Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T pulled into high-stakes Hollywood drama with A-list actress

The three major US telcos will probably play their parts in the hottest Hollywood scandal that's unfolding before our very eyes.

Since the world today is a peaceful, prosaic, even boring place – and not much is happening, it's worth checking out how those who pretend to be someone else (and get paid millions of $$$ for it) are up to.

Depending on how much TV you're watching, or what type of social media you're consuming, you may or you may not know that there's a major Hollywood scandal going on right now.

Actor Ryan Reynolds' spouse, Blake Lively, has taken an aggressive legal step in her battle against Justin Baldoni, issuing subpoenas to the three biggest telecom providers in a bid to obtain digital evidence supporting her claims.

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have been drawn into the dispute as Lively seeks records that could potentially link Baldoni to an orchestrated smear campaign against her, The Daily Mail reports. Her legal team is particularly interested in call logs, text messages, and any metadata that might reveal coordination between Baldoni and his alleged PR operatives.

In addition to telecom giants, Lively has subpoenaed internet service providers Cloudflare and AOL, suggesting that her team is looking beyond phone records and into online communications that may have played a role in the alleged defamation efforts. These companies, if compelled to cooperate, could provide insights into email exchanges, IP addresses, and other digital fingerprints that could either substantiate or undermine Lively’s claims.

Wallace, the crisis consultant at the center of the controversy, has denied orchestrating any campaign against Lively and has countered with a $7 million defamation lawsuit. Meanwhile, Baldoni maintains that Lively is trying to shift blame for her own tarnished reputation, pointing to her past public missteps rather than any deliberate sabotage.

Baldoni's legal team has launched a website aimed at refuting Lively’s accusations, featuring what they claim is verifiable proof that contradicts her version of events. Meanwhile, Lively asserts that she is systematically exposing a calculated effort to destroy her career.

OK, so now we're through with media narratives and we're moving to hard data. If phone and internet records reveal coordinated efforts to damage Lively's public image, it could be a game-changer. In contrast, if they show no such coordination, Lively's case is out of the window, more or less.