New York, New York – Blake Lively has withdrawn several subpoenas her lawyers sent to content creators who have covered her ongoing legal battle against her co-star, Justin Baldoni.
The It Ends With Us actors have been locked in a dramatic legal war since last December, when Lively accused the 41-year-old filmmaker of sexual harassment and retaliation.
Baldoni has denied her claims, but his countersuit accusing her of defamation was tossed by a federal judge last month.
As they look to prove their claim that Baldoni hired a crisis PR team to carry out a retalitory smear campaign, Lively’s team subpoenaed several small content creators who have covered the case.
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But Us Weekly, the 37-year-old Gossip Girl star’s team said on Monday that “there is no further information required” from three of those creators – Kassidy O’Connell, McKenzie Folks, and Lauren Neidigh.
Therefore, the subpoenas issued to Google and X seeking information about the trio – all of whom have criticized Lively within their coverage of the case – have been withdrawn.
All three had previously written to the judge to request their dismissal from the case. O’Connell argued that there was “no evidence or sound legal basis whatsoever to have issued this subpoena in the first place,” while Neidigh called the subpoenas an attempt to “harass” and “intimidate” Lively’s online critics.
Lively’s team had noted that the subpoenas were “not accusations of wrongdoing” and instead a normal part of the “discovery process” as her attorneys seek to prove the “untraceable” social media campaign they allege Baldoni’s PR team conducted in order to destroy Lively’s reputation.
The A Simple Favor actor’s team has also subpoenaed a number of higher-profile content creators, including gossip blogger Perez Hilton and right-wing commentator Candace Owens, in the process.
A report from The Guardian published in May found that while social media posts have been “overwhelmingly pro-Baldoni,” the vast majority came from what appeared to be bots or troll accounts made solely to discuss the case.
As the court battle continues, Lively is set to be deposed by Baldoni’s team on Thursday after the original date was postponed.
