Star in Blake Lively scandal is sued by ex-publicist
Blake Lively’s co-star Justin Baldoni’s woes have deepened as his former publicist is suing him and his current team following Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claim. Warning: Graphic
Entertainment
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Justin Baldoni’s woes are deepening as his former publicist has filed a lawsuit against him for breach of contract amid his legal battle with his former co-star Blake Lively.
It comes as Lively sued Baldoni, her co-star and director of It Ends With US last week, accusing him of sexually harassing her and creating a toxic work environment on the set of the hit movie about domestic violence.
In her complaint, which includes copies of texts and emails between Baldoni and PR consultants in his employ, Lively claimed Baldoni worked to tarnish her reputation using a team which included publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis control expert Melissa Nathan.
Nathan, who previously worked with Johnny Depp on his case against estranged wife Amber Heard, and Abel, Baldoni’s publicist, have denied there was an orchestrated smear campaign.
Neither appears to be fans of their employer.
“I can’t stand him,” Abel texted Nathan in reference to Baldoni, according to the Daily Mail. “He’s so pompous. A men’s retreat during release, is he crazy?! And being off the grid for the summer because he’s so overworked... like calm down. You’re not that important and nobody gives a s*** how hard your life is.”
Now Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, Nathan and Abel are being sued by Abel’s former boss Stephanie Jones, the head of Jonesworks PR.
Abel represented Baldoni while working for Jonesworks, but was fired after Jones discovered she was allegedly “stealing documents and client information” from the firm with the intentioning of starting her own company, according to The Daily Mail.
Jones accuses Abel of conspiring with Nathan “to steal Baldoni and Wayfarer as clients from Jonesworks, and to smear Jones and Jonesworks in the press”, for example, by blaming Jones for the alleged PR takedown of Lively.
“For months, this group has gaslit and disparaged Stephanie Jones and her company for financial gain, to settle personal scores and most recently to distract from their disgraceful smearing of Blake Lively,” Jones’ lawyer Kristin Tahler said in a statement provided to DailyMail.com.
Since her departure from Jonesworks, Abel kept representing Baldoni’s Wayfarer, through her own company.
Jones went public with her lawsuit hours after Abel denied that she and Nathan has launched a smear campaign.
“No negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan, although we were prepared for it as it’s our job to be ready for any scenario. But we didn’t have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us,” Abel said.
Meanwhile, Baldoni’s career has all but imploded, as he was dropped by his agency William Morris and his podcast co-host, feminist journalist Liz Plank said she was out of the show.
Lively’s Her It Ends With Us co-stars Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate are the latest celebrities to have spoken out to support Lively, calling the allegations, which Baldoni denies, “terribly dark, disturbing”.
It comes as a video of Justin Baldoni’s wedding apology to his wife has resurfaced after Blake Lively filed a sexual harassment claim against the embattled actor-director.
In the July 2013 video, Baldoni told his wife, Emily, that he was sorry for “anything I’ve ever said or done that has hurt you.”
“I want to start off my vows to you with an apology,” the It Ends With Us star and director told his wife at the altar.
“I’m sorry for all my faults, my shortcomings, for my insecurities and my ego and for everything that I’ve ever done or said that’s hurt you,” he added.
“And everything I’ve ever brought to this relationship that hasn’t been pure.”
“But with that apology also comes a promise. Emily, for the rest of my life, I will cherish you, I will appreciate you, I will listen to you, I will laugh with you, I will take care of you, I will honour you and I will respect you.”
It came as actress Amber Heard spoke out in support of Lively, saying she knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a smear campaign.
Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni alleges that he enlisted PR firms in a campaign to destroy her reputation once filming on the hit movie had finished.
In her bombshell lawsuit, Lively accuses Baldoni of sexual harassment on set with unscripted kissing that included biting and sucking. She also alleges she was coerced into nude scenes while friends of the producer were on set.
Off set, her court filing alleges what appears to be Baldoni’s orchestrated campaign in which he instructs consultants how to tarnish Lively’s reputation, if necessary, post-production.
Heard has long maintained that she was the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by her famous ex, Johnny Depp, and his people after she alleged domestic violence and the estranged couple went to court.
Coincidentally, Baldoni engaged the services of TAG PR and Melissa Nathan, who previously worked for the same firm Depp hired to help him steer his trial with Heard.
In a statement to NBC News, Heard said: “Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.’
“I saw this first-hand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”
Heard was sued by Depp over allegations she fabricated claims of domestic abuse to further her career after she published an op-ed in the Washington Post, inferring she had been abused by Depp.
The jury sided with Depp after a weeks-long televised trial and he was awarded US$15 million in damages in total at the time.
Heard insists her innocence, has made few movies since while raising a child, and has kept a low profile after moving to Spain.
In her complaint, Lively also accuses Baldoni also of showing her nude videos and images of other women, discussing his prior alleged porn addiction, sexualising the cast and crew, inquiring about her weight and talking about her dead father.
Lively alleged Baldoni created a toxic workplace environment while directing and acting in the 2024 film.
Baldoni has vehemently denied the allegations.
Court documents obtained by US gossip magazine People claimed Baldoni “improvised physical intimacy” during one scene without gaining the actress’s consent.
Lively alleged Baldoni asked if she and husband Ryan Reynolds had experienced simultaneous climaxes, which she found intrusive and refused to answer.
Lively’s case against her co-star has also accused him of adding “improvised gratuitous sexual content and/or scenes involving nudity into the film” in “highly unsettling ways”.
This includes a scene in which Lively has to orgasm on camera and scene in which the younger version of Lively’s character Lily Bloom was to lose her virginity.
Neither scene appears in the novel on which the film was based.
