Blake Lively has sparked an uproar on social media after sending a subpoena to Google asking for information about the accounts of pro-Justin Baldoni YouTubers, demanding their bank details, addresses and phone numbers.
Influencers targeted with Lively’s subpoenas include conservative firebrand Candace Owens, Andy Signore and reportedly and celebrity gossip hound Perez Hilton.
The furious content creators are calling the legal probe an ‘invasion of privacy’, ‘shady’ and claim it is a bid to silence them from criticizing the Gossip Girl star during her infamous lawsuit with It Ends With Us co-star Baldoni.
Some of the contacted YouTubers are influential with hundreds of thousands of subscribers, the most well-known being Candace Owens.
Others have less than 300 followers and say they can’t afford an attorney to fight the demand for data.
A subpoena to Google dated July 3 and obtained by DailyMail.com demands that at least 16 content creators turn over their email, phone number, physical address and payment details for their premium accounts – including credit card or bank account numbers, blockchain addresses and a log of every session they’ve had since May 1, 2024, with exact dates and times.
Blake Lively’s legal team has launched a legal blitz against outspoken commentators on YouTube who have cast a critical lens against her in the It Ends With Us lawsuit – demanding their bank details, addresses and phone numbers
Several mid-sized YouTube channels critical of Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us suit have been hit with the demands via Google, which owns YouTube
Andy Signore, host of Popcorned Planet, believes Lively has more nefarious intentions with this newest move, claiming that Lively is alleged using the subpoena to unmask crew members who spoke to him anonymously in his upcoming documentary
Andy Signore, host of YouTube channel Popcorned Planet, told DailyMail.com that he believes Lively is trying to unmask It Ends With Us crew members who spoke out to him anonymously for his upcoming documentary series.
‘It’s shocking to be honest,’ Signore said. ‘Not because I have anything to hide, but because she thinks she can just bully and intimidate independent journalists. I won’t let her.
‘My lawyers and I will be fighting all of it.’
Florida-based Lauren Neidigh, 32, has a job helping psychology patients help get their health insurance claims paid.
In her spare time, she posts videos about the filings from the Lively-Baldoni alleged sexual harassment and smear campaign lawsuit on a small channel with around 20,000 subscribers.
When she received the notice, she couldn’t believe it.
The notices were sent out to the YouTubers via their Google accounts and demanded 16 content creators to produce their private information – which initially led many to believe that it was a phishing scam
Candace Owens was one of the more prominent YouTubers who was hit with the notice for her coverage and said she was ‘elated’ and ‘honored’ to receive it – but complained that TMZ had somehow gotten it before she had
YouTuber Lauren Neidigh, 32, has covered Lively’s alleged sexual harassment and smear campaign lawsuit on a small channel with around 20,000 subscribers. She told DailyMail.com that she plans to fight back against the subpoena
‘When I first got the email, I was so shocked,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘I had a couple of my lawyer friends look at it. I was like, what do I even do about this?
‘Now we’ve determined this is real and not a scam, I intend to file my own motion to quash and fight her myself.’
The notices of the subpoena to Google were delivered on email to the YouTubers via their Google accounts and were addressed from Lively’s attorney Esra Hudson at Manatt Phelps & Phillips.
But Signore said he was then told by Manatt’s firm that the requests were not real.
‘My lawyer spoke to Blake Lively’s lawyers,’ said Signore in a rant on YouTube. ‘We called Esra’s office, and they told him twice that it was fake.
‘This is so damn shady.
Signore said his lawyer contacted the office of Blake Lively’s attorney Hudson, and said they repeatedly assured him the subpoena email he received (pictured) wasn’t legitimate, As it turns out it was Google that got the subpoena and sent out notices to the YouTubers
But he was able to confirm via Google help that it was indeed real. Signore told DailyMail.com that he wouldn’t let Lively ‘bully and intimidate independent journalists’
‘I am furious at Blake Lively and her law firm about the Google subpoena,’ he added in an interview with DailyMail.com.
‘There was a whole confusion around whether this was a real notification,’ said Neidigh. ‘I didn’t know if I needed to do anything, or how I should deal with this.’
Lively’s lawyer, Esra Hudson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Esra Hudson, Lively’s attorney at Manatt Phelps & Phillips, addressed as the firm that sent out the subpoena
On July 11, Google customer service replied to Signore’s posts on X, confirming that the notification he received via his Google account ‘is legitimate and was sent as part of our user notice policy for legal matters.’
‘But when I read through, I thought some of the stuff doesn’t even make sense. And then I started to put the pieces together when I read the pieces after that.
The 26-page subpoena lists 16 YouTubers, saying Google is ‘commanded’ to provide information by July 16 at 5pm.
It asks for ‘All subscriber information, for the username [YouTube user] associated with YouTube and Google Pay, including but not limited to: (a) the first and last name; (b) registered email address(es); (c) phone numbers); (d) physical address; (e) backup/recovery email address or phone number; (f) subscriber registration information; (g) length of service (including start date) and any premium services utilized; (h) means and source of payment for such services, if applicable (including any credit card or bank account number, or public blockchain data and addresses); (i) Login Internet Protocol (IP) address used for initial registration; and (j) IP address used from May 1, 2024 to the present, with dates and session times; and (k) video upload IP addresses.’
YouTube also confirmed that the subpoena was real in a reply to Signore’s post on July 11, writing it was ‘legitimate and was sent as part of our user notice policy for legal matters’
Signore believes the subpoena is a tactic to extract information from him and potentially blacklist crew members who appeared in his documentary It Ends With Justice, where they spoke out against Lively with blurred faces and masks
Neidigh said she thinks Lively is trying to prove a conspiracy about Baldoni paying content creators to smear the actress.
‘Maybe she thinks it’ll show people were paid or benefitting in some way to cover her case, because she says the smear campaign is ongoing,’ she said.
‘That’s absolutely not true. I used to really like her movies, and I watched Gossip Girl of course. I really like Ryan Reynolds’ movies. So, I had an open mind when I started looking into all of this.
‘But when I read through, I thought some of the stuff doesn’t even make sense. And then I started to put the pieces together when I read the pieces after that.
‘So, there’s never been an incentive for me other than I’m interested in her lawsuit.’
Signore said he believes Lively has a further motive to get information from him.
Neidigh believes Lively is trying to prove a conspiracy that Baldoni paid creators to smear her or profit from covering the case, but noted she’s a fan of Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds and used to watch Gossip Girl
He called Lively’s legal move ‘shady’ and said ‘they clearly will do anything to mess with us’
‘Aside from my reporting on Popcorned Planet, I am also directing a documentary: ‘It Ends With Justice’. In it we located and spoke to various crew members from IEWU anonymously,’ he said.
‘These crew members were disgusted by what Blake was putting out in the press about the filming, and they wanted to share their side. But they are terrified of being blacklisted by Ryan, CAA etc.
‘So, they appeared anonymously, blurred and with masks on to protect their identities. I believe Blake and Ryan want those sources. I will not betray those sources.
‘This machine is terrifying. They are shady. They clearly will do anything to mess with us. It is unnerving what they will do.’
One notice recipient, Norwegian entertainment journalist Kjersti Flaa, was previously linked to claims of an anti-Lively smear campaign orchestrated by Baldoni.
A December New York Times story about the alleged plot mentions Flaa’s interview with Lively, while describing alleged ‘negative publicity’ that was ‘seeded’ or ‘amplified’ by Baldoni’s publicists.
Popular YouTuber Zack Peter who covers Lively’s case extensively slammed her for issuing the subpoena
‘At no point did anyone contact me from his team or from her team,’ Flaa told the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. ‘The thing is, she smeared herself in that video, and people reacted to it online. [The reason] for her becoming unpopular is because of her own behavior.’
Flaa and another creator, Katie Joy whose YouTube channel Without A Crystal Ball has 440,000 subscribers, have offered to help smaller creators fight the subpoena.
‘We are all on one subpoena and are strength in numbers,’ she posted on her Instagram account. ‘Both Kjersti and I have attorneys working on this and believe if we can do this all together we can not only save some of the smaller creators money but also show strength to the court that we are not paid bots or journalists working for Baldoni.’
One smalltime creator, ‘SophieUnsual’, accused Lively of ‘punching down’ by including her the the demand.
‘Real and normal people’s lives are being impacted financially because of Blake Lively’s legal saga,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘It’s punching down on an individual level.’
Neidigh said she believes the subpoena will have a chilling effect on independent creators covering the case.
He also stated he was perplexed by Lively’s decision to not go after his channel, but maintained he wasn’t ‘easily scared’
‘When you start going after people speaking their mind on their own platforms, you scare people out of doing that.
‘That fear is by design, to keep people silent.
‘It’s a little intimidating. But I want to stick up for myself in this way.’
She added that she thinks Lively’s subpoena could be retaliation for the fiery criticism Neidigh lobbed at the actress in her videos – including calling her a ‘c**t’.
‘It feels like revenge to me,’ she said.
Another contacted content creator, ‘ExistingToThrive’, posted a video on TikTok slamming Lively.
Peter claimed that he believed Lively ‘studied’ Amber Heard’s bombshell defamation case against her ex Johnny Depp and didn’t want to suffer the same humiliation
‘The whole idea that this is all misogyny,’ she said. ‘We don’t hate women. We just hate Blake.’
Owens, Hilton and Signore reportedly received more extensive demands than other smaller creators, demanding they turn over any communications they have had with Baldoni or his co-defendants in the lawsuit with Lively.
Owens and Signore say they have been served directly with these more extensive subpoenas.
But on Monday Hilton said on his podcast that he is yet to be served with any legal demands, despite a TMZ report that Lively is in the process of subpoenaing him.
Owens responded to her notice of the subpoena with a video to her 4.4 million followers, saying she was ‘elated’ and ‘honored’ to receive the legal demand.
‘It feels like a graduation ceremony of sorts for me and all of my podcast listeners,’ she said.
‘This is meant to be a hit. It’s supposed to make us look bad.
‘I have not the slightest idea what I am being subpoenaed for as I knew none of these parties when their respective lawsuits were filed.’
Owens complained that news of her subpoena appeared to have been leaked to TMZ before she even received the legal document.
Neidigh said she will be filing a motion to quash on her own, without a lawyer representing her.
Popular YouTuber Zack Peter who covers Lively’s case extensively slammed her for issuing the subpoena, but said he was perplexed over why he didn’t receive one too.
‘I think Blake is trying to scare creators and get them to stop talking about her. Luckily, I’m not easily scared,’ he said.
‘Bring on the subpoenas because I have ZERO intention of letting this story go. I’m in it until the end.
‘I think Blake Lively studied Amber Heard’s case and is doing everything she can to protect herself. Part of that is scaring people that are covering this case.
‘But we’re not part of Hollywood. She has no control over us. She can’t scare us. We have each other’s backs, and we look out for each other. We’re not fighting for Baldoni. We’re fighting for justice.’
