A growing legal dispute involving Blake Lively and content creators escalated this week after YouTuber Kassidy O'Connell fired back at the actress's subpoena with strong accusations and a formal complaint to the California State Bar.

O'Connell, a small creator with around 16,000 subscribers, was one of several YouTubers targeted by Lively, who subpoenaed Google for access to financial records, subscriber data, and contact information. The subpoena is part of Lively's broader legal battle against former co-star Justin Baldoni, alleging he paid influencers to post critical content about her following the release of "It Ends With Us."

But O'Connell says the only money she's received is from Google AdSense, and ironically, those ads featured Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds.

"Mint Mobile often runs ads on my channel featuring their spokesperson, Ryan Reynolds," she wrote in her filing, per the Daily Mail. "So if I've been paid directly or indirectly by anyone involved in this case, it's former party, Ryan Reynolds."

Subpoena Sparks Pushback and Complaint

O'Connell submitted an 11-page motion last week asking the court to quash the subpoena. She argued that the legal action was both invasive and unnecessary, calling it "desperate and paranoid" in language echoed throughout her filing.

She also filed a complaint with the California State Bar against Lively's attorney Esra Hudson, alleging misconduct. "Her actions violated multiple California Rules of Professional Conduct and disregarded constitutional protections under the First Amendment," the complaint stated.

O'Connell accused Lively's legal team of hypocrisy by demanding sensitive information from critics while previously defending Lively's own right to financial privacy. "Ms. Lively herself makes a compelling argument that individuals have a constitutional right to privacy regarding their financial information," she wrote.

Claims of Threats and Legal Missteps

The YouTuber, who previously disclosed surviving a stalker and assault, expressed concern that her private information could be leaked. She pointed to prior instances in the same case where addresses were exposed in unredacted filings. "This led to death threats to all the defendants, several of which are women," she alleged.

In addition to the privacy concerns, O'Connell claimed Lively's legal team made a procedural error by issuing a subpoena from New York to Google's California headquarters, something she argued invalidates the request.

O'Connell refiled her court response under her real name, "Ni Cai," after Judge Lewis Liman ordered her to de-anonymize or provide a legal basis for maintaining her pseudonym.

While Lively's legal team suggested that Baldoni's camp funded a smear campaign, recent filings weakened that claim. The judge dismissed a social media consultant from the case, noting his findings showed "organic" online criticism of Lively.

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Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds