In addition to their purported attempts to start a smear campaign against his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively, a former publicist for actor Justin Baldoni claims that his current publicity team plotted to hurt her and steal her clients.
Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel is accused of breach of contract by Stephanie Jones and her agency Jonesworks in a case filed in the New York Supreme Court on Tuesday. The action alleges that Abel breached her job terms by establishing a rival firm and taking clients and data from Jones. A copy of the lawsuit also claims that Abel is accused of defamation.
The New York Times first reported Jones’ lawsuit, which follows days after Lively filed a separate complaint against some of the same defendants with the California Civil Rights Department, claiming Baldoni sexually harassed her on set and then launched a retaliatory campaign with the help of Abel and crisis communications specialist Melissa Nathan. Along with Baldoni and his business, Wayfarer Studios, Nathan is also listed as a defendant in Jones’ case.
The industry has been rocked by Lively’s accusations. Her complaint has also brought attention to the function of crisis PR firms, with numerous websites reexamining some of the derogatory headlines that Lively was featured in while on the It Ends With Us promotional tour.
From 2017 until August of this year, Jones was a representative of Wayfarer Studios and Baldoni. Jonesworks employed Abel from 2020 until August. Lively’s complaint made extensive use of a number of Abel’s emails and texts, which the lawsuit said were acquired through a subpoena of Jonesworks.
The well-known Colleen Hoover novel was adapted into the movie It Ends With Us, which debuted in theaters in August. Baldoni plays Lily Bloom’s violent lover, Ryle Kincaid, while Lively plays the heroine Lily Bloom. Baldoni directed and modified the project as well.
Jones’ lawsuit claims that in August, Baldoni started to worry that the more attention he and the movie were receiving would lead to rumors of his misbehavior on production. Without Jones’ knowledge or consent, the lawsuit claims that Nathan and Abel then started to develop a no-holds-barred plan to discredit and stifle any prospective disclosures of Baldoni’s on-set behavior.
According to the lawsuit, they worked covertly with Baldoni and Wayfarer to launch a vicious media smear campaign against Baldoni’s movie co-star behind Jones’ back. They then took advantage of the crisis to distance themselves from Baldoni and publicly blame Jones for the smear campaign, even though Jones was unaware of it or had nothing to do with it.
According to the lawsuit, Abel and Nathan used their teams to produce and spread derogatory content about Lively on Reddit and TikTok, among other social media sites.
According to Jones’ lawsuit, Abel and Nathan were aggressively using their media connections to spread unfavorable rumors about Jones and Jonesworks while simultaneously attempting to shield Baldoni from unfavorable press coverage. They disparaged Jones and Jonesworks using over a dozen phony social media profiles and dark web identities.
A request for comment regarding Jones’ lawsuit on Tuesday was not immediately answered by Bryan Freedman, the attorney for Baldoni, Wayfarer, Abel, and Nathan.
Freedman mentioned Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds in a previous response to Lively’s complaint, saying that Nathan’s company, The Agency Group PR, functioned as any crisis management firm would when hired by a client facing threats from two extremely powerful individuals with limitless resources. Additionally, Lively’s claims were described by Freedman as wholly untrue, ludicrous, and purposefully offensive.
In her suit, Jones cited some text messages she said she obtained from Abel s work phone after terminating Abel in August. Some of the messages that Jones presented in her own lawsuit had never been released before, including one that was purportedly received by Abel and described Baldoni as unrealistic and unlikeable as a leading man.
He is unbearable to me. He is quite arrogant. Is he crazy for retreating as a man during release? This was one of the texts sent from Abel’s phone. A retreat is not necessary for him. He needs to be humbled.
Jones claimed that she had initially intended to use a positive press strategy to counter the emerging media narrative surrounding tensions between the stars after Lively made demands on-set for Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath to stop certain behaviors, such as entering her trailer while she was undressed and including unscripted sexual scenes in the movie.
Instead, Jones alleges that Abel and Nathan implemented an aggressive media smear campaign against her and Lively at the same time on behalf of Baldoni and Wayfarer, amid their own plans to establish a competing PR business.
Jones lawsuit seeks to finally put a stop to their continued misconduct and to compensate Jones and Jonesworks for the damage Defendants conduct and scheme has inflicted, it states. 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 haveissued their support for Lively.
Baldoni was dropped by his talent agency WME. He has not publicly addressed Lively s complaint or Jones lawsuit.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!