As Blake Lively’s allegations in opposition to “It Ends With Us” director and co-star Justin Baldoni proceed to resonate in Hollywood, a brand new lawsuit has additional raised the stakes.
Stephanie Jones, Baldoni’s former publicist, filed a criticism Tuesday in New York Supreme Court, accusing the actor’s PR crew of waging a coordinated effort to undermine her and deflect blame for what she calls a retaliatory smear marketing campaign in opposition to Lively.
The new lawsuit provides to the rising fallout from Lively’s authorized criticism filed final week in California. In it, the actor accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her on the set of the romantic drama and of orchestrating a marketing campaign to discredit her after she expressed issues a few “hostile work atmosphere.” Her criticism contained detailed allegations of “improvised bodily intimacy” throughout scenes, strain from Baldoni to carry out extra nudity than initially agreed upon, and a calculated effort to unfold damaging tales about her within the press.
Jones alleges that Jennifer Abel, a former senior determine at his Jonesworks public relations agency, labored with disaster supervisor Melissa Nathan on a “no-holds-barred technique” to guard Baldoni from Lively’s allegations of misconduct whereas concurrently undermining Jones’ popularity. According to her lawsuit, the plan concerned spreading destructive tales about Lively within the media, creating pretend social media accounts to amplify the assaults and exploiting Baldoni’s public picture as a feminist ally to discredit her.
“Behind Jones’ again, (Abel and Nathan) secretly coordinated with Baldoni and (his studio) Wayfarer to implement an aggressive media smear marketing campaign in opposition to Baldoni’s co-star,” the lawsuit states.
Jones, who represented Baldoni and Wayfarer from 2017 till his firing in August 2024, claims the alleged scheme destroyed his skilled relationship with the actor-director. Abel is accused of utilizing confidential firm data to steal shoppers and lay the groundwork for a competing public relations agency.
“Defendants Abel and Nathan secretly conspired for months to publicly and privately assault Jones and (his public relations agency) Jonesworks,” the lawsuit alleges, describing efforts to “steal shoppers and enterprise prospects” whereas putting blame on the smear marketing campaign in opposition to Jones herself.
The doc contains excerpts from 1000’s of pages of textual content messages and emails that Jones says had been pulled from Abel’s company-issued cellphone following his firing from Jonesworks in August, shortly earlier than the corporate’s relationship with Baldoni and Wayfarer ended. In one trade, Abel allegedly described Baldoni as “pompous” and mocked his choice to attend a males’s retreat through the movie’s launch, writing, “He would not want a retreat. He must be humiliated.
Jones accuses Abel and Nathan of utilizing the controversy as a weapon to “drive a wedge” between her and Baldoni, isolating her within the trade and damaging her profession. Her lawsuit seeks damages and a court docket order to cease what she describes as ongoing harassment {and professional} sabotage. “This lawsuit seeks to lastly put an finish to their continued misconduct and compensate Jones and Jonesworks for the hurt that Defendants’ conduct and scheme have inflicted,” the submitting reads.
Bryan Freedman, an lawyer representing Baldoni and the opposite defendants, couldn’t instantly be reached for remark, however he has beforehand dismissed Lively’s claims in opposition to her shoppers as “false, outrageous and deliberately salacious.”
As Lively and Jones’ lawsuits play out within the courts and earlier than the general public eye, the controversy has forged a highlight on Hollywood’s public relations agenda, exposing the darkest corners of popularity administration in an trade going through requires better transparency and accountability.
The accusations have already had skilled repercussions for Baldoni. Earlier this week, his expertise company, WME, dropped him as a consumer and the nonprofit Vital Voices Global Partnership canceled an award honoring him as an advocate for ladies’s empowerment. In an announcement, the group stated Baldoni’s alleged “abhorrent conduct” described in Lively’s lawsuit was “opposite to the values of Vital Voices and the spirit of the Award.”
Author Colleen Hoover, whose bestselling novel “It Ends With Us” is predicated on, additionally expressed help for Lively, writing on Instagram: “Blake’s capacity to refuse to sit down again and ‘be buried’ was nothing wanting inspiring.”
