Public relations specialist Jed Wallace has asked a court to depose actress Blake Lively over $800,000 in legal fees she wants to recover from him. Legal documents obtained by The Daily Mail show Wallace wants the 38-year-old actress to answer questions before he pays the requested attorney fees.
Wallace previously sued Lively for defamation in Texas state court after she named him in an initial administrative complaint. A judge later dismissed that case on personal jurisdiction grounds, after which Lively sought to recover $800,000 in legal costs from Wallace.
Now, Wallace has asked the court to make Lively testify about the accusations she made against him. Court filings state he wants to determine whether she knew her allegations were false, acted with ill will, or held a good-faith belief in her statements.
Questioning Lively's Intent
According to the court documents, the central issue involves Lively's state of mind when making her claims. Court papers state: "The central question is Lively’s state of mind: whether she (i) knew her allegations were false; (ii) had a good-faith belief in the truth of her statements about Respondents specifically, or (iii) acted with reckless disregard of the truth or (iv) with ill will."
The filing argues that Lively is the only person who can clarify her knowledge and intent. "Lively is the best person to testify about her subjective knowledge and intent regarding the Wallace Parties at the time she made the challenged statements. Because malice is an inherently subjective inquiry, other evidence such as documents or third-party testimony is subordinate to Lively’s own testimony about what she knew and believed when she falsely accused the Wallace Parties of sexual harassment," the documents state.
Court documents claim Lively was scheduled to appear for a deposition on August 4 but failed to attend. Her attorneys informed Wallace's legal team that the deposition notice had "no legal basis" and was "null and void."
Lively's legal team hit back at the request in a statement to The Daily Mail, calling the filing a "desperate, meritless" move. Her attorneys noted that Lively had already sat for a deposition in the dispute.
"Jed Wallace already took Ms. Lively’s deposition. His case was dismissed. Ms. Lively won," her lawyers said. "This is yet another desperate, meritless attempt by Wallace to go after Ms. Lively out of fear that he may face the same kind of fee award that Ms. Lively won from Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios in New York."
Origins of the Legal Dispute
Wallace filed his initial lawsuit against Lively last year, claiming he was dragged into her legal battle with her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni. Lively had listed Wallace as a defendant in an administrative complaint filed against Baldoni in December 2024.
Her filing described Wallace as a Texas-based contractor "who weaponized a digital army" to help "create, seed, and promote" social media content attacking her and defending Baldoni. The document served as a precursor to a lawsuit attached to a civil rights complaint filed in California on December 20.
When Lively filed her formal federal complaint 11 days later on December 31 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, neither Wallace nor his firm Street Relations were included as defendants. However, Wallace says media outlets had already distributed the precursor document widely.
Impact of Media Coverage
In a complaint filed in Texas federal court on Tuesday, Wallace states that media entities republished the precursor filing. "Lively or her agents provided the Precursor to various media entities for out-of-court republication and, because of the allegations contained therein, it made 'headlines around the world' according to Elle Magazine which linked to the Precursor document as did many other media," the filing states.
The complaint adds: "The Precursor was followed on or about December 31, 2024, by a 'formal suit' in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Wallace and Street were widely reported to be defendants in the Formal Lawsuit although they were not, the confusion having been sown by the Precursor."
Wallace states the media mix-up resulted in him being wrongly accused of harassment and retaliation against Lively. He sued for emotional harm and loss of business, seeking damages exceeding $1,000,000.
A judge ultimately dismissed Wallace's lawsuit due to a lack of personal jurisdiction, according to TMZ. The legal battle continues as Wallace attempts to depose Lively before paying her requested legal fees.
