The situation surrounding Blake Lively’s allegations of sexual misconduct against Justin Baldoni, her co-star and director in It Ends With Us, continues to escalate.
According to a report by Indian Express on Thursday, Lively has accused Baldoni of orchestrating a smear campaign against her. In addition to the lawsuit Lively has already filed against Baldoni, his former publicist, Stephanie Jones, has now initiated a separate lawsuit against Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, and his current publicity team.
Jones, who owns the public relations firm Jonesworks, claims Baldoni breached their contract by failing to pay her $25,000 per month (approximately Rs 21 lakh), according to variety.
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In her lawsuit, Jones alleges that her former employee, Jennifer Abel, was behind the alleged smear campaign against Lively without her knowledge. Jones states she only became aware of Abel’s actions after Abel left Jonesworks in August to start her own firm.
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Upon examining the details from Abel’s company phone, Jones claims she discovered text messages and emails that implicated Abel in collusion with Baldoni and Wayfarer to execute the campaign against Lively. Additionally, she has filed a defamation and breach of contract lawsuit against crisis manager Melissa Nathan.
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Jones contends that she has been wrongfully implicated despite having no involvement in the alleged misconduct, asserting that Abel and Nathan are attempting to shift the blame onto her to divert attention from their own actions.
The lawsuit claims, “To this day, Abel and Nathan continue to falsely accuse Jones now that their own misconduct is being revealed, defaming and attacking Jones within the industry.”
The legal filing also alleges that Abel, Nathan, and Wayfarer executive Jamey Heath devised a “no-holds-barred strategy to discredit and suppress any potential revelations about Baldoni’s on-set behavior,” which included launching “a smear campaign against Lively.”
Meanwhile, Jennifer Abel has defended her resignation from Jonesworks, citing “bullying” and a toxic work environment, and has denied the allegations against her while contesting Jones’s claims.
The suit against Justin Baldoni accuses him of sexual harassment and intentionally damaging Blake Lively’s reputation through a smear campaign, including allegations that Baldoni shared explicit images with her, discussed his struggles with pornography addiction, and made derogatory comments about her body.
