Justin Baldoni accused of using Hailey Bieber as example in Blake Lively ‘smear campaign’
A series of text messages have been revealed between Baldoni and PR executive Jennifer Abel
Following the bombshell news that Blake Lively has filed a lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni, he's now been been accused of using Hailey Bieber as an example in a Blake Lively 'smear campaign'.
Late last week (21 December), the New York Times published the details of Lively's legal complaint, which alleges Baldoni subjected her to sexual harassment and further alleges he attempted to launch a 'social manipulation' campaign.
The complaint also included a string of private text messages between publicist Jennifer Abel - who was hired by Baldoni as per the Daily Mail as well as crisis management expert Melissa Nathan - which have been revealed as a result of a subpoena.
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The messages appear to detail a strategy to smear Lively's reputation, devised by Baldoni, Abel, and Nathan.
In one exchange, which was dated August 4th, the complaint obtained by People last week (21 December) shows that Baldoni texted a screenshot of a post on X about Bieber which was titled 'Hailey Bieber's history of bullying many women'.
"This is what we would need," Baldoni wrote, accompanying the screenshot.
Abel then replied: "Yes I literally just spoke to Melissa about this on the break about what we discussed last night for social and digital. Focus on Reddit, TikTok, IG."
As per the complaint, on the same day, Abel sent a message to Nathan admitting: "I'm having reckless thoughts of wanting to plant pieces this week of how horrible Blake is to work with… Just to get ahead of it."
"Same," Nathan responded at the time, adding that one journalist friend of hers was 'ready when we are,' according to the complaint.
Alongside details of the lawsuit becoming public, Lively stated: "I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
Legal representation for Baldoni has since responded.
Attorney Bryan Freedman said: "It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives."
Wayfarer Studios is a production company co-founded by Baldoni.
Freedman said Lively's suit was 'yet another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.'
He continued: "These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."
He further stated that Baldoni 'made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film' due to 'multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production which included her threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.'
Lively's lawsuit alleges that during filming, a meeting was held so that Lively could outline her demands to Baldoni, and that her husband Ryan Reynolds was in attendance.
As per the lawsuit, the demands included 'no more showing nude videos or images of women' to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction', no more discussions about 'personal experiences with sex' in front of Blake and others, no more 'descriptions of... genitalia', no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.
Tyla has previously contacted Sony Pictures, Baldoni and Lively’s representatives for comment.
Topics: Celebrity, Hailey Bieber, Justin Baldoni, TV And Film, US News, Blake Lively
Rhiannon Ingle