Justin Baldoni’s former publicist has filed a lawsuit against him for breach of contract – amid his legal battle with his former co-star Blake Lively.
Lively sued Baldoni last week, accusing him of sexually harassing her and creating a toxic work environment on the set of their film It Ends With Us, in which he both directed and acted with her. He has firmly denied the allegations.
In her complaint, Lively alleged that Baldoni worked to damage her reputation with a team that included his publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis PR expert Melissa Nathan, who previously worked with Johnny Depp. Abel has denied that he has waged a ‘smear campaign’.
Now Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, Nathan and Abel are all being sued by Abel’s former boss Stephanie Jones, the head of Jonesworks PR.
Abel represented Baldoni while working for Jonesworks, but was reportedly fired last summer after Jones discovered she stole “documents and customer information” from the company in support of a plot to start a rival company, according to a copy of Jones’ lawsuit obtained by the New York Times.
Jones accuses Abel of conspiring with Nathan “to steal Baldoni and Wayfarer as Jonesworks clients, and to smear Jones and Jonesworks in the press” – for example, by blaming Jones for Lively’s alleged PR takedown.
DailyMail.com has contacted Jones and a representative for Baldoni for comment.
Justin Baldoni’s former publicist has filed a lawsuit against him for breach of contract – amid his legal battle with his former co-star Blake Lively; Baldoni pictured in August
Lively’s lawsuit includes a slew of allegations against Baldoni, who she says showed nude photos and videos of other women, improvised “physical intimacy” during a scene without prior discussion, entered her trailer while “naked” and his “friends.” let in. to watch her film sex scenes.
Leading up to the film’s release on August 9, rumors began to circulate about a rift between Lively and Baldoni – and Lively now claims that Nathan and Abel were working for Baldoni around this time on a targeted strategy to defame her.
Late last summer, Lively repeatedly went viral online as social media users criticized her “mean girl” behavior in interviews, a trend she now insists was the result of an “astroturfing” campaign by Baldoni’s PR team.
Following Lively’s lawsuit, Jones claims in her own legal filing that Nathan and Abel “orchestrated a smear campaign against Lively for the benefit of Baldoni and Wayfarer.”
She further alleged that Nathan and Abel planned “to publicly pin the blame for this smear campaign on Jones – while Jones had no knowledge or involvement in it.”
Lively’s legal complaint included alleged screenshots of text messages, many between Nathan and Abel, allegedly showing that the PR takedown was planned.
In her own lawsuit, Jones includes several alleged screenshots of text messages between Abel and Nathan, allegedly from Abel’s Jonesworks company phone.
The messages reveal that Abel and Nathan are plotting to take Baldoni and Wayfarer from Jonesworks – and that Abel mocks Baldoni with contempt.
Lively sued Baldoni last week, accusing him of sexually harassing her and creating a toxic work environment on the set of their film It Ends With Us.
In her complaint, Lively alleged that Baldoni worked to damage her reputation with a team that included his publicist Jennifer Abel (pictured) and crisis PR expert Melissa Nathan.
Now Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, Nathan and Abel are all being sued by Abel’s former boss Stephanie Jones (pictured), the head of Jonesworks PR
“I can’t stand him,” Abel allegedly texted Nathan in reference to Baldoni. ‘He’s so pompous. A men’s retreat during the release, is he crazy?! And since he’s not on the grid this summer, because he’s so overworked… calm down. You’re not that important and no one cares how hard your life is.’
According to Jones’ legal documents, the texts were “forensically taken directly from the company phone used by Abel during her employment at Jonesworks,” which was reportedly “voluntarily returned to Jonesworks after her termination” in the presence of an employment attorney.
In her lawsuit, Jones says Abel plotted to steal clients from her and damage her reputation in the PR business — even allegedly encouraging “nearly half of Jonesworks’ employees” to take jobs elsewhere to assume, which would have caused two people to leave. the company ‘to work for competitors.’
Since leaving Jonesworks in the summer, Abel has continued to represent Wayfarer, this time through her own company.
Jones’ lawsuit became public just hours after Abel ended her silence on the unfolding drama in a statement denying that she and Nathan had launched a “smear campaign.”
“What the cherry-picked messages don’t include, while not shocking because it doesn’t fit the narrative, is that no ‘slander’ was implemented,” she wrote.
“There was never any negative press facilitated, no social battle plan, even though we were prepared for it, because our job is to be prepared for any scenario. But we didn’t have to implement anything because the Internet did the work for us.”
She claims the messages only show her and Nathan joking and “sophomore enjoying” real social media comments on Lively.
Leading up to the film’s release on August 9, rumors began to circulate about a rift between Lively and Baldoni, who are depicted in the film.
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has similarly maintained: ‘What is conspicuously missing from the selected correspondence is evidence that no proactive measures were taken with the media or otherwise; only internal scenario planning and private correspondence to determine strategy, which is standard procedure for public relations professionals.”
Since news of Lively’s lawsuit broke on Saturday, Baldoni’s career has imploded, as he was dropped by his agency William Morris Endeavor and his podcast co-host Liz Plank announced she was quitting the show.
Lively, who is married to Deadpool leader Ryan Reynolds and is close friends with pop superstar Taylor Swift, has seen former colleagues rally around her.
Her It Ends With Us co-stars Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate have spoken out in support of her, as has Colleen Hoover, author of the novel on which the film is based.