Inside the Hollywood Smear Machine
If you haven’t been following the Blake Lively story, Lively seems to be preparing to sue her It Ends with Us co-star/director Justin Baldoni. According to the complaint, as described by TMZ and the New York Times article “We Can Bury Anyone,” there was a meeting during the production of the film to address a hostile work environment so extensive that Ryan Reynolds, Lively’s husband, attended.
In an undated legal filing, which the New York Times said was filed to the California Civil Rights Department, the meeting is described as including demands like…
Not showing nude videos or images to Lively,
No further discussion of Baldoni's alleged "pornography addiction" or sexual conquests in front of Lively or other crew members,
No adding more sex scenes or on camera sexual performances by Lively outside the scope of the script Lively approved when she signed onto the project,
No more discussion of cast and crew's genitalia,
No more inquiries about Lively's weight, and
No more discussion of Lively's dead father.
Baldoni's studio, Wayfarer, reportedly agreed to these demands and also agreed to provide an intimacy coordinator on set at all times, according to the filing. They also agreed to cut scenes that were reportedly added without Lively’s approval after she had signed on to the project, according to the complaint. One scene involved an on camera orgasm and another depicted a younger version of Lively’s character losing her virginity, neither of which were part of the original novel or the original script.
The complaint also claims that Baldoni, and another Wayfarer executive, Jamey Heath, unexpectedly urged Lively to simulate full nudity, even though there was no mention of nudity in the script, her contract, or any earlier discussions. Heath is the CEO of Wayfarer Studios, a production company co-founded by Baldoni and billionaire investor Steve Sarowitz. In addition to It Ends With Us, Wayfarer was one of the two production companies involved in Will Ferrell's culture war Netflix documentary Will & Harper, and also had a hand in 2024’s The Garfield Movie.
When Lively raised concerns about the additions to the script, Baldoni allegedly claimed he included them to create the film “through the female gaze.”
Although he eventually agreed to remove the scenes, the director reportedly attempted to keep one where his character and Lively’s orgasm on their wedding night, stating it was “important to him because he and his partner climax simultaneously during intercourse.”
He also “intrusively asked” Lively if she and Ryan Reynolds also “climax simultaneously during intercourse,” a question Lively found “invasive” and chose not to engage, according to the complaint.
The complaint claims that both Baldoni and Heath demonstrated a “shocking lack of boundaries,” allegedly entering Lively’s trailer “uninvited” while she was undressed or in a “vulnerable state,” including instances where she was breastfeeding her infant child.
During a car ride with Lively, her assistant, and a driver, Baldoni initiated a conversation about how he had been “sexually abused” by a former girlfriend, and reportedly confessed to having engaged in sexual activities without consent in a previous relationship.
The car ride reportedly concluded with Lively’s driver expressing concern about her being alone with Baldoni in the future. At one point, Baldoni allegedly claimed he could communicate with the dead, telling Lively on multiple occasions that he had spoken to her recently departed father, which is why she demanded that her father not be brought up anymore.
Where the story becomes more interesting and less lurid, Lively also claims Baldoni et al engaged in a press campaign intended to "destroy" her reputation. The legal filing includes messages from Baldoni's publicist to the studio publicist which say that Baldoni, "wants to feel like [Lively] can be buried,” and acknowledging that, "We can't write we will destroy her."
Text messages and emails between Baldoni and his representatives discussing the creation and promotion of misleading stories that could not be traced back to the studio and were designed to discredit Lively were reportedly obtained through a subpoena, according to Lively's lawyers.
Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, lashed out at the lawsuit, saying that the claims are "false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt."
Freedman also claimed that Lively was a nightmare on set, "threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release," but It Ends With Us has earned more than $350,000,000 on global box office receipts.
It had a production budget of just $25,000,000, which it earned back twice over on just one weekend in August. It also has the distinction of being the first time that two films separately starring a married Hollywood couple (It Ends with Us star Blake Lively and Deadpool & Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds) occupied the number one and two spots at the box office simultaneously since Bruce Willis and Demi Moore released Die Hard 2 and Ghost in 1990.
Freedman further claimed that, "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.”
In a separate legal action, Baldoni's former publicist is claiming they tried to destroy her reputation, too. Stephanie Jones claims that former Jonesworks PR employee, Jennifer Abel, was assigned to handle Baldoni's publicity, and that it was Abel's decision to hire Melissa Nathan, a crisis PR specialist, on behalf of Baldoni.
Jones alleges that Abel, along with Nathan, secretly coordinated with Baldoni and his production company to aggressively target Baldoni’s co-star, and ultimately steal Baldoni as a client. Abel claimed in a Facebook post that has since been deleted that Jones was aware of the campaign against Lively.
The lawsuit includes alleged text messages between Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, among them texts like, "I know. And once you are gone -- we will be on accounts together and make really good money and be happy."
There are also alleged text messages discussing the plan to steal Baldoni as a client when Abel leaves Jonesworks. Ironically, Abel reportedly didn't even like Baldoni, sending a text that said, "I can't stand him. He's so pompous… you're not that important and nobody gives a shit how hard your life is."
Another text suggested that the film would fail and that her future client deserved to fail. Abel wrote, "He needs to be humbled. When this movie flops, he's going to try to blame every person around him for it."
Jones claims that their campaign included working media contacts to plant negative stories about her, too, citing an article published by Business Insider titled, "Who's Afraid of Stephanie Jones?"
Stephanie Jones is suing Justin Baldoni, Baldoni’s company, Wayfarer Studios, as well as Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan for defamation and breach of contract, asking the court to award unspecified damages that she and her company have suffered as a result of their collective actions.
According to the suit, Abel's plot was uncovered after she was fired when she allegedly downloaded confidential company documents. Stephanie Jones reportedly uncovered the text messages when Jonesworks did a sweep of Abel's devices after she was terminated from the outfit. Baldoni, Wayfarer and several other clients followed Abel to her new firm.
The full complaint is available on Deadline.
Baldoni, through his lawyer, threatened to countersue, saying that the countersuit will “Expose Those Who Believe Themselves Untouchable.” Freedman also filed a $250,000,000 defamation lawsuit against the New York Times for libel on behalf of 10 plaintiffs, including Baldoni.
Freedman told Variety that the Times "cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative."
Idk what to make of this. I saw the interview with Lively and some other actress acting like mean girls to the interviewer. While all this sounds horrible, I can’t help but think this might be hhe same exact kind of smearing campaign that she is now using that was used on her first.