In a legal case that’s already spilled more tea than that 1773 Boston party, the Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni legal saga is poised to deliver even more.
On Thursday afternoon, federal Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against his former publicist, Stephanie Jones, can proceed.
That’s a big loss for Jones, who was sued not by Baldoni himself, but by his production company, Wayfarer. The ruling also subjects a number of players in the sprawling narrative to the possibility of discovery, including Jones as well as Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, and communications they may have had with Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Despite the victory, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman, who’s always good for a spicy quote, offered a summation so dry that I remembered why I never applied to law school. “The court rejected Stephanie Jones’ effort to dismiss the case and will allow Wayfarer’s claims, including defamation, to be tested on a full evidentiary record,” Freedman tells Page Six Hollywood.
Blake Lively is seen arriving for a settlement conference last month regarding her ongoing battle with Justin Baldoni. Robert Miller for NY Post
In the 2025 suit, Wayfarer claimed Jones “maliciously” leaked texts that sparked a dizzying array of lawsuits that all center on what happened on the set and ahead of the release of the 2024 box-office hit “It Ends With Us.” About a month before the domestic violence-themed drama opened, publicist Jennifer Abel decided to leave Jones’ titular firm, Jonesworks, and start her own company. Around the same time, Baldoni told Jones that he planned to leave her agency. Jones then allegedly seized Abel’s phone and downloaded text exchanges between Abel and crisis publicist Melissa Nathan.
Team Baldoni believes that Jones badmouthed him to Sloane, Lively and Reynolds. The text messages eventually landed in a bombshell New York Times story that painted Baldoni as an alleged sex harasser who then unleashed a so-called smear campaign against Lively in retaliation for her complaining about him.
Judge Liman — brother of “The Bourne Identity” director Doug Liman — ruled that Wayfarer had demonstrated enough to allow the lawsuit to move forward.
It’s one of several lawsuits heading to trial in New York in May. Lively is suing Baldoni, Abel and Nathan. Jones also is suing Baldoni, Abel and Nathan.
Jones declined comment when we reached out.
A spokesperson for Wayfarer tells Page Six Hollywood that the Baldoni parties are “pleased with the court’s decision.”
“The court further allowed claims to move forward that Stephanie Jones of Jonesworks acted in bad faith, including feeding harmful narratives to third parties and undermining her own client during a critical moment. These are not minor disputes. They are claims the court has found substantial enough to move forward into discovery… We are confident the full record will expose how these narratives were manufactured and why.”