In a new legal complaint, Blake Lively said that her “It Ends with Us” costar, Justin Baldoni, who also directed and produced the film, conspired to damage her reputation and credibility.
The complaint also mentions Taylor Swift and Hailey Bieber.
Lively named Baldoni and six other defendants in her complaint, including the CEO and cofounder of his production studio, Wayfarer Studios. She also named communications crisis manager Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group PR and Baldoni’s publicist, Jennifer Abel.
“This plan went well beyond standard crisis PR. What Ms. Nathan proposed included a practice known as ‘Astroturfing,’ which has been defined as ‘the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group,'” according to the complaint.
The complaint says that Baldoni and his team discussed controversies around Swift and Bieber as strategic suggestions while conspiring against Lively.
Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, said Lively’s complaint was a “desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation.”
Baldoni and his team considered leveraging backlash around Swift and the ‘weaponization of feminism,’ the complaint says
Blake Lively’s complaint included a reference to Taylor Swift.
Nathan’s communications company shared a “Scenario Planning” document with Baldoni and others that outlined potential strategies “should [Ms. Lively] and her team make her grievances public,” the complaint says.
The complaint includes a copy of that document, which Lively’s attorneys obtained through a civil subpoena.
The planning document discussed what Baldoni’s team could do if Lively’s husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, publicly defended her against critics. It included a reference to Swift, who is a friend of Lively. The pair have attended Kansas City Chiefs football games together and have been photographed by paparazzi while hanging out.
“As part of this, our team can also explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people in BL’s circle, like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to ‘bully’ into getting what they want,” the planning document says, according to the complaint.
The complaint says Baldoni used a social media post about Bieber and bullying as an example strategy
Blake Lively’s complaint alluded to Hailey Bieber.
Lively’s complaint also contained screenshots of text message conversations between Baldoni and his team, which were also obtained through a civil subpoena. According to the complaint, Baldoni sent a text message to his publicist, Abel, in early August.
“A few days later, on August 5, 2024, Mr. Baldoni set the narrative for the social media campaign, sending Ms. Abel a screenshot of a thread on X that had accused another female celebrity of bullying women,” the complaint said. “Mr. Baldoni stated, ‘this is what we would need.'”
The social media post included two pictures of Bieber and insinuated she had bullied other women. That narrative gained traction on social media in 2023 and resulted in widespread backlash against Bieber.
A representative for Lively referred Business Insider to a statement she shared with The New York Times.
“I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,” she said.
Lively also said neither she nor her representatives planted negative stories about Baldoni or Wayfarer Studios.
Baldoni’s attorney said the accusations in Lively’s complaint were “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Representatives for Bieber and Swift did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
