included boosting negative content about Lively, engaging crisis PR experts, and coordinating media narratives to control the story before it went public.

Lively’s lawsuit argues that this is proof of a coordinated retaliation campaign designed to bury her claims and tarnish her reputation. The subpoena now aims to confirm this, seeking access to messages, PR discussions, and call logs that may prove intentional defamation and harassment.

What Happens Next?

With the amended complaint set to be filed on February 18, the case is reaching a critical moment. If these leaked HR complaints are confirmed as legitimate, and if the subpoena uncovers evidence of a PR smear campaign, this case could go beyond Baldoni vs. Lively—it could expose a larger cover-up by Wayfarer Studios and Sony.

For now, Baldoni’s legal team continues to deny all allegations, while Lively’s team pushes for more transparency and accountability. One thing is certain: this legal battle is far from over.