Celebrity crisis publicist Jed Wallace has filed a $7 million defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively, alleging that her claims about him leading a smear campaign have damaged his reputation and business.
The lawsuit, filed on February 4 in Texas, comes after Lively accused Wallace of orchestrating an online attack against her on behalf of the PR team for It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni. Wallace has strongly denied these allegations, arguing that they caused him both financial and reputational harm.
Lively, 37, initially filed a petition on January 21 to depose Wallace but later withdrew it. According to Wallace’s lawsuit, this retraction signals that her accusations lacked factual backing. His legal team argues that her claims of a “digital army” spreading false narratives against her were baseless and amounted to defamation.
Lively’s accusations were serious—she claimed that Wallace had mobilized a network of individuals across major cities like New York and Los Angeles to strategically create and promote negative content about her on social media and online forums.
However, Lively’s legal team has dismissed Wallace’s lawsuit as a retaliatory move. They argue that the defamation case is a direct response to a separate complaint Lively filed with the California Civil Rights Department, in which she alleged sexual harassment and retaliation.
In a statement to People, her lawyers pushed back against the defamation claims, saying: “Another day, another state, another multimillion-dollar lawsuit attempting to ‘sue Ms. Lively into oblivion’ for speaking out. This is not just a publicity stunt—it is a blatant act of retaliation against Ms. Lively for filing a sexual harassment complaint.”
Wallace’s lawsuit seeks damages for defamation, emotional distress, and business losses. His attorney, Chip Babcock, maintains that Wallace has never even met Lively and insists that no such smear campaign against her ever took place.
Meanwhile, Lively’s legal team believes the lawsuit is a tactic to discredit her as she builds her case against Baldoni, whose trial is set for March 2026. The legal battle between the parties is far from over, and it remains to be seen how these allegations will unfold in court.