Justin Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel has broken her silence on her leaked text messages about Blake Lively after the star accused him of sexual harrassment.
The actress, 37, has accused her It Ends With Us co-star, 40, of inappropriate conduct on set and retaliatory behavior in a 80-page legal complaint. He has furiously denied the accusations.
Lively’s team say that text messages included as part of the legal complaint reveal ‘a multi-tiered plan that Mr. Baldoni and his team described as ‘social manipulation’ designed to ‘destroy’ Ms. Lively’s reputation’, which they say began after she raised concerns about conditions on set.
Abel’s text messages with crisis management expert Melissa Nathan were leaked as part of Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.
But Abel has since posted a statement on Facebook defending her messages with Nathan and strongly denied there was ever a ‘smear’ campaign against Lively.
She wrote: ‘What the cherry picked messages don’t include, although not shockingly as it doesn’t fit the narrative, is that there was no ‘smear’ implemented.
Justin Baldoni ‘s publicist Jennifer Abel (pictured) has broken her silence on her leaked text messages about Blake Lively after the star accused him of sexual harrassment
The actress, 37, has accused her It Ends With Us co-star, 40, of inappropriate conduct on set and retaliatory behavior in a 80-page legal complaint. He has furiously denied the accusations
‘No negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan, although we were prepared for it as it’s our job to be ready for any scenario. But we didn’t have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us.’
Abel said many of the leaked messages between her and Nathan were simply them joking about how fans were reacting online to the alleged feud between Baldoni and Lively during promotion of the film.
She wrote: ‘Sure we talked about it, contemplated if we needed certain things, flagged accounts that we needed to monitor, worked with a social team to help us stay on top of the narrative so we could act quickly if needed, and yes, we rejoiced and joked in the fact that fans were recognizing our clients heart and work without us having to do anything but keep our heads down and focus on positive interviews for our client.
‘As the texts show, we sophomorically reveled and again, joked, privately to each other about the internets feedback to the woman whose team was making our lives incredibly difficult over the course of the campaign.
‘I’m human. The long hours, months of preparation, on top of my day to day scope … it felt good to see that although we were prepared, we didn’t have to do anything over the top to protect our client.’
‘I was notified at the start of the [marketing] campaign that the opposing team had been planting horrible stories about my client as a ‘fail safe’ if my client did not comply with the demands set forth for the campaign which is why we brought on [a crisis team], as it’s not something that I do.
‘My sole job was to put together interviews, screening opportunities and speaking opportunities for my client in support of the film, a standard scope of work. I did my job.’
Abel defended herself against claims she ‘worked against another woman’ and said she chose to stand by Baldoni, who is a long-standing client of hers.
Lively’s team say that text messages included as part of the legal complaint reveal ‘a multi-tiered plan that Mr. Baldoni and his team described as ‘social manipulation’ designed to ‘destroy’ Ms. Lively’s reputation’
Abel’s text messages with crisis management expert Melissa Nathan were leaked as part of Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni
She wrote: ‘Now what kind of woman would work against another woman who was a victim of all the things being claimed? Thanks for asking.
‘After reviewing the evidence, facts, hard proof that countered every single thing that was being claimed and demanded at the start of production, I made a choice to stand by my client of almost 5 years, who had dedicated his life to the equal treatment of others, especially women.
‘Who had no incidents of negative treatment of others, and who had a wonderful community and team at wayfarer who all held the same moral fortitude and lived their life accordingly.
‘As representatives, we all have to make that choice. So I did that to the best of my ability, and felt good about our efforts.’
Attorney Bryan Freedman — who reps Baldoni, along with Abel and Nathan, released a statement released a statement defending his clients.
‘TAG PR operated as any other crisis management firm would when hired by a client experiencing threats by two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources,’ he said, referring to Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds.
‘The standard scenario planning TAG PR drafted proved unnecessary as audiences found Lively’s own actions, interviews and marketing during the promotional tour distasteful, and responded organically to that which the media themselves picked up on.
‘It’s ironic that The New York Times, through their effort to ‘uncover’ an insidious PR effort, played directly into the hands of Lively’s own dubious PR tactics by publishing leaked personal text exchanges that lack critical context – the very same tactics she’s accusing the firm of implementing.’
According to her legal complaint, Lively was wary of Baldoni even prior to filming
According to her legal complaint, Lively was wary of Baldoni even prior to filming, and she claims they clashed over him trying to add ‘gratuitous’ nudity and sex scenes to the movie.
Relations soured even further during filming, and culminated in a HR meeting where various conditions were agreed to by Baldoni and his Wayfarer studio before Lively would consider resuming filming after the writers’ strike, the filings state.
Then sometime before August 2, Baldoni hired crisis management expert Nathan as part of his PR team which also included publicist Abel.
Many of the messages in the lawsuit, obtained by a subpoena, are between the women, including one exchange in which Nathan states that she can ‘bury anyone’.
The message was sent in reply to Abel’s text which says that Baldoni, ‘wants to feel like she [Lively] can be buried’.
‘Of course – but you know when we send over documents we can’t send over the work we will or could do because that could get us in a lot of trouble,’ Nathan responds, adding, ‘We can’t write we will destroy her’.
She followed up the message with another which reads, ‘Imagine if a document saying all the things that he wants ends up in the wrong hands.
‘You know we can bury anyone but I can’t write that to him. I will be very tough.’
Another back and forth on August 2 appears to show Nathan joking about murdering Lively.
