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Justin Baldoni Rep Denies Blake Lively Smear Campaign Claims

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Justin Baldoni Rep Denies Blake Lively Smear Campaign Claims

A member of Justin Baldoni’s publicity team is finally speaking out after details of Blake Lively’s lawsuit, which includes allegations of sexual harassment and a coordinated smear campaign, were made public. A publicist for Wayfarer Studios, which was co-founded by Baldoni and produced It Ends With Us, has admitted to joking about Lively and reveling in the negative publicity because the internet was seeing a side of the actress who, as they put it, “was making our lives incredibly difficult over the course of the campaign.” However, the publicist denies that any actions were taken against Lively to destroy her character, and insists that “the internet was doing the work for us.”

Per Deadline, Jennifer Abel, a publicist for Wayfarer Studios, took to a private PR and Marketing Facebook group to address the claims made by Lively. Abel insisted that some of the text messages and e-mails in the actress’s lawsuit were “cherry-picked” and that their team never facilitated any negative press about Lively. They essentially deny starting a smear campaign against the actress and maintain that Lively is trying to create a narrative that suits her claims:

“What the cherry-picked messages don’t include, although not shockingly, as it doesn’t fit the narrative, is that it was no smear implied, 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.”

This is the most we’ve heard so far from Baldoni’s side about the matter, beyond the director-actor-producer denying the claims through his lawyer. Consequences for Baldoni have been swift, with talent agency WME dropping him as a client soon after the claims went public. Abel goes on to say the PR firm “didn’t have to do anything over the top to protect our client,” but admits that they did enjoy watching Baldoni come out of the It Ends With Us promotion cycle with positive interviews focusing on the film’s themes of domestic violence, while the internet seemed to home in on Lively’s perceived superficial promotion of the movie that some felt ignored the film’s more serious elements:

“And yes, we rejoiced and joked in the fact that fans were recognizing our clients heart and work without us having to do anything but keep our heads down and focus on positive interviews for our client, as the texts show, we sophomorically reveled again, and we sophomorically reveled and again joked privately to each other about the internet’s feedback to the woman whose team was making our lives incredibly difficult over the course of the campaign. I’m 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.”

Blake Lively’s Lawsuit Shows a Very Ugly Side of the Entertainment Industry

Lively’s complaint alleges that she endured sexual harassment from Baldoni on the set of It Ends With Us, and that a calculated smear campaign was started by the director and his team to undermine Lively’s credibility as news of a feud between the pair went public. During the press for the hit film, Lively and Baldoni never participated in interviews together, nor were they photographed on the red carpet together during the film’s premiere. Social media took notice of this, also pointing to the fact that Lively and some of the film’s co-stars had unfollowed Baldoni on social media.

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Blake Lively Skipped Hosting ‘SNL’ Premiere Due to ‘It Ends With Us’ Smear Campaign

Blake Lively’s lawsuit against director and co-star Justin Baldoni cites missing the ‘SNL’ hosting gig as a casualty of his smear campaign.

Baldoni soon hired a crisis PR team, and the tide of public opinion swiftly changed. In his interviews for It Ends With Us, Baldoni frequently highlighted the film’s themes of domestic abuse, while the internet began picking up stories about Lively that didn’t show her in a positive light, or pointed to her more superficial promotion of the movie that didn’t adequately acknowledge the film’s portrayal of domestic violence. It could be speculated that the internet did the PR team’s job for them, as Abel is saying, but the timing of Baldoni hiring a crisis PR team and public perception turning against Lively seems awfully suspect.

Lively’s claims are pretty disturbing, particularly given Baldoni’s position as a director and producer on the film. Lively alleges that Baldoni and another producer on the project tried to add overly sexual material to the film, showed pornographic material to Lively without her consent, and frequently used sexually inappropriate language on set. The lawsuit also details one particular meeting between Lively and Baldoni, in which the latter complained about Lively’s weight, discussed his sex life, and forced her to reveal her religious beliefs. This culminated with Baldoni and his team, as seen in screenshots of text messages and e-mails, implying that they would seek to destroy Lively’s character should she make any of these issues public.

This is a story that continues to evolve, and both sides will likely continue to reveal information that supports their respective versions of events. What is very clear is that Lively has received some high-profile support since her lawsuit went public, and it seems to be changing how the internet is responding to the actress, with much more positive notices coming her way. As for why Abel isn’t siding with Lively against her client, she offers up a pretty blunt explanation:

“Now what kind of woman would work against another woman who was victim of all the things being claimed? Thanks for asking. After reviewing the evidence, facts, hard proof that countered every single thing that was being claimed and demanded at the start of production, I made a choice to stand by my client of almost five years who had dedicated his life to the equal treatment of others, especially women who had no incidence of negative treatment of others, and who had a wonderful community and team at Wayfarer, who all held the same moral fortitude and lives their lives accordingly, 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. Is my client perfect? No, in fact, he says he’s not perfect so consistently, to the point I tell him he needs to be less self deprecating, because it can be taken the wrong way. Are Blake’s feelings valid? It’s not my position to say or speculate what she was feeling in those moments that she claims. And I would never slam another woman for speaking her truth by the end of the day, if it’s not the truth, and there’s evidence that proves otherwise, then as a representative. I have to do what I feel is right as well.”

Abel currently has her own PR firm, RWA Communications. Back in 2023, Abel was a partner at Jonesworks, where she worked with Dwayne Johnson as a client on the Netflix film Red Notice, which – oddly enough – co-starred Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds.


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