Justin Baldoni’s Former Publicist Sues Actor, PR Team Over Blake Lively Controversy

Topline

The controversy over actor and director Justin Baldoni’s alleged harassment of actress Blake Lively escalated Tuesday, as Baldoni’s former publicist Jennifer Jones sued Baldoni and his current press representatives, alleging a smear campaign was orchestrated against Jones as her former colleagues allegedly schemed on their “no-holds-barred” campaign against Lively.

Key Facts

Jones, who owns PR company Jonesworks, filed a lawsuit in New York state court Tuesday, which named Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, former Jonesworks publicist Jennifer Abel, crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan and other unnamed persons as defendants, accusing them of violations including breach of contract and defamation.

The lawsuit was filed days after Lively filed a legal complaint alleging Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set of their film “It Ends With Us,” with the complaint featuring text messages from Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel, Nathan and Baldoni as alleged evidence the actor and his representatives allegedly orchestrated a negative campaign against Lively in order to discredit her claims.

Jones’ lawsuit alleges Abel and Nathan conspired against Jones, with Abel allegedly working to defame Jones and then getting fired after she allegedly stole Jonesworks’ proprietary information about its clients and work—going on to form her own company and taking on Baldoni and Wayfarer as clients, which Jones alleges violates both her and Baldoni’s contracts with Jonesworks.

Jones did not want Nathan to work with Jonesworks—alleging she witnessed the crisis PR manager do work for a client that went “far over the line”—but Baldoni hired her anyway, and Jones alleges Nathan “took advantage” of her work with Abel to “encourage Abel to leave Jonesworks, to conspire with Abel to steal Baldoni and Wayfarer as clients from Jonesworks, and to smear Jones and Jonesworks in the press.”

Jones distanced herself from Abel and Nathan’s strategy regarding Baldoni and Lively—in which they allegedly “launch[ed] a smear campaign against” the actress—alleging Jones did not know about the campaign and it did not “appropriately reflect [Jonesworks’] integrity and ethos,” and adding Jones herself allegedly advocated for a more “positive” approach to preserving Baldoni’s reputation.

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has denied Lively’s allegations against his client, and Abel has previously spoken out against Lively’s complaint, claiming her text messages in the complaint were “cherry-picked” and “there was no ‘smear’” campaign; she then denied Jones’ allegations in an email to Forbes Tuesday, sending emails and text messages that suggest Abel resigned from her position at Jonesworks, rather than being terminated as Jones alleged.

What To Watch For

Jones’ lawsuit requests a jury trial and an unspecified amount in damages. The complaint accuses Abel, Baldoni and Wayfarer of breach of contract, as well as all the parties for “tortious interference with contract,” arguing Abel’s actions led to Baldoni terminating his contract with Jonesworks and vice versa. The lawsuit also accuses Abel and 10 unnamed male defendants of defamation, after they allegedly created websites designed to harm Jones’ reputation with false claims, and planted negative stories about her in the press. Abel also made false claims about Jones to other Jonesworks employees that led to them leaving the PR firm, the lawsuit alleges. Lively’s complaint has also formally not yet been filed in court; the complaint was filed with the California Civil Rights Department, which still has to issue a “right to sue” notice in order for the complaint to be filed in state court. It’s unclear how long that process could take and when any lawsuit would be formally brought.

What We Don’t Know

If Baldoni or Abel could bring their own lawsuit against Jones. In a statement quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, Freedman took aim at Lively’s legal complaint including text message screenshots from Abel and Baldoni, claiming, “Jonesworks utilized a lawyer and security guard to take possession of Wayfarers confidential information through confiscation of Jen Abel’s phone.” “We are continuing to investigate the use of that confidential information but demands are being made to Stephanie Jones and [Lively’s publicist]

Leslie Sloan and once we obtain the evidence, anyone actively involved in any possible connection with this abhorrent conduct will be sued into oblivion.” It’s unclear whether Abel would have any legal right to her text messages, however, given that Jonesworks has said they were all sent through Abel’s company work phone.

What Did Publicists’ Text Messages Say?

