Who is Jed Wallace? Blake Lively’s lawsuit against social media specialist gets dismissed on jurisdictional grounds

Blake Lively’s lawsuit against Texas social media expert Jed Wallace was dismissed by a federal judge due to jurisdiction issues. The July 16 ruling is a setback for Lively, who claimed Wallace was involved in a smear campaign against her.

The conflict stems from the production of It Ends With Us, the 2024 romantic drama directed by and starring Justin Baldoni alongside Blake Lively. Lively filed a civil rights suit against Baldoni and his publicists in December 2024, claiming that Baldoni and Jed Wallace had engaged in a campaign to discredit her. Lively accused Wallace, a crisis management specialist, of using a “digital army” to steer social media narratives against her.

Jed Wallace is a little-known but influential figure in crisis PR and social media strategy. According to Business Insider, his firm, Street Relations, has worked with clients like Paramount Pictures, YouTuber Adin Ross, and addiction recovery programs. Wallace has built a reputation for himself as a behind-the-scenes fixer, often handling sensitive situations for celebrities and corporations.

Wallace began his career in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s and later settled in Texas. Wallace has been tangled up in a number of contentious cases throughout the years, including Bam Margera’s 2021 suit against Paramount, in which Margera claimed that Wallace ran an unmonitored substance-treatment program that he was part of. Wallace denied the charges, and the case was eventually dismissed.

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Blake Lively's Lawsuit Against Jed Wallace Dismissed in New York

Blake Lively’s lawsuit claimed that Wallace was hired by Baldoni’s PR team to suppress negative stories about the director while amplifying criticism against her. Text messages referenced in the lawsuit allegedly show Wallace’s team bragging about “crushing it on Reddit” and manipulating online discourse.

Jed Wallace has adamantly disputed the allegations. His attorney, Chip Babcock, said in a statement to Business Insider:

"Mr. Wallace has never been involved in any intensive ‘smear’ campaign against Blake Lively.”

In January 2025, Wallace filed a counter-suit against Lively for defamation, which alleged damage to his reputation and finances due to her allegations.

On July 16, 2025, Judge Lewis Liman ruled that New York was not the proper jurisdiction to sue Jed Wallace, whose Street Relations firm is operated in Texas. The judge stated that Blake Lively had not shown Wallace to have had a direct role in actions targeting New York, a key requirement for the case to proceed in the state.

"Lively alleges that as part of their efforts to ‘bury’ Lively, Nathan, Abel, Wallace, and Street Relations ‘targeted New York by, among other things, communicating with (or causing content to be provided to) journalists, content creators and media entities based in New York...However, Lively has not alleged facts that would show that the Wallace Defendants were aware of those jurisdictional contacts," Judge Liman issued in his ruling.

Blake Lively's legal team has until July 31 to refile an amended complaint or to take the case to another venue. “We currently are evaluating our numerous options for holding Mr. Wallace accountable,” her spokesman said.

Social media personality Zack Peter took to X on July 17 to discuss Blake Lively’s rescheduled deposition in her lawsuit against Justin Baldoni and his team, which includes social media strategist Jed Wallace. Peter joked about the new postponement from July 17 to July 31, as the “shocking twist that everybody saw coming.

He also criticized Lively’s legal maneuvering, particularly her successful request for control over the deposition’s location, which he dismissed as "Hollywood demands" granted by the judge.

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Blake Livley and Justin Baldoni are scheduled to go to trial in March 2026.