Justin Baldoni is suing his former publicist, Stephanie Jones, claiming that she played a pivotal role in igniting the legal turmoil between him and Blake Lively by leaking private text messages. The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on March 21, 2025, accuses Jones of breaching client confidentiality by sharing sensitive communications that became key evidence in Lively’s separate
lawsuit.
According to Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, Jones’ actions sparked a catastrophic series of events. He stated that Jones maliciously handed over private messages from a phone she had wrongfully taken from her partner, which were then shared with Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, after Jones was terminated by Wayfarer Studios. This came after reports surfaced of a falling out between Baldoni and Lively over their movie It Ends With Us.
The lawsuit marks the sixth legal battle related to the production. The dispute began when Lively filed a lawsuit in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and a coordinated campaign to damage her reputation, involving Baldoni, Wayfarer, and others. The suit included thousands of pages of text messages obtained via subpoena, reportedly from the phone of Jennifer Abel, Baldoni’s publicist, which was seized by Jonesworks.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(710x398:712x400):format(webp)/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-it-ends-with-us-081324-2-11fd5c7a1fae4037af3f450b31ae1675.jpg)
Baldoni’s legal team claims that Abel was coerced into handing over her phone and agreeing to a meeting with Jonesworks staff, where she was confronted and intimidated into signing documents under duress. After gaining control of Abel’s phone, Jones allegedly locked Abel out of her accounts and used the material, including private communications, to fuel a narrative that would harm Baldoni and his company.
Jones’ actions, according to the complaint, led to the wrongful sharing of sensitive information with Lively’s team, resulting in significant reputational damage for Baldoni, his associates, and Abel. Abel has since faced severe harassment and threats as a result of these leaks.
In response, Jones has filed her own lawsuit against Baldoni and Abel, denying the allegations and asserting that her lawsuit is backed by concrete evidence. Her attorney argues that the counterclaims filed by Baldoni and his team are baseless and aimed at smearing her reputation.
Additionally, Baldoni has filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, seeking to clear his name and hold those responsible for the damage caused by these ongoing legal conflicts.