Justin Baldoni hits back at Isabela Ferrer's harassment claims amid Blake Lively legal battle

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Justin Baldoni has responded to actress Isabela Ferrer 's harassment allegations as the Blake Lively legal battle rolls on over their film It Ends With Us.
Baldoni, 41, has denied the claims by 24-year-old actress Ferrer who filed a fiery legal rebuttal to director-star over alleged repeated attempts to subpoena her.
Daily Mail has obtained documents filed by Baldoni's team on Monday in which they claimed they were issued a subpoena for Ferrer to obtain 'documents that she either neglected to produce or were not requested' by Lively's Team.
His legal team said in the documents that they had reached out to the Ferrer's lawyers 'twice' to communicate in regards to the subpoena but they claim to have been 'ignored.'
Ferrer's team had claimed that process servers had failed to catch her at addresses in Brooklyn and Sag Harbor and Justin's legal team asked the judge to approve 'alternative service,' and her attorney Sanford Michelman blasted them for listing 'addresses [in motion] that could have been Ms. Ferrer's home.'
Baldoni's lawyers also claim that they did not harass the actress as they were not the firs to issue her a summons as Lively, 37, originally had.
The docs read: 'Ms. Lively should not be permitted to obtain discovery from Ms. Ferrer, while Ms. Ferrer and her counsel frustrate all effort by the Wayfarer Parties to obtain the discovery critical to the preparation of their defense.
'Given the circumstances, the Wayfarer Parties are willing to stipulate that none of the parties will use any communication to, from or concerning Ms. Ferrer, or any testimony from her, in any manner in this action.'
Baldoni's legal team concluded the filing by asking Judge J. Liman to 'grant' their request to serve Ferrer 'via alternative means.'
Meanwhile, in legal docs obtained by People, Ferrer's lawyers alleged Baldoni 'engaged in bad faith tactics' and filed his motion 'for improper purposes and with the aim of harassing' and 'exerting pressure on' her.
When the granddaughter of Rosemary Clooney and José Ferrer responded to Blake's subpoena in February, she invoked an indemnification clause in her It Ends with Us acting contract with Wayfarer Studios requiring them to pay her legal fees.
Michelman alleged that Wayfarer agreed only on the 'serious' condition that Isabela 'confirm that she will "surrender control"' of her response, and she's since hired private counsel.
The legal docs read: 'Baldoni made no effort to tailor the subpoena towards the production of new or different materials, demonstrating that the real aim of the Baldoni subpoena, as well as the pending motion, is to harass Ms. Ferrer.'
Michelman asked Judge Lewis J. Liman to 'deny the motion in its entirety and impose appropriate sanctions against Baldoni.'
Daily Mail has obtained documents filed by Baldoni's team on Monday in which they claimed they were issued a subpoena for Ferrer to obtain 'documents that she either neglected to produce or were not requested' by Lively's Team (Lively is seen in New York in June)
The Daily Mail has reached out to the reps of Ferrer and Baldoni for comment on her August 12th filing.
The Wayfarer Studios co-founder selected the native New Yorker to make her big-screen acting debut as the young Lily Bloom in 2023 following a nationwide open casting call and an alleged thumbs up from Taylor Swift.
Blake alleged that after Justin filmed the scene of young Lily losing her virginity for a flashback, he approached the actors and said: 'I know I'm not supposed to say this, but that was hot.'
But when asked about Baldoni during an EPK promotional interview in 2023, Isabela gushed that he 'has a really great method of just being able to keep things positive' on set.
'I feel like that's, as an actor who's also first starting, when you're trying to get used to everything, it's really important to have someone go, "That's really good. Okay, now let's look at this,"' Ferrer continued.
'And there's no patronizing, there's no, I don't feel not heard. I always feel like I can go up to him and ask for anything. I mean, our first phone call after I got this job, it was a FaceTime, and the first thing he said to be was like, whatever you need wherever, call me. I immediately had his number. There was an immediate understanding that literally, whatever, if I needed anything, I knew that I could reach out to him.'
Two weeks after production wrapped that same year, the former restaurant worker thanked the Man Enough podcaster for 'an incredible experience on my first film' as documented on his website.
'I still can't shake the feeling of it all because it truly was life changing for me,' Isabela gushed via text.
'You are such a wonderful, smart, and sincere director and you created such a comfortable, safe space for me to feel like I could fully step into this role. I couldn't have asked for a more welcoming environment. It will stay with me for the rest of my life!'
But once Ferrer began promoting the movie alongside Lively (born Brown), the actress allegedly poisoned her and the cast as well as author Colleen Hoover against Justin just like she once did with her Gossip Girl leading man Penn Badgley.
Last year, the Another Simple Favor actress jokingly called herself Isabela's 'stage mom' and they even share the same mole, telling THR: 'The film is my side hustle. Isabela is my main priority.'
Ferrer enjoyed sleepovers with 'angel' mentor Blake, who styled her for the premieres, and told People last year: 'To be able to connect with the person that you're sharing a role with is huge, and she's just a really good person.'
'How she manages four children with the businesses that she has and [her] career as an actor and a producer and everything else,' the Carnegie Mellon University grad marveled.
'I mean, she is Wonder Woman. I don't know how she does it. It's crazy.'
Lively faced substantial outrage over her treatment of journalists, sarcastically answering questions about DV in her movie, and floral-filled Barbie-style promotion directly tied to her haircare and booze brands.
The domestic violence drama's marketing was all masterminded by the LA-born mother-of-four's husband Ryan Reynolds through his company, Maximum Effort.
As more evidence is revealed, Blake - who requires 'authorship' on all her films - appears to have masterminded a takeover of the It Ends with Us script, wardrobe, score, and editing departments by threatening to pull out of promoting it.
Lively and Baldoni are scheduled to face off in Manhattan US District Court for a sexual harassment and defamation trial beginning March 2026, but the general public have already sided with him.
Last June, Judge Liman made the controversial decision to dismiss both of Justin's $400M and $250M libel lawsuits against Lively, Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloane, and the New York Times.
The Secrets of the Penguins narrator has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliating against her with a smear campaign, and her legal team has issued over 100 subpoenas to content creators accusing them of being on his payroll.
Ironically, Blake leaked her CCRD complaint to the New York Times to publish a one-sided article last December, which exposed Wayfarer publicist Jennifer Abel's text messages dubiously obtained through a subpoena stemming from a sham lawsuit filed by Reynolds' company Vanzan.