US director Justin Baldoni fires back at Isabela Ferrer in Blake Lively court case

Justin Baldoni has accused Isabela Ferrer of making an "inappropriate attack" amid his legal battle with Blake Lively. Photo / Getty Images

Justin Baldoni has accused Isabela Ferrer of making an “inappropriate attack” on him.

The It Ends with Us actor alleged the film’s director had been “harassing” her with attempts to subpoena her in his ongoing legal battle with co-star Blake Lively, and his lawyers hit back in a fresh New York court filing on Monday.

According to documents viewed by People magazine, lawyers claimed Ferrer’s opposition is primarily an inappropriate attack upon Baldoni and his counsel relating to matters not before the court and “irrelevant” to whether the 24-year-old actor should be served a subpoena.

Baldoni’s team said they had subpoenaed Ferrer for “documents that she either neglected to produce or were not requested” in a subpoena that Lively – who is suing her director and his production company Wayfarer Studios for sexual harassment and retaliation – served the actor in February.

The 41-year-old actor/filmmaker also objected to the notion that serving Ferrer with a subpoena constituted his “harassing” the actor.

And his lawyers argued Lively “should not be permitted to obtain discovery from” Ferrer while she and her legal representatives allegedly “frustrate all effort by the Wayfarer Parties to obtain the discovery critical to the preparation of their defence”.

Baldoni’s lawyers have asked the court to consider ordering both parties to avoid using “any communication to, from or concerning Ms. Ferrer, or any testimony from her, in any manner in this action” to “satisfy Ms. Ferrer’s apparent desire to avoid involvement in the litigation and trial”.

The filing also noted Ferrer had “expressed her gratitude to Baldoni, stating that she had ‘an incredible experience’ and praised him for creating ‘a comfortable, safe space’ for her” in messages to Baldoni after she finished filming the movie.

However, the actor’s lawyers had claimed in their motion on August 17 that “some of the text messages Ms Ferrer sent Baldoni were very positive and included the types of comments one would expect from a young actress to make to the director and producer of her first feature film”.

Ferrer – who portrayed a younger version of Blake Lively’s character Lily Bloom in the 2024 romantic drama – had alleged that when she came to request Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, pay her legal fees, she didn’t receive anything and was allegedly told she would have to “relinquish control of her response to the Lively subpoena to Wayfarer”.

Her lawyers stated in the court documents: “From that point forward, Baldoni has tried to manipulate, threaten, control and otherwise act inappropriately towards Ms Ferrer.”

They added that it’s “yet another attempt to manipulate the press, to create havoc on a young, up-and-coming and talented actress and to violate this court’s policies on the publishing of non-party personally identifying information”.

Her team accused the filmmaker of bullying behaviour.

They said: “Ms Ferrer has already had to resist Baldoni’s inappropriate conduct in connection with her response to the Lively subpoena.

“Unfortunately, the motion is just the latest in a broader pattern of conduct by Baldoni to bully Ms Ferrer.

“While Ms Ferrer will faithfully comply with her legal obligations under any subpoena, summons or court order, she obviously will not be intimidated or extorted by any party to otherwise participate in the proceedings.”

Ferrer has asked the court to “deny the motion in its entirety and impose appropriate sanctions against Baldoni”.

Lively’s attorneys previously claimed that two of her female co-stars in It Ends With Us had agreed to testify about their own experiences with the director on the film, though the witnesses were not named at the time.

A trial is scheduled to take place in March next year.