A legal victory has not ended Blake Lively’s dispute tied to the Justin Baldoni controversy. A fresh court filing has opened another chapter, with a Texas PR consultant seeking to question the actress before any legal fees are awarded.
Blake Lively’s $800K fee bid sets up new court fight with Jed Wallace
Blake Lively’s legal battle with crisis public relations consultant Jed Wallace has taken another twist after Wallace asked a Texas court to order the actress to sit for a deposition. The request comes months after his defamation lawsuit against Lively was dismissed, as the fight now centers on her bid to recover roughly $800,000 in attorneys’ fees, along with additional costs and damages.
New court filings, first reported by TMZ, show Wallace is pushing to keep the deposition centered on Lively’s claims for damages and attorney fees. He argues the session should dig into whether her sexual harassment allegations against him and his company, Street Relations Inc., were made with malice, saying that could decide if he’s on the hook for her legal bills. Wallace also claims Lively skipped a scheduled deposition earlier in the legal battle.
Lively’s legal team strongly rejected that argument in a statement to TMZ. “Jed Wallace already took Ms. Lively’s deposition. His case was dismissed. Ms. Lively won,” her attorneys said, calling the latest filing “another desperate, meritless attempt.” They argued Wallace is worried he could end up paying legal fees, just as Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios were ordered to in the New York case.
Wallace first took Lively to court in Texas over her allegations, but the lawsuit didn’t get far after a judge ruled the court had no jurisdiction over the actress. Now, Wallace says if she’s asking him to pay close to $800,000 in legal fees, he should be allowed to question what she knew before making those claims. He argues that showing she acted with malice could hurt her bid to recover those costs.
