Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds are escalating their legal battle with her former co-star Justin Baldoni by doubling down on their request for a gag order.

The actress, 37, and her partner, 46, argue 40-year-old Justin's alleged behaviour, both during filming and in the media campaign that followed the release of the It Ends With Us film has been improper - and they are now intent on stopping what they say is an ongoing smear campaign against Blake.

In a letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman, their attorney, Esra Hudson, reinforced the need for a protective order to prevent further "extrajudicial statements" by Justin's legal team.

Deadline reported it said: "Requiring counsel to heed the ethical rules that bind them is not a gag order.

"It is a mechanism that would ensure the proceedings in this Court are not prejudiced by counsel's conduct outside of the courtroom."

The request follows claims from Blake's team that Justin and his associates, including crisis PR executive Melissa Nathan, are running a deliberate campaign of media manipulation against her.

Hudson added: "The retaliation campaign that Ms Lively alleged in her Complaint... includes highly destructive behind-the-scenes elements, including the regular engagement of Melissa Nathan with her vast tabloid media sources to influence a steady stream of negative media regarding Ms Lively."

The lawyer added the alleged campaign involved "a sophisticated and 'untraceable' digital social media manipulation campaign designed to impact social media algorithms."

Earlier in the week, Justin's attorney Kevin Fritz pushed back against the gag order, describing it as an overreach.

The dispute comes in the wake of a video released by the filmmaker's team showing him and Blake during a scene on the It Ends With Us set. Blake's team claims the video corroborates her allegations of harassment, detailing moments where Justin allegedly touched her without consent during an unscripted scene.

Her team said: "Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning."

Justin's lawyer has dismissed these claims, maintaining his innocence and releasing the footage as evidence of professionalism on set.

Judge Liman has yet to make a ruling on the gag order request.

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Source: Bang