‘Horrifying, destructive’: Amber Heard throws support behind Blake Lively
Amber Heard has thrown her support behind fellow actor Blake Lively, saying she empathises with the backlash around her sexual harassment complaint and allegations of a smear campaign orchestrated by Justin Baldoni.
Actor Amber Heard (centre) has spoken out in support of Blake Lively (right) and her lawsuit against It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni.Credit: Getty Images; Aresna Villanueva
Earlier this week, Lively filed an 80-page claim in civil court in California against the makers of the film, It Ends With Us. She alleges Baldoni sexually harassed her, including pressuring her to do a nude scene without prior notice, and that Baldoni hired prominent PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan – the same woman Johnny Depp hired during his 2022 defamation lawsuit against Heard – to orchestrate a “retaliatory social manipulation campaign” aimed at damaging her reputation.
On Tuesday, Heard issued a statement to US outlet NBC, saying witnessing the response to Lively’s allegation was a “horrifying” reminder of what she went through during the 2022 defamation trial.
“Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying, ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on’,” Heard told NBC.
“I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”
In August, Baldoni hired the same PR crisis firm as Depp had for his and Heard’s defamation case, which he won. Two years earlier, Depp had lost a defamation case against a UK newspaper that claimed he had assaulted Heard.
Text messages obtained by The New York Times reveal the extent of the alleged campaign to tarnish Lively’s reputation.
“He wants to feel like she can be buried,” a publicist working with the studio that produced It Ends With Us and Baldoni wrote in an August 2 message to Nathan.
“You know we can bury anyone,” Nathan wrote in response.
In the weeks that followed, negative media coverage and commentary about Lively dominated the media cycle. Lively was criticised for promoting her haircare line during the press tour for It Ends With Us, a film about domestic violence, and was branded difficult to work with by others.
Until now, Baldoni had emerged largely unscathed. Earlier this month, he received an award for his work to “elevate women, combat gender-based violence and promote gender equality worldwide”. This award has since been rescinded.
Lawyers for Baldoni and the production company have dismissed Lively’s allegations as “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious, with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media”.
Other celebrities to speak out in support of Lively include America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn, who starred together in the 2005 film, The Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants.
“As Blake’s friends and sister of over 20 years, we stand in solidarity with her as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation,” they wrote in a joint statement on Instagram.
Colleen Hoover, the author of the book that inspired It Ends With Us, reposted it, writing: “This statement from these women and Blake’s ability to refuse to sit down and ‘be buried’ has been nothing short of inspiring.”
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