'Shockwaves' in Hollywood Over Blake Lively Getting Those Texts

Hollywood is experiencing "shockwaves," as the Los Angeles Times puts it, over the damning texts Blake Lively managed to get access to despite the fact that she's so far only filed a complaint, not a lawsuit, against her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni. Typically, such discovery would take place only after a suit has been filed, according to "flummoxed" legal experts who spoke to the Times. In this case, Lively seems to have worked in tandem with Baldoni's former publicist, who is suing Baldoni herself (alleging he and one of the publicist's former employees are the ones who dreamed up the smear campaign against Lively) and appears to have been the source of the leaked text messages. See more of the ins and outs at the Times. More of the latest around the Lively-Baldoni scandal:

• Baldoni, who has suffered fallout including being dropped by his agent, ditched by his podcast co-host, and stripped of an award, is prepping his own lawsuit against Lively, Baldoni's lawyer tells People. "This is not a response or countersuit—it's a deliberate pursuit of truth," says the attorney, who claims "a trusted media publication ... relied upon nefarious sources and neglected a thorough fact checking process to confirm the validity of these texts." He says Baldoni's suit will reveal "timelines and communications, which have not been doctored or spliced without context," and will ultimately "dismantle the illusions propped up by those who believe themselves untouchable."
• Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds, has not commented publicly on his wife's complaint against Baldoni, but Marie Claire notes a recent Instagram story may have hinted at his feelings about the drama. In his first social media post since news of the complaint broke, Reynolds made reference to an earlier post in which he dressed as Deadpool and one of his four children with Lively dressed as Kidpool to encourage people to donate to a foundation for sick children. He thanked the director for helping make the video "during a time I really didn't feel like putting the suit on," which Marie Claire sees as a subtle reference to the Baldoni situation.
• In what Page Six refers to as an "awkwardly timed" Netflix comedy special, comedian Hannah Berner briefly roasted Lively. Berner later clarified that while the special was released Friday, it was filmed prior to news of Lively's complaint and the alleged smear campaign, and she supports Lively.

(More Blake Lively stories.)