Blake Lively’s attorneys are reportedly seeking access to Justin Baldoni’s financial records in the latest chapter of their lengthy legal battle.
TMZ reports that Lively’s legal team are asking Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios to prove they lost the $400 million they are seeking in their defamation lawsuit against the It Ends With Us actress, her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane.
Ahead of a 2026 trial date, Lively’s lawyers reportedly sent a request to the judge on Friday, May 9, claiming the Baldoni’s counsel only offered “non-privileged documents concerning their damages” during a recent meeting, rather than unrestricted access to all of the actor and filmmaker’s financial records. The attorneys for Lively argued that Baldoni’s side should be obligated to show why they are seeking $400 million in damages.
Us Weekly has reached out to Baldoni’s representatives for a response to this latest legal development.
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Lively, 37, originally filed a lawsuit against Baldoni in December 2024, accusing her former co-worker of creating a hostile work environment and engaging in sexual harassment. Her lawsuit alleged that the It Ends With Us director inflicted “severe emotional distress” on Lively throughout the making of the film. Baldoni has denied all of Lively’s accusations.
Baldoni, 41, and his company Wayfarer subsequently filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively in January, with his lawyer Bryan Freedman accusing the actress of a “duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media.” Lively and Reynolds denied those accusations.
Lively’s request for access to Baldoni’s financial records comes on the heels of his lawyers subpoenaing Taylor Swift on Friday, May 9, for potential testimony in the trial. Us obtained court documents in January in which Baldoni’s legal team alleged the director and Lively exchanged text messages about Swift and Reynolds purportedly offering feedback on It Ends With Us’ rooftop scene. Swift allowed her song “My Tears Ricochet” to be used in the film.
Swift’s spokesperson told Us in response to the subpoena, “Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film. She did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history.”
“The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet.’ Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case,” Swift’s spokesperson concluded.
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Days prior to Swift being subpoenaed, Lively’s lawyer Mike Gottlieb argued that testimony from the singer would have no “relevance” to Baldoni’s lawsuit.
“This is a case about what happened to Blake Lively when she raised claims of sexual harassment on the set,” the attorney insisted. “It’s not a case about how songs were chosen for the movie. It’s not a case about fictional Marvel characters in Deadpool movies.”
“You have to ask the question, then, why are these people being subpoenaed?” he continued. “Do they have any actual relevance to the case at hand? You can’t just go around subpoenaing people because they’re famous and you think it will generate a bunch of headlines. And the federal courts don’t tolerate that kind of behavior.”
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Baldoni’s lawyer Freedman responded to Gottlieb’s complaint by saying, “Although obviously uncomfortable for the Lively parties, the truth is not a distraction. The truth has been clearly shown through unedited receipts, documents and real life footage. More to come. Blake was the one who brought her high-profile friends into this situation without concern for their own personal or public backlash. As the truth shows, she used her Dragons to manipulate Justin at every turn.”
The Baldoni-Lively trial is set to begin on March 9, 2026, with the discovery period now underway.
