Why didn't Blake Lively name Jed Wallace as a defendant in her formal lawsuit?

The answer lies in Blake Lively's legal strategy. According to the transcript, Lively acknowledges that Wallace was not named as a defendant in her official complaint despite her belief in his involvement in an alleged smear campaign. Instead of directly naming him, she filed a Rule 202 petition under Texas law, which allows her to request a deposition before filing a lawsuit to investigate potential claims. This approach serves multiple purposes: it allows Lively to gather evidence regarding Wallace's alleged role in the social media manipulation campaign against her, while reducing the risk of inviting threatened counter-lawsuits from Baldoni's attorney Brian Friedman, who reportedly has a close relationship with Wallace. The deposition strategy enables Lively to build her case more thoroughly before potentially naming Wallace as a defendant.