YouTuber subpoenaed by Blake Lively for communications with Justin Baldoni

Popcorned Planet, a YouTube channel run by commentator Andy Signore, must turn over communications with actor Justin Baldoni after a federal district court in Tampa, Florida, denied Signore’s motion to quash a subpoena from actor Blake Lively on Dec. 2, 2025.

Signore had filed his motion to quash in Florida, where his channel is based, rather than New York, where the subpoena was issued.

Lively had sued Baldoni and his production company in December 2024, alleging that they had launched a retaliatory publicity campaign against her during the release of the movie “It Ends With Us,” in which the two actors co-starred and which Baldoni directed.

Signore has made multiple videos for Popcorned Planet about the suit. And in July 2025, Lively subpoenaed the entertainment and pop culture news channel for any communications with the defendants about Lively and the film, and any evidence of an agreement with the defendants about related coverage on the channel.

In his motion to quash, Signore argued that the documents requested are protected by Florida’s reporter’s privilege and the First Amendment.

But in December, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsay Griffin ruled that YouTube channels like Signore’s did not qualify as news outlets under Florida law, and that Popcorned Planet in particular did not qualify because it had not demonstrated “that its show practices the editorial standards normally associated with a professional news organization.”

Griffin also argued that Florida’s journalistic privilege applied to “journalists employed or hired by traditional media outlets,” but that Signore, in contrast, was self-employed, and therefore unprotected by the law. Griffin ordered Signore to produce the subpoenaed documents by Dec. 17.

Caitlin Vogus, senior adviser for Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, criticized the judge’s reasoning.

“By reading Florida’s reporter’s privilege so narrowly, this decision effectively says independent journalists and digital reporters don’t count,” Vogus said. “With major news outlets collapsing and independent reporting filling the gap, that isn’t just outdated, it’s dangerous. The court has wrongly limited a privilege that’s vital to protecting the public’s right to know.”

Signore also condemned the ruling. “This ruling is a chilling attack on independent journalism,” he wrote in a news release. “It suggests that unless you work for a newspaper or legacy media corporation, you have no right to protect your sources. That is not only wrong—it endangers every whistleblower, content creator, podcaster, and independent reporter working today.”

Signore said his attorneys plan to appeal the ruling.