Justin Baldoni & Team Judge Greenlights Defamation Suit Ex-Publicist

The legal battle between Justin Baldoni’s team and his former publicist Stephanie Jones is heating up, with a federal judge ruling Baldoni's production company's claim of defamation can move forward ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, a federal judge ruled the defamation claims filed by Wayfarer against Stephanie can proceed.

Wayfarer claimed Stephanie made statements to persons -- including Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Blake’s publicist Leslie Sloane -- that Wayfarer had retaliated against Blake and others for reporting alleged sexual misconduct and spearheaded a smear campaign against her.

Justin’s company says the claims made by Stephanie were false and damaging to its reputation ... and the judge determined Justin and his team had shown enough to allow the to move forward.

A rep for Wayfarer tells TMZ, “We’re pleased with the Court’s decision to deny Stephanie Jones’ attempt to dismiss Wayfarer’s lawsuit and to allow our core claims, including defamation and bad faith conduct, to move forward.”

“As alleged in Wayfarer’s counterclaims, after being notified that her contract would be terminated, Stephanie Jones of Jonesworks turned against her longtime client, sharing internal communications and pushing false allegations that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer parties orchestrated a so-called 'smear campaign.’ The Court rejected her effort to dismiss these claims, allowing them to proceed as serious allegations that deserve to be examined on the facts, including that she acted in bad faith by misusing internal information and communications. This is not a minor dispute.”

In December 2024, Stephanie -- Baldoni's one-time publicist -- sued the director's company Wayfarer and publicist Jennifer Abel. Jennifer worked for Stephanie and handled Baldoni's account.

Stephanie claimed breach of contract. Wayfarer and Jennifer countersued, claiming Stephanie took texts from her cell phone and provided information from those communications to Blake and her publicist, Leslie Sloane.