A former publicist for actor Justin Baldoni has alleged that his current publicity team conspired to harm him and steal his clients, allegedly in conjunction with their efforts to promote his “It's Over With Us” campaign. tried to start a “smear campaign” against Blake Lively's co-star.
In one The case In a filing Tuesday, Dec. 24, in New York Supreme Court, Stephanie Jones and her agency JonesWorks accuse Baldoni's publicist Jennifer Abel of breach of contract, claiming she set up a competing firm to create a competing firm. Violated terms of employment and stole documents and clients from under Jones. . He also accuses Abel of defamation, according to a copy of Suit.
Jones's suit, which was earlier. Reported From the New York Times, comes a few days later A separate complaint Lively filed a lawsuit against some of the same defendants in the California Department of Civil Rights, alleging that Baldoni sexually harassed her on set and then with the help of Abel and crisis communications representative Melissa Nathan. Engaged in revenge campaign. Along with Baldoni and his company, Wayfarer Studios, Nathan is also named as a defendant in Jones' complaint.
Lively's allegations are. Send shock waves. across the industry. Her complaint also highlighted the role that crisis PR firms play, with many online revisiting some of the negative headlines surrounding Lively during the “It Ends With Us” promotional tour.
Jones represented Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios from 2017 until August of this year. Abel worked for Jones Works from 2020 to August. A number of text messages and emails from Abel, said to have been obtained through a subpoena from Jones Works, were heavily referenced in Lively's complaint.
“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of the popular Colleen Hoover novel, was released in theaters in August. Lily portrays the heroine Lily Bloom, while Baldoni plays her scornful romantic partner, Royal Kincaid. Baldoni also adapted and directed the project.
According to Jones' suit, in August Baldoni “began to fear that the increased attention to him and the film would lead to reports of allegations of misbehavior on his set.” Nathan and Abel then began “a no-holds-barred strategy to discredit and suppress any potential revelations about Baldoni's on-set behavior” without Jones' knowledge or approval, the suit states. There is blame.
“Behind Jones' back, he secretly coordinated with Baldoni and Wayfarer to implement an aggressive media smear campaign against Baldoni's film co-star, and then use the crisis to drive a wedge between Jones and Baldoni. used as an opportunity for, and publicly blamed for, a smear campaign against Jones — when Jones had no knowledge of or involvement in it,” the lawsuit states.
Abel and Nathan “leveraged their teams to create and maintain negative content about Lively on social media platforms such as Reddit and TikTok,” according to the suit.
“At the same time that Abel and Nathan were working to shield Baldoni from negative press attention, they were actively working their media contacts to plant negative stories about Jones and Jones Works,” Jones said. The suit said. They “used more than a dozen fake social media accounts and dark web accounts that defamed Jones and Jones Works.”
Brian Friedman, an attorney representing Baldoni, Wayfarer, Abel and Nathan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Jones' lawsuit Tuesday.
In a previous response to Lively's complaint, Freedman wrote that Nathan's company, The Agency Group PR, “acted as any crisis management firm would, when faced with threats from two very powerful people with unlimited resources. The client will be hired,” referring to Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds. Friedman called Lively's claims “completely false, outrageous and deliberately reprehensible”.
In his suit, Jones cited some text messages he said he received from Abel's work phone after he terminated Abel in August. Some of the texts included in Jones' own suit were previously unpublished, including one allegedly sent by Abel calling Baldoni “unlikable and unrealistic as a leading man.”
“I can't stand her. She's so glorious. Men's retreat during release, is she crazy?!” said one of the texts from Abel's phone. “He doesn't need to back down. He needs to be humble.”
In the wake of Lively's on-set calls for Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamie Heath to stop Some behaviorIncluding entering her trailer while she was undressed and including unscripted sex scenes in the film, Jones alleged that she actually “had a positive press strategy” between the stars. The plan was designed to counter the emerging media narrative around stress.
Instead, Jones alleged that Abel and Nathan simultaneously implemented “an aggressive media smear campaign” against him and Lively on behalf of Baldoni and Wayfarer, setting up a competing PR business. Between his projects.
Jones' “lawsuit ultimately seeks to stop their continued misconduct and to indemnify Jones and Jones Works for the damages they have suffered as a result of defendants' conduct and scheme,” it said. She is requesting a jury trial.
In the days since Lively's complaint was filed, many in Hollywood — including the actors' union SAG-AFTRA and Sony Pictures Entertainment, the studio behind “It Ends With Us.” Showed his support for Lively.
Baldoni was dropped by his talent agency WME. He has not publicly addressed Lively's complaint or Jones' lawsuit.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.
