Key Points
Justin Baldoni challenges Blake Lively's extensive phone record subpoenas
Legal battle involves multiple parties and communications professionals
Dispute stems from sexual harassment complaint allegations
In a letter to the court, Baldoni's lawyer Mitchell Schuster argued that Lively's subpoenas are "flagrantly overbroad", reports 'Variety'.
He wrote, "It is hard to overstate how broad, invasive, and atypical these Subpoenas truly are. This is civil litigation, not a criminal prosecution, and (Lively and Reynolds) are not the FBI".
As per 'Variety', Blake Lively's lawyers submitted subpoenas earlier this week to AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
They are seeking further evidence to bolster their claim that Baldoni, her director and co-star in 'It Ends With Us', engaged in an unlawful smear campaign against her in retaliation for her sexual harassment complaint.
Responding to Baldoni's objections, a Lively spokesperson said, "If they have so many receipts why are they so afraid to produce them?".
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively are each suing each other in federal court in New York, in cases that have also drawn in Reynolds, numerous publicists and communications operatives, and the New York Times.
Justin alleges that the actress destroyed his reputation with provably false allegations. Blake Lively's lawyers also issued subpoenas to Jed Wallace, a crisis consultant based in Texas, and to internet providers Cloudflare and AOL. In a statement on Wednesday, the actress' team said they aim to "expose the full web of individuals" involved in the efforts to tarnish her reputation.
In response, Justin's team accused the actress' side of engaging in a "massive fishing expedition". The phone company subpoenas include requests for records pertaining to Justin Baldoni, producer Jamey Heath, billionaire Wayfarer Studios co-founder Steve Sarowitz, and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, all of whom are defendants in Blake Lively's suit.
