Justin Baldoni’s former publicist has filed a lawsuit against the actor and director amid the growing fallout over the alleged harassment of Baldoni’s costar, Blake Lively. And it ends with us Co-star.
Lively previously filed a complaint with the California Department of Civil Rights, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on set and starting a social media campaign to “destroy” her reputation — which she detailed in a series of text messages in which Baldoni, Jennifer’s current publicist, participated. Appel and PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan.
In a new lawsuit filed in New York state court on Tuesday, Stephanie Jones, who owns the public relations firm Jonesworks, accused Baldoni of breach of contract when he dropped the company after Abel left Jonesworks to start her own company.
Jones also alleges that Abel and Nathan conducted an online smear campaign against Lively behind Jones’ back and without her knowledge. Jones is suing the two, along with Baldoni, for defamation, saying they tried to blame Jones for the alleged campaign once word got out.
“You know we can bury anyone.”
Documents filed in Lively’s files show texts between Abel, Nathan, sometimes Baldoni, and others that appear to detail plans to discredit Lively by publishing negative stories about her in the press and on social media.
One text attributed to Nathan read: “You know we can bury anyone.”
In another message allegedly sent by Abel, the publicist claims she is having dinner with a friend who writes for several major American publications, and that she is “armed and ready to take the story of Blake weaponizing feminism” to any of her media outlets. “She hates Blake, has heard this story before, and would do anything for us,” the letter reads.
It Ends With Us director Blake Lively and her co-star Justin Baldoni have been accused of trying to “destroy” her reputation after she complained of sexual harassment during filming. Baldoni’s lawyer calls these allegations “categorically false.”
Baldoni’s talent agency, WME, dropped him on the day Lively’s complaint was filed.
Baldoni’s lawyers denied the allegations. Abel told The Hollywood Reporter The text messages in the file were carefully selected and there was no smear campaign.
“These allegations are completely false, outrageous, and intentionally offensive with the intent to publicly harm and reshape the narrative in the media,” attorney Brian Friedman, who represents Baldoni, his production company and its representatives, said in a statement.
Lively’s complaint alleges that during filming, a meeting was held — and attended by her husband, Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, and others — to address Baldoni’s behavior. According to the complaint, Lively demanded an end to Baldoni’s “showing videos or photos of naked women,” as well as discussions about Baldoni’s “pornography addiction” or alleged “sexual overtures” to Baldoni in the past.
Other topics covered at the meeting included Baldoni being barred from mentioning more genitals, inquiries about Lively’s weight or “Mr. Baldoni stating that he was ‘talking to (Lively’s) deceased father’.”
Lively has come under fire for promoting the film
And it ends with us It had a successful opening in August after months of speculation about problems on set and controversies over the film’s sometimes light-hearted promotion, which focused on themes of domestic violence.
For example, a clip of Lively urging potential viewers to “grab your friends, wear flowers and go see it” drew heavy criticism.
Karen Mason, co-founder and executive director of Supporting Abuse and Brain Injury Survivors Through Research, was among those who criticized Lively at the time.
She says she now wonders whether she was duped by a social media campaign against the actor.
“The news of my lawsuit made me stop and think and wonder: Was I the victim of a campaign that was specifically designed to make it look bad, to make it seem like it was minimizing the effects of domestic violence?” Mason told CBC News.
“And Justin Baldoni was out there interviewing and talking about survivors, which was the right thing to do strategically. But if it wasn’t coming from a trusted place, a lot of us would have bought into that narrative that wasn’t true and that’s annoying.”
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Many people have drawn parallels between Lively and Amber Heard — especially since Heard’s ex-husband, Johnny Depp, also hired Nathan to manage crises during his defamation trial against Heard.
Heard, who was ordered to pay millions in a case that some felt was unduly influenced by Depp’s social media campaign against her, spoke out in apparent support of Lively. In a statement to NBC News on monday.
“Social media is the absolute embodiment of the classic adage, ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before the truth can put on its boots,’” she said. “I’ve seen this firsthand and up close. “It is as terrifying as it is devastating.”
America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel, actors who starred alongside Lively in the 2005 film The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pantsalso spoke out in support of Lively, issuing a joint statement on Instagram on Sunday.
“Throughout filming And it ends with us“We saw her (Lively) muster the courage to demand a safe workplace for herself and her colleagues on set, and we are horrified to read evidence of a deliberate and retaliatory effort that followed to discredit her voice,” they wrote.
Colleen Hoover, the author of the best-selling 2016 novel on which the film was based, posted a photo of herself with Lively, whom she described as “honest, kind, supportive and patient,” sharing the post from Ferrera, Tamblyn and Bledel.
Lively And it ends with us Co-stars Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate also supported her.
in Statement to Today.com“The revelations about the attack on Blake are extremely dark, disturbing and downright threatening,” Slate said. “I applaud my friend, admire her courage, and stand by her.”
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