Topics: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Celebrity, TV And Film
Justin Baldoni’s publicist is making her side of the story known after messages shared between herself, the It Ends with Us director, and another media expert were shared in Blake Lively’s lawsuit.
On December 20, 37-year-old Lively filed a legal complaint against Baldoni, 40, accusing the Jane the Virgin alumnus of ‘sexual harassment’ and embarking on a ‘multi-tiered plan’ to ‘destroy’ her reputation.
Rumours of a ‘rift’ between the pair began circulating during It Ends with Us’ press tour, with Baldoni - who starred in and also produced the flick - and Lively failing to follow each other on social media while cutting separate figures at the New York City premiere.
It was also claimed that the creatives had ‘fought’ over the final cut of the movie, based on the bestselling novel by Colleen Hoover.
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Lively’s legal filing now allegedly sheds some stark light on the situation, accusing Baldoni of causing her ‘severe emotional harm’ on set and of asking her intimate questions about her marriage to Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, 48.
The New York Times-obtained lawsuit also claims Baldoni attempted to launch a ‘social manipulation’ campaign against her.
Text messages between the Californian, his publicist, Jennifer Abel, and a crisis management expert, Melissa Nathan, have been included in the lawsuit due to subpoena.
One of Abel’s messages claimed she was having 'reckless thoughts of wanting to plant pieces this week about how horrible Blake is to work with’.
Another from Nathan added: “Imagine if a document saying all the things that he wants ends up in the wrong hands. You know we can bury anyone but I can't write that to him. I will, I'd be very tough.”
Baldoni’s lawyer has described the lawsuit as ‘shameless’, adding “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Abel has since broken her silence on the situation, taking to social media to say there was never a ‘smear’ implemented against Lively.
“What the cherry picked messages don’t include, although not shockingly as it doesn’t fit the narrative, is that there was no ‘smear’ implemented,” Abel wrote in a now-deleted post, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“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.
“Sure we talked about it, contemplated if we needed certain things, flagged accounts that we needed to monitor, worked with a social team to help us stay on top of the narrative so we could act quickly if needed, and yes, we rejoiced and joked in the fact that fans were recognising our clients heart and work without us having to do anything but keep our heads down and focus on positive interviews for our client.”
Abel claims she and Nathan were joking ‘privately to each other about the internets feedback to the woman whose team was making our lives incredibly difficult over the course of the campaign’, reminding readers that she is ‘human’.
“The long hours, months of preparation, on top of my day to day scope … it felt good to see that although we were prepared, we didn’t have to do anything over the top to protect our client.”
The publicist went on to insinuate that Lively’s team were allegedly planning to plant ‘horrible stories’ about Baldoni a ‘fail safe’ if he ‘did not comply with the demands set forth for the campaign’.
“Which is why we brought on [a crisis team], as it’s not something that I do,” she explained.
“My sole job was to put together interviews, screening opportunities and speaking opportunities for my client in support of the film, a standard scope of work.
“I did my job. Now what kind of woman would work against another woman who was a victim of all the things being claimed?”
Abel claimed that she has ‘made a choice’ to stand with Baldoni, whom she has worked with for almost five years, claiming he has ‘dedicated his life to the equal treatment of others, especially women.’
“Who had no incidents of negative treatment of others, and who had a wonderful community and team at wayfarer who all held the same moral fortitude and lived their life accordingly.”
She added: “As representatives, we all have to make that choice. So I did that to the best of my ability, and felt good about our efforts.”
