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Josh Boswell, senior reporter for The Daily Mail, weighed in on the unfolding legal drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni during an appearance on the No Filter with Zack Peter podcast. In a clip shared on X on May 22, 2025, Boswell shut down supposed theories that Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, was circulating Blake Lively's secret Vanzan lawsuit to make her "look bad".
"Senior Reporter for the Daily Mail @JoshTBoswell shuts down conspiracy theories that Bryan Freedman is secretly the person that leaked Blake Lively’s Vanzan subpoena," Zack Peter wrote in the caption of his video.
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In the aforementioned clip, Zack Peter brought up the topic of the lawsuit, filed by Blake Lively's company Vanzan, to subpoena Justin Baldoni's text messages between him and his PR team. As per a Daily Mail report, when Freedman was asked about this lawsuit, he claimed that he was unaware of it.
In reference to the context of Vanzan's lawsuit and Freedman allegedly using it in his favor, Peter stated:
"Some people are thinking that Freedman is the person who’s somehow obtained this subpoena and was the one circulating it in an effort to make Blake look bad."
However, in his response to Zack Peter, Boswell said "Absolutely not", and firmly rejected any claims that Freedman leaked the documents.
He further elaborated on the complexity of protecting journalistic sources, and how the delicate process of investigative reporting often utilized a process of elimination that could inadvertently unmask confidential details.
"If you do this enough when you’ve got a number of sources, you end up identifying them," he said.
Boswell further remarked that it was, in fact, “quite funny” how many were quick to paint Freedman as the villain, despite the evidence that it was The Daily Mail who had uncovered the facts about the "Vanzan" lawsuit.
How is the "Vanzan lawsuit" connected to Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni's legal drama?
As per a Daily Mail investigative report, dated April 18, 2025, Blake Lively had discreetly filed a lawsuit long before her public legal battle with Justin Baldoni escalated. The covert legal maneuver, dated September 27, 2024, involved a shell company named Vanzan—registered under Lively’s name.
As per the report, this lawsuit allowed her legal team to subpoena sensitive text messages allegedly sent by Baldoni’s publicist to Justin Baldoni, her family, and other members of the Wayfarer parties.
These messages, potentially damaging, were then used by Lively’s legal team as the basis for claims that Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign against the Another Simple Favor actress
The lawsuit, however, was withdrawn on December 19, 2024, a few days before Lively accused Baldoni of s*xual harassment in a complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department.
Following the surfacing of this lawsuit, Freedman issued a strong statement to The Daily Mail, expressing sharp disapproval of what he saw as a legal ambush:
"This appears to be an end-around, skirting the process, to be able to secretly get these documents without having to give anyone notice. That would be an abuse of process and we intend to take all action allowable under the law," he said.
What is the latest development in the Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni legal drama?
As per Deadline, on May 14, 2025, in a shocking letter to the federal judge overseeing the $400 million-plus lawsuit between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, Baldoni’s legal team leveled serious allegations against the actress.
According to the filing, Lively was accused of attempting to intimidate Taylor Swift into silence by threatening to leak private, potentially embarrassing messages should Swift speak out in support of Baldoni.
This claim was swiftly rejected by Lively’s attorney, Michael Gottlieb, who dismissed the accusation as “completely false.”
The situation escalated further when another member of Lively’s legal team characterized Bryan Freedman’s efforts as a clear attempt “to launder scandalous and defamatory allegations about Ms. Lively" and demanded the immediate removal of Freedman’s correspondence from the legal docket.
"On behalf of our client, Blake Lively, we respectfully move to strike the letter signed by Mr. Bryan Freedman and filed earlier today," stated Lively's lawyer Esra Hudson.
Following this, on May 19, 2025, Rolling Stone reported that Lively’s legal team filed a formal motion for sanctions against Baldoni’s counsel and associates.
The motion accused them of engaging in a strategy of harassment through “frivolous claims” and sensationalist tactics aimed at skewing public perception. The sanctions request specifically sought compensation for attorneys’ fees and costs, along with a formal reprimand.
The actress’s attorneys further accused Freedman of consistently using the media as a courtroom, undermining the legal process.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb stated:
"If you want to know why Justin Baldoni’s lawyer pulled his latest inflammatory and defamatory media stunt, it might be because he knew that both he and his clients were about to be hit with sanctions motions based on his reckless decision to file multiple frivolous claims in federal court."
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are engaged in a legal battle that began in 2024 when the actress sued her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, for s*xual harassment, alleging that he also led a coordinated effort to damage her professional reputation during the film’s promotion.
In retaliation, Justin Baldoni retaliated with a $400 million countersuit for defamation, civil extortion, and invasion of privacy.
The case is currently in its pretrial stage, and its proceedings are scheduled to begin on March 9, 2026.
