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As Blake Lively's legal battle with former director Justin Baldoni continues, she is now facing another lawsuit. In the lawsuit, which was obtained by E! News on February 5, Jed Wallace and his crisis PR firm, Street Relations, are suing Lively for defamation after she named the company in her California Civil Rights complaint, which was filed in December.
Wallace is requesting at least $6,000,000 in punitive damages, claiming that because Lively named him in her initial complaint but left him out of her later lawsuit against Baldoni, which was filed later that month, "damage" was done because multiple media outlets reported that he and his firm had engaged in illegal activity.
The 37-year-old's attorney, however, disputed the most recent complaint made against her.
A representative for Lively told E! News, "Another day, another state, another nine-figure lawsuit seeking to sue Ms. Lively 'into oblivion' for speaking out against sexual harassment and retaliation." "This is blatant retaliation in response to allegations made in a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint that Ms. Lively filed with the California Civil Rights Department; it is not merely a publicity stunt."
"We are happy that Mr. Wallace has finally come out of the shadows and that he too will be held accountable in federal court, even though this lawsuit will be dismissed," the statement said in its conclusion.
Less than a month has passed since Baldoni filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, alleging that the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants actress was "determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain of her story" and that her claims of sexual harassment were "falsified stories." Wallace's lawsuit follows that action.
Lively and her team were also charged in Baldoni's complaint from January 16 with deliberately launching "a vile smear campaign against Baldoni and Wayfarer to deflect attention and blame for Lively's disastrous misjudgments."
One of Baldoni's attorneys, Bryan Freedman, has persisted in criticizing Lively's accusations against his client since the filing. The lawyer for the Jane the Virgin alum has even gone so far as to create a separate website with supporting documentation from their first lawsuit. Additionally, a judge denied Reynolds and Lively's request for a gag order against Freedman late last month. Aside from that, Lively has kept a quiet profile during her court dispute. Nonetheless, Lively and Reynolds, who have children together (James, 10, Inez, 8, Betty, 5, and Olin, born in 2023), recently posted a selfie of a night out on February 3rd, demonstrating that they remain connected despite their situation.
