Justin Baldoni allegedly used a viral Hailey Bieber scandal as inspiration for a smear marketing campaign concentrating on his It Ends with Us co-star Blake Lively, in keeping with a lawsuit filed by Lively.
Legal paperwork obtained by People journal on December 21 declare Baldoni referenced a publish titled “Hailey Bieber’s historical past of bullying many ladies” in non-public texts with PR govt Jennifer Abel and disaster supervisor Melissa Nathan, outlining plans to break Lively’s popularity.
“This is what we would want,” Baldoni reportedly wrote in a textual content trade dated August 4, referring to the Bieber publish, whereas Abel replied with plans to make use of Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram to unfold the adverse narrative.
Lively’s grievance accuses Baldoni and his crew of orchestrating a “social manipulation” marketing campaign, together with planting tales about her alleged bullying and misuse of feminism to achieve energy.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, denied the claims, calling them “false, outrageous, and deliberately salacious.” He acknowledged the lawsuit relies on “cherry-picked” messages and that no retaliatory actions have been taken past normal PR situation planning.
The lawsuit additionally alleges that Baldoni’s on-set behaviour prompted conferences with manufacturing, together with Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, to set strict boundaries round unscripted touching, sexual feedback, and extra intercourse scenes.
Lively claims the emotional toll of Baldoni’s alleged actions has deeply affected her and her household.
Sony Pictures and Baldoni’s firm, Wayfarer Studios, are additionally named as defendants.
