Justin Baldoni's team calls lawsuit filed by Blake Lively’s and Ryan Reynolds’ company Vanzan a "sham" just to obtain subpoenas

Justin Baldoni's legal counsel is slamming Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for allegedly playing tricks in their ongoing lawsuit.

As reported by Us Weekly, a plaintiff referred to as "Varzan" filed paperwork against unnamed defendants on September 27, 2024.

“This action arises out of an ongoing campaign to damage Plaintiff’s business and Plaintiff’s reputation,” court documents stated. “Defendants have certain contractual and confidentiality obligations and obligations of good faith and loyalty to Plaintiff regarding Plaintiff’s business and reputation, by way of oral promises and/or written agreements.”

However, Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, is brushing these legal tactics off as nothing but a scam.

“Ms. Lively’s and Mr. Reynolds’ company Vanzan had nothing to do with this case and they knew it,” Freedman said in a statement to Us Weekly on Monday, April 21. “This sham lawsuit was designed to obtain subpoena power without oversight or scrutiny, and in doing so denied my clients the ability to contest the propriety, nature and scope of the subpoena.”

New details in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal feud explored:

According to the outlet, Freedman, who has also filed lawsuits against unnamed defendants, noted that

“There is nothing normal about this. Officers of the court have a duty of candor to the court and an obligation not to file fictitious lawsuits that have no basis in fact or law. This was done in bad faith and constitutes a flagrant abuse of process.”

“A party with no connection to these proceedings asserting a breach of contract against another party they claim not to be able to identify does not qualify,” he concluded. “This was done in bad faith and constitutes a flagrant abuse of process.”

According to Mandatory, the hidden lawsuit, filed in New York, targeted 10 unnamed "Does," though it did not identify Blake Lively and Reynolds. However, Lively serves as the CEO of Vanzan, the plaintiff, and it reportedly used the lawsuit to gain access to electronic communications from Jonesworks head Stephanie Jones.

Deadline has reported that Jones possessed "incriminating and unpalatable texts and other correspondence" from Baldoni’s PR team, led by Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, pertaining to the alleged smear campaign orchestrated against Blake Lively. As reported by Mandatory, an alleged text from Nathan read, “We can bury anyone.”

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, one of the firms representing Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and their PR chief Leslie Sloane, said in a statement to Deadline:

“The DOE Defendants have undertaken direct efforts to contravene these agreements and instead have participated, and may continue to participate, in efforts to harm Plaintiff, including by: failing to act in Plaintiff’s best interests, taking actions to their personal benefit at Plaintiff’s expense, failing to freely communicate with Plaintiff regarding matters that impact Plaintiff’s business and reputation, and disclosing to third parties and failing to keep strictly confidential Plaintiff’s confidential and/or private information."

In a statement to Us Weekly, Lively's attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said:

"There is nothing untoward here — just conscientious and thorough investigation. The Lively parties acted upon reliable information, and employed common tools such as Doe lawsuits and civil subpoenas that are entirely lawful and appropriate for pursuing claims and uncovering the identity of unknown perpetrators of unlawful activities.”

Lively's legal team is further contending that the lawsuit

“unearthed the Wayfarer Parties’ documented plan — in their own words, in their own text messages — to ‘destroy’ Blake Lively, a plan which they executed without transparency, disclosure, or notice to Ms. Lively or the public, instead acting in a way they thought would be ‘untraceable.’"

"We have absolutely nothing to hide — Ms. Lively voluntarily disclosed the subpoena in her first filing knowing that it would ultimately be produced to the Wayfarer Parties in discovery, and that is precisely what will happen as Ms. Lively’s claims move forward in the proper litigation process.”

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The legal complications between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively stem from December 2024, when the latter accused her It Ends With Us co-star and director of s*xual harassment and orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her.

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