‘I also sent you a present. Don’t worry, I didn’t kill her and send her in a box to your house. It’s a congratulations present,’ the message from Nathan reads, to which Abel responds: ‘DAMNIT’.
Later that same day, Abel wrote that she is, ‘having reckless thoughts of wanting to plant pieces this week about how horrible Blake is to work with’.
When reports began to emerge of tensions between Lively and Baldoni, it was suggested that the differences were merely creative.
The Gossip Girl star claims Baldoni fostered a toxic workplace environment during filming which included sexual harassment
A HR meeting was held in January in which new working conditions were agreed to to ensure the ‘safety’ of the set, according to the legal filing
She claims that she was subjected to a smear campaign after she raised her concerns with Baldoni and his studio. This exchange appears to show Abel and Nathan joking about killing Lively
Baldoni wanted to market the movie by spotlighting the domestic abuse which forms the heart of the story, while Lively felt it should be more hopeful and uplifting.
Lively was subsequently criticized for the ‘tone deaf’ way she promoted the film after she failed to mention domestic abuse in several interviews.
It is unclear if this reaction was engineered, but Baldoni’s messages appear to show he was at least ready to capitalize on the negative press.
‘What is the TikTok strategy?’ Baldoni writes in one message. ‘I’d like you guys to start posting me ONLY talking about domestic violence and clips and why this movie is so important’.
But as the controversy around the film raged on, some of the more nefarious allegations Lively had privately levelled at Baldoni began to appear in the press.
They included that he made inappropriate comments about her weight and ‘lingered’ too long during kissing scenes.
The texts show how the crisis management team scrambled to try and ‘shift the narrative’ by reverting coverage back onto Lively.
On August 11, Abel sent Baldoni a message reassuring him that the stories were not a threat.
The duo starred opposite each other in the hotly-anticipated adaptation of the popular Coleen Hoover novel by the same name earlier this year
Baldoni also appears to wade in at times and suggest his own tactics to discredit Lively
The messages show the publicists celebrating after they manage to minimize reports about Lively’s allegations in the press
‘Very little pick up. Fans remain supportive of you and believe the issue of the ‘feud’ is because she took control of the movie,’ she wrote.
The day before, Nathan remarked to Abel that: ‘The majority of socials are pro Justin and I don’t even agree with half of them lol’. In another, Nathan revels in the ‘genius’ strategy.
‘Jen this went so well I am f***king dying. I have to call you in a bit bit and tel you how this went. It was genius.’
Further allegations about Baldoni’s unwelcome behavior are included in the legal complaint.
They include claims that Baldoni showed Lively an explicit video of his wife, barged into the star’s trailer while she was nude or breastfeeding, openly discussed his alleged porn addiction and made her and other female staffers uncomfortable with overtly sexual comments.
The issues were dealt with during a January meeting between Lively, Baldoni and several studio representatives where several changes were agreed including the addition of an intimacy coordinator on set.
‘Although our perspective differs in many aspects, ensuring a safe environment for all is paramount,’ Wayfarer acknowledges, according to the legal complaint.
However, a media strategy document apparently from the crisis management team also included in the legal complaint outlines how the team plans to protect Baldoni’s reputation, along with that of lead producer Jamey Heath and fwayfWayfarer.
The document outlines several possible talking points to boost Baldoni, but also discredit Lively.
One of the alleged strategies was to suggest that Lively had created a ‘imbalance of power’ on set by involving her husband Ryan Reynolds
They include her, ‘less than favorable reputation in the industry’, how she involved her husband Ryan Reynolds to ‘create an imbalance of power’.
In post-production, Lively brought in her own editor to recut a version of the film which was the one ultimately chosen for distribution.
In another message, Baldoni appears to suggest capitalizing on Reynolds’ involvement as another means of targeting Lively.
‘My partner asked about flipping the narrative from this leak this AM about Ryan saying script was a disaster and he saved the movie,’ the message reads before suggesting, ‘using their own words against them’.
The document also suggests some crew members allegedly lost their jobs due to Lively’s insistence on creative control.
In her lawsuit, Lively has included an alleged text that Baldoni purportedly sent Abel – a screenshot of an X thread about bullying allegations against Hailey Bieber, along with the message: ‘This is what we would need.’
There is no suggestion that Bieber was in any way involved or associated with the alleged smear campaign against Lively.
Baldoni has refuted the claims through his lawyer Brian Freedman.
‘It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film,’ he said.
‘Interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.
In her lawsuit, Lively claims Baldoni showed her nude images and videos of women, talked about an alleged previous porn addiction and made sexual comments about the cast and crew
The messages show Baldoni suggesting how they might ‘flip the narrative’ as more stories emerge about the controversy surrounding the film
Others show the publicists celebrating when their efforts pay off
‘These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.
‘Wayfarer Studios made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film, to work alongside their own representative with Jonesworks employed by Stephanie Jones, due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production which included her threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.
‘It was also discovered that Ms. Lively enlisted her own representative, Leslie Sloan with Vision PR, who also represents Mr. Reynolds, to plant negative and completely fabricated and false stories with media, even prior to any marketing had commenced for the film, which was another reason why Wayfarer Studios made the decision to hire a crisis professional to commence internal scenario planning in the case they needed to address.
‘The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity.
‘What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals,’ Freedman added.
Lively denied planting false or negative stories about her co-star or his company.
‘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.