Justin Baldoni’s legal battle with his former publicist Stephanie Jones continues to intensify, with new filings and statements only adding to the confusion and contradictions within his complaint. While Baldoni claims that Jones “maliciously” leaked private information about him to Blake Lively’s team, other parts of his complaint suggest that Jones was merely a pawn in a broader conspiracy.

She filed a suit in December 2024. Baldoni filed his counter today.

According to Baldoni’s complaint, Jones allegedly conspired with Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloane to seize Jennifer Abel’s phone and extract messages to create a false narrative. This narrative was supposedly designed to shift blame away from Lively’s own “tone-deaf” promotional campaign for the film It Ends With Us and instead frame Baldoni and Wayfarer as the villains responsible for Lively’s PR disaster.

However, Baldoni’s complaint also states that Stephanie Jones herself acted out of personal malice, deliberately leaking information to Lively’s team as revenge for being fired by Wayfarer. His legal team argues that Jones’s actions were a form of “bitter revenge against her most-trusted employee” Abel, and that Jones’s behavior was the catalyst for the entire debacle.

This contradiction is central to the problem. If Jones was working as part of a larger conspiracy, then she wasn’t acting independently out of personal malice. And if she was indeed acting independently, then the allegations of her participating in a coordinated scheme with Lively, Reynolds, and Sloane fall apart. The legal complaint cannot have it both ways.

Moreover, the assertion that Jones “seized Abel’s phone” without a subpoena or lawful order is a severe accusation. But Baldoni’s complaint muddles the narrative by claiming Jones acted both independently and as part of a broader scheme orchestrated by others. This lack of clarity and consistency could severely undermine Baldoni’s credibility in court.

Furthermore, the complaint details how Abel’s phone was allegedly seized in an intimidating setting where Abel was surrounded by a security guard, a forensic data extraction expert, an attorney, and Jones’ chief of staff. Abel was reportedly pressured into handing over her phone and was double-crossed when Jones refused to release her personal number, cutting off Abel’s access to critical accounts.

The allegations also claim that Jones handed over Abel’s phone contents to Lively and her team without a subpoena, giving them full access to messages that could be manipulated to construct a false narrative about the negative publicity surrounding Lively.

If Baldoni’s claims are proven to be knowingly false or misleading, he could face serious consequences including monetary sanctions, dismissal of his claims, and even professional repercussions for his attorneys if they were aware of the contradictory nature of the complaint. Conversely, if Jones can demonstrate that Baldoni’s allegations are baseless, she could pursue further legal action for defamation or intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Ultimately, this legal battle continues to raise more questions than answers. At the heart of it all is the conflicting narrative within Baldoni’s own complaint. Was Stephanie Jones a mastermind acting on her own out of revenge, or was she part of a coordinated conspiracy to discredit Justin Baldoni? Until these questions are resolved, the lawsuit will remain a tangled web of accusations and counterclaims.