The court documents also refer to a scene in which Lively was allegedly pressured to simulate nudity while her character gave birth, despite prior agreement it wouldn’t be required.
Lively has also accused Baldoni of showing her a graphic nude video of his wife giving birth and entering her trailer unannounced while she was undressed or breastfeeding.
The documents also allege Baldoni, while not in character, sniffed Lively’s neck and said “it smells so good” and when she objected said, “I’m not even attracted to you”.
Lively also allegedly called for an “all-hands” meeting on set - which included the presence of her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds - to discuss her co-star’s behaviour.
Baldoni has previously admitted to having an “unhealthy” relationship with porn.
“I was introduced to porn when I was 10 years old. Long before I ever, you know, could have an erection or even knew how I felt about anything,” he shared on a podcast released in July 2021 that has resurfaced in light of the new case.
“It was, you know, like any young boy who sees boobs for the first time, it’s exciting because our culture has shielded them from us because they’re sexualised.
The actor admitted he “sought refuge” in porn, saying he trained his brain to deal with pain by getting a dopamine hit from images and videos of naked women.
CELEBRITIES DRAWN INTO ‘MULTI-TIERED’ CAMPAIGN
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants stars America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel released a statement on Sunday supporting Lively after she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and mounting a smear campaign against her.
The message was signed by Ferrera, 40, Tamblyn, 41, and Bledel, 43, and shared on Ferrera and Tamblyn’s Instagram pages.
The three actresses worked with Lively on the 2005 film about four best friends who all fit into the same pair of jeans. They also starred in the 2008 sequel.
Meanwhile, a number of high-profile celebrities - including megastar Taylor Swift, one of Lively’s close friends - have now been drawn into the drama after being named in court documents.
Us Weekly magazine has revealed more celebrities such as Ben Affleck, Hailey Bieber and Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds are also mentioned in court documents associated with Baldoni’s attempts to turn the public against the popular actress.
A “scenario planning” document attached to the complaint, sighted by Us Weekly, lists a number of points of interest for Baldoni’s crisis management team, including Lively’s previous working relationships with Leighton Meester, Anna Kendrick and Ben Affleck.
Lively co-starred with Meester on the hit TV series Gossip Girl from 2007 to 2012; opposite Kendrick in the 2018 movie A Simple Favour; and with Affleck in 2010 film The Town.
Baldoni’s team suggests that Lively’s relationships with her previous co-stars could be dredged up, examined for “issues” and released to media.
“These pieces will likely come out following any potential hit piece and/or coverage from the premiere,” the document reads.
“Our recommended approach would be to provide reporters who reach out for comment, should it be obvious she’s referring to you, with the appropriate background information (listed in Scenario 1) to ensure their stories are balanced and the speculation can be turned to another one of the many people she’s had issues working with.”
Gossip Girl creators have, in the past, denied that Lively was feuding with Meester.
And while Anna Kendrick said her character had “weird chemistry” with Lively’s in A Simple Favour, she told People magazine that reuniting for the sequel was “lovely” and “fun”.
When promoting The Town, Affleck, who wrote and directed the film, only had praise for Lively, referring to her as “poised” and “mature.”
TAYLOR SWIFT NAMED IN COURT DOCUMENTS
Singer Taylor Swift, 35, was also referenced in the documents attached to the complaint.
One of Baldoni’s crisis management experts weighing how to harness Lively’s megafamous friend Swift’s massive social media following.
They stated: “we have seen the most innocuous issues turn giant due to socials or the hugest crises have no effect on social whatsoever. You just cannot tell at this stage. But, BL does have some of the same TS fanbase so we will be taking it extremely seriously.”
A “scenario planning” document from Baldoni’s team also suggests they will “explore planting stories about the weaponisation of feminism and how people like Taylor Swift, have been accused of using these tactics to ‘bully’ into getting what they want.”
Additionally, Baldoni appeared to use a social media post of Hailey Bieber’s as an example of “astroturfing”, or publishing opinions online that seem to come from random fans but are really planted by a company or organisation.
Us Weekly reported Baldoni sent a screenshot of an X thread that discussed “Hailey Bieber’s history of bullying women”, stating, “This is what we would need.”
Baldoni texted a publicist, “We should have a plan for IF she does the same when [the] movie comes out”.
NORWEGIAN JOURNALIST DENIES INVOLVEMENT
The news comes as a Norwegian journalist who came forward earlier this year accusing Blake Lively of bullying her denies involvement in the alleged smear campaign.
Kjersti Flaa, 51, sat down with Lively in 2016 and congratulated the actress, who was pregnant at the time, on her “little bump”.
The actress sarcastically responded by saying, “Congrats on your little bump”.
The clip resurfaced when Flaa posted it on her YouTube account and labelled it, “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job”.
At the time, Flaa said she released it to call out people behaving badly in Hollywood.
The journalist has now responded to queries about the timing.
“Just wanted to put it out there. I have nothing to do with Justin Baldoni and his smear campaign against Blake Lively,” she said on Threads.
“I see that things are starting to snowball and people start thinking that I had anything to do with the smear campaign … I’ve been reading through the lawsuit and I see there’s been so much dirty work going on behind-the-scenes … I had nothing to do with it.”
IT ENDS WITH US AUTHOR SUPPORTS LIVELY
It comes as It Ends With Us book author Colleen Hoover is supporting Lively in her allegations against the film’s director and star Baldoni.
In an Instagram Stories posted just hours after Lively’s complaint made news, Hoover, 45, shared her support for the actress and linked to the The New York Times’ report:
“@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” Hoover wrote alongside a photo of herself and the actress hugging at a screening.
“Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
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