Crisis Management Conultant of Street Relations Inc., Jed Wallace has appealed to revive dismissed defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively. Lively in her legal battle against ex co-star Justin Baldoni had claimed that Baldoni had hired Wallace to weaponize a “digital army” to harm her reputation. Lively alleged that the digital army planted false information about her on social media with the intention to turn public opinion against her.
Lively’s complaint cited a text from Melissa Nathan, a crisis PR manager Baldoni hired which said, “We are crushing it on Reddit.”
As a response, Wallace had filed a defamation suit in Texas. However, a judge dismissed the lawsuit last year for lack of jurisdiction. The court found that Jed had not proved that the defamation case comes under Texas’ court’s jurisdiction.
In Jed’s recent appeal documents, Jed claims that he does have jurisdiction and claimed that Blake took “meaningful Texas targeted actions.”
As per Jed’s appeal, Blake’s accusations in her legal battle against Justin Baldoni talk about Jed’s alleged conduct in Texas. Jed also claims that Blake invoked aTexas court to investigate her accusations, hired Texas lawyers, and also pail filing fees to the Texas court.
More about Jed Wallace’s defamation case against Blake Lively
In February, 2025, Jed Wallace filed a defamation suit in Texas federal court against Blake Lively.
Jed Wallace denied haing any part in the alleged smear campaign which Lively claims that Baldoni’s team hired Wallace for. Lively had named Jed Wallace as a defendant in a civil rights complaint she filed in California. At the time, Lively’s lawyers in a statement to Forbes reacted to the defamation suit, saying,
“Another day, another state, another nine-figure lawsit seeking to sue Ms. Lively ‘into oblivion’ for speaking out against sexual harassment and retaliation. This is not just a publicity stunt – it is transparent retaliation in response to allegations contained within a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint that Ms. Lively filed with the California Civil Rights Department.”
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni settled their legal dispute on May 4, before Lively’s Met Gala appearance. The legal battle lasted for one and a half years after Lively filed a sexual harassment complaint and accused Baldoni of orchestrating a smear campaign against her in December, 2024. Lively had also accused Baldoni of creating a hostile work environment on set.
10 of her 13 claims were dismissed by the court before the two reached a settlement.
Edited by Soujanya Shapur