Blake Lively SUED by Crisis PR Firm in Justin Baldoni Legal Drama _ E! News

Transcript

00:00Blake Lively is getting wrapped up in more legal trouble.

00:03As the It Ends With Us star's legal battle with former director Justin Baldoni continues,

00:08she's now facing an additional lawsuit. Jed Wallace and his crisis PR firm Street Relations

00:13has sued Lively for defamation after she named the company in her California civil

00:18rights complaint filed in December. In the lawsuit obtained by E! News February 5th,

00:23Wallace is seeking at least six million dollars in punitive damages,

00:27alleging that because Lively identified him in her initial complaint, but did not include him

00:31in her subsequent lawsuit against Baldoni filed later that month, quote, damage was done. As

00:37various media outlets reported that he and his firm had engaged in illegal activity. However,

00:42a rep for the 37-year-old pushed back on the latest filing against her. A rep for Lively says

00:47in a statement to E! News, another day, another state, another nine-figure lawsuit seeking to

00:52sue Ms. Lively into oblivion for speaking out against sexual harassment and retaliation.

00:57This is not just a publicity stunt. It is transparent retaliation in response to

01:02allegations contained within a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint that Ms. Lively filed

01:07with the California Civil Rights Department. The statement adds, while this lawsuit will be

01:11dismissed, we are pleased that Mr. Wallace has finally emerged from the shadows and that he too

01:16will be held accountable in federal court. Wallace's lawsuit comes less than a month after

01:20Baldoni countersued Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist for $400 million,

01:26claiming that the actress was, quote, determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain of her story

01:31and that her allegations of sexual harassment were falsified stories. A trial has been set for March

01:372026, with both sides most recently agreeing to move forward with the discovery process

01:42in the legal proceedings per NBC News.