According to Jones’ lawsuit, Abel and Nathan’s alleged efforts against Jones and on Baldoni’s behalf were financially motivated and took place despite the fact that both women allegedly did not care for Baldoni himself. The lawsuit quotes text messages between Abel and Nathan in which they criticized the actor and director, with Abel saying Baldoni is “so pompous” and “so unlikeable and unrealistic as a leading man.” “You’re not that important and nobody gives a s–t how hard your life is,” Abel said about Baldoni in a January text to Nathan, criticizing the actor going to a “men’s retreat” and taking off during the summer because he claimed to be “overworked.” “He needs to be humbled,” she added. “When this movie flops, he’s going to try to blame every person around him for it.” The text messages also detail the defendants’ alleged plan to harm Jones, with Abel telling Nathan she was “going to war” against the Jonesworks leader and Nathan reporting she spoke to Baldoni and told him to leave Jonesworks and go to Abel’s new company. When Abel and Nathan were allegedly planting negative stories about Jones with an Insider journalist who was writing about Jones and the Baldoni controversy, Nathan jokingly suggested Abel should tell Jones about their plan and alleged they were smearing Jones as revenge. “Are you aware there is a KILL STORY dropping this week on you and if you hadn’t of blown us up we would not be in such a bad place,” Nathan jokingly said Abel should tell Jones.

Chief Critic

Abel denied allegations of orchestrating a smear campaign against Lively on Facebook after the actress’ complaint was published, writing, “No negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan … we didn’t have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us.” Abel claimed Lively’s team “had been planting horrible stories about [Baldoni] as a ‘fail safe’” if he didn’t “comply” with Lively’s demands for the film’s publicity campaign, and said she decided to stand by Baldoni, whom she said “had no incidents of negative treatment of others, and who had a wonderful community and team at wayfarer [sic] who all held the same moral fortitude and lived their life accordingly.” In an email Abel forwarded to Forbes Tuesday, Abel appeared to tell Jones she was “mov[ing] forward with my resignation,” noting that her decision to resign took place under “unforeseen circumstances.” (That email is dated as being sent July 26, prior to text messages Abel and Jones allegedly exchanged in August on Abel’s work phone about Abel leaving Jonesworks, and before Jones alleges she fired Abel in August.) Freedman has denounced Lively’s claims as “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to hurt” Baldoni, also claiming Wayfarer “did nothing proactive nor retaliated” in terms of a PR campaign against Lively.

Key Background

Lively’s complaint against Baldoni alleges Lively and other cast and crew on “It Ends With Us” were subject to “invasive, unwelcome, unprofessional and sexually inappropriate behavior” from Baldoni and Wayfarer executive Jamey Heath, detailing alleged instances like Baldoni failing to implement industry protocols when filming intimate scenes, pressuring Lively to reveal details about her “intimate life” and making inappropriate comments about women working on the film. The complaint was made public Friday after allegations of drama between the actress and Baldoni gained attention when “It Ends With Us” was released over the summer. Fans pointed out on social media that Lively and Baldoni didn’t appear together during the film’s press tour and anonymous sources suggested there had been a “fracture” during the film’s post-production, though no specific allegations were made. Baldoni hired Nathan’s crisis PR firm amid the controversy, which ramped up speculation further, and said at the time there is “always friction that happens when you make a movie like this,” but that friction “creates the beautiful art.” Lively also faced backlash during her promotion of the film, as fans criticized her for downplaying and being overly dismissive of domestic violence, a key theme in the film.

How Did Blake Lively And Jennifer Jones Get Justin Baldoni And His Publicists’ Text Messages?

One source of interest following Lively’s legal complaint becoming public is how the actress and her lawyers’ were able to obtain private text messages between Baldoni and his press representatives, some of which were the same as those included in Jones’ lawsuit. Such messages would typically only be turned over after a lawsuit is filed, as part of the evidence-gathering “discovery” process. Lively’s lawyers noted after the complaint was filed they issued a subpoena to Jonesworks for the text messages, and Jones’ animus against Baldoni and Abel suggests why the PR firm quickly turned over the data. In Jones’ lawsuit, her lawyers note Abel’s text messages were extracted from her company work phone that Abel “voluntarily returned” to Jonesworks after she was terminated and allege they were not altered in any way.

Further Reading