YouTuber accuses Blake Lively of intimidation and seeks protective order amid Justin Baldoni legal battle

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: YouTuber Lauren Neidigh is asking for a protective order against Blake Lively after she was subpoenaed in the star’s ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni.

Neidigh was one of several content creators subpoenaed earlier in the case. Although those subpoenas were later dropped, she now claims there is still a risk that Lively could come after her for the information again.

Lauren Neidigh says Blake Lively's subpoena ‘intimidated’ creators 

The subpoenas were sent to Google and X in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and requested personal data from creators Kassidy O'Connell, McKenzie Folks, and Lauren Neidigh. 

In a letter filed Monday, YouTuber Lauren Neidigh told the court she fears Lively may again attempt to access her private data in connection with the ongoing lawsuit against Justin Baldoni.

“[Lively’s] Subpoena targeted creators who have expressed unfavorable opinions about her online. The Subpoena was not supported by any evidence,” wrote Neidigh, who goes by the handle @LethalLauren904, in a letter obtained by the Daily Mail.

She added, “It served to intimidate, harass, chill constitutionally protected free speech, and threaten the safety and privacy of non-parties who are not involved in this litigation.”

According to her letter, Neidigh is still concerned about “further abusive discovery requests” that may compel her to hand over sensitive information. She described this possibility as a method of “intimidation for lawful expression.”

Blake Lively’s rep insists subpoenas were about evidence in sexual harassment suit

Lauren Neidigh has requested a protective order to prevent Lively from seeking her private information through future subpoenas and has also urged the court to impose sanctions on the actress.

A representative for Lively had addressed the subpoena controversy at the time, telling US Weekly the legal action was not about blame but about evidence.

“There is no silencing of content creators, they are obviously making their views known," the rep said.

"This is a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against Justin Baldoni and a number of other wayfarer defendants and we are simply seeking information to aid in our fact gathering," the rep added in their statement. 

The spokesperson continued, "Remember [Baldoni’s crisis PR rep’s] own words: to shield Justin Baldoni from the possibility that Blake Lively might publicly reveal he sexually harassed her and others, [Baldoni’s rep] planned an ‘untraceable’ media campaign designed to ‘bury’ Ms Lively."

"The subpoenas to social media companies are one piece of the puzzle to connect the evidentiary dots of a campaign that was designed to leave no fingerprints," the spokesperson added.  

Creator Kassidy O’Connell slams Blake Lively’s legal tactics

Another content creator, Kassidy O’Connell, who posts as @kassidyoc, submitted her letter to the court dated July 27, as the publication reported.

Identifying herself as a “Jane Doe,” O’Connell said she was one of “43 content creators” subpoenaed by Lively’s legal team in what she called a “wholesale, warehouse-style subpoena.”

She urged the judge not to grant Lively’s motion to dismiss the creators’ objections as moot, warning it could make it seem like the court was siding with Lively without fully reviewing the issue.

O’Connell’s letter said this could “appear on the court record as a ruling in her favor.”

McKenzie Folks, another creator, opened up to Variety about her experience. "It’s baffling," the stay-at-home mom admitted. "I never talked to anybody in the industry. I’m from Kansas."

She continued, "I feel like I’m in The Twilight Zone. This is totally a scene out of a movie — some millionaire actress coming after someone. It’s very daunting."

Lively filed her harassment complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department in December 2024.

She followed up with a defamation complaint in February.

Baldoni responded by suing Lively and Ryan Reynolds for $400 million, but that suit was dismissed, as was his $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times. The case is set to go to trial in March 2026.