Column: How the stars of ‘It Ends With Us’ spawned a universe of legal and PR battles
The disagreement between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, the leads in the film “It Ends With Us,” has now provided employment opportunities for lawyers and public relations professionals.
Last month, I, as a dedicated film enthusiast, found myself compelled to report a troubling incident. I submitted a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint to the California Civil Rights Department, targeting my co-star and director, Baldoni, along with Wayfarer Studios and several other parties. My complaint alleges that Baldoni inappropriately harassed me during intimate scenes – scenes that are abundant in our film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s beloved novel about a blossoming romance between a kind florist and a charismatic yet abusive neurosurgeon.
According to Lively, she insisted on numerous safety measures such as having an intimacy supervisor during their scenes and asking Baldoni not to kiss or bite her lips without permission. Fearing this information could harm his reputation, Lively alleges that Baldoni’s team coordinated a defamation scheme against her with the help of a third party, Jed Wallace, from Street Relations. The company is accused of managing a social media backlash against Lively, which apparently led to an overwhelming number of unfavorable articles about her – as verified by a marketing firm hired by Lively.
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Later, The New York Times released an explosive article titled ” ‘We Can Discredit Anyone’: Uncovering a Hollywood Defamation Ring,” which was built on thousands of private communications between Baldoni and his associates, seemingly discussing attempts to harm Lively’s reputation following her allegations of misconduct. (The method by which the Times acquired this information is currently a matter under contention in another lawsuit involving PR firms.)
Individually, The Times released a refutation from Baldoni’s legal representative, dismissing the accusations entirely as “entirely untrue, excessively scandalous, and deliberately sensational.
On New Year’s Eve, Baldoni, among others, initiated a $250-million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. They accused the newspaper of intentionally failing to disclose the real cause of the dispute between Lively and Baldoni, which they claimed was “Lively’s deliberate and bold move to take control over the film.” (Sony Pictures, the movie’s distributor, used Lively’s version of the film and, at Baldoni and his partner Jamey Heath’s request, gave her a producer credit. A letter attached to the lawsuit stated this was done to maintain peace.) The New York Times promised to “aggressively” defend its position.
Moreover, on New Year’s Eve, Lively lodged a federal lawsuit in New York, echoing several claims from her initial complaint in California.
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On Friday, Baldoni’s legal representative informed NBC News that they intend to file a lawsuit against Lively and disclose all text messages as evidence to debunk her story.
According to Deadline, the story offers a glimpse into the real workings of the celebrity public relations apparatus in an age dominated by social media influencers and digital news outlets.
For the time being, it seems like Lively has emerged victorious in the public relations contest. Interestingly, Baldoni’s agency, WME, also manages Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and they have chosen to part ways with Baldoni.
Working as a journalist who occasionally covers Hollywood news, I’ve noticed that there are questionable relationships between reporters and the public relations agents, often referred to as “flacks.” These agents sometimes try to persuade journalists to compromise their ethical standards in exchange for special access and exclusive information. This phenomenon is not limited to Hollywood; it can also occur in political circles.
In Blake’s grievance, it was stated that Melissa Nathan, a crisis PR expert, had mentioned having a friendly relationship with a journalist who contributes to People, Fox News, In Touch Weekly, and Us Weekly. This reporter, according to Nathan, was eager to share the story about Blake exploiting feminism across any of her media platforms as soon as they gave the go-ahead signal.
This proposal touched a sensitive spot within me. A few years back, a prominent media personality who represented Angelina Jolie during her lengthy divorce from Brad Pitt approached me. They asked if I would be willing to write an article – using confidential details – about how Jolie was allegedly unfairly treated by a legal system that tends to favor men. The idea of Jolie, with her wealth, privilege, and celebrity status, as a victim seemed preposterous to me, and I had no intention of being used to further her agenda, which was essentially using feminism as a tool in her court case against Pitt.
But I digress.
For quite some time, Baldoni has been known as a forward-thinking feminist. In the year 2017, just a month following the widespread emergence of the #MeToo movement, he presented a TED talk entitled “Why I’ve Given Up Striving for Traditional Masculinity.
Do you have the courage to show vulnerability?” he questioned, “Are you resilient enough to embrace sensitivity? Can you demonstrate the confidence to truly hear the women around you?
In December, while still promoting the film, he confided in The Hollywood Reporter that he experienced sexual trauma during college and suffered a mental breakdown following the production of “It Ends With Us” due to the intense emotional pain. He additionally revealed that he had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a condition he reportedly attributed to his publicists for any alleged inappropriate behavior on set, as claimed by Lively.
Speaking of the movie I’m referring to, it’s fascinating to note that despite being produced with a budget of $25 million, this production has managed to rake in an impressive $351 million globally so far.
It seems everyone involved is crying all the way to the bank.
Bluesky: @rabcarian.bsky.social. Threads: @rabcarian
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2025-01-08 14:32