Judge Again Tosses Blake Lively’s Claims Against Social Media Operative Jed Wallace

Blake Lively‘s It Ends With Us lawsuit has hit another snag.

via: Variety

Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Lively’s attorneys had failed to show that Jed Wallace, who is based in Austin, Texas, had enough connection to New York to be sued there.

Lively has accused her director and co-star, Justin Baldoni, of conspiring to damage her reputation in retaliation for raising complaints about sexual harassment on set. Lively has sued Baldoni as well as publicist Melissa Nathan, producer Jamey Heath and others. A trial is set for March.

Among the allegations, Lively alleged that Baldoni’s team hired Wallace to weaponize a “digital army” to harm her reputation on Reddit and other online forums. The judge previously dismissed the claims against Wallace, but allowed Lively’s attorneys an opportunity to add additional facts that would substantiate his connection to New York.

New York’s “long-arm” statute allows plaintiffs to sue out-of-state defendants in New York if they can show that an injury occurred in the state. But the statute exempts defamation claims from that provision, in a nod to free expression. The judge ruled that Lively had not overcome that obstacle, but left open the possibility that Wallace could be sued in Texas.

For now, the ruling narrows the case somewhat, though it is unclear whether Lively will seek to pursue Wallace in Texas.

“The Court ruled that Ms. Lively’s claims can and should be brought in a different court,” a spokesperson for Lively said in a statement. “Ms. Lively is evaluating her many options for doing so, and looks forward to trial on all of her claims against Baldoni, Heath, Nathan and the rest of the Wayfarer defendants in March in New York.”

Wallace is pursuing his own defamation suit against Lively in federal court in Texas.