As a woman who has faced my fair share of online scrutiny and misogyny, I find myself deeply saddened but not surprised by the revelations surrounding Blake Lively’s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni and his crisis PR team. The tactics they allegedly employed to smear Lively mirrors what we saw during the high-profile defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, where I found myself on the receiving end of a similar barrage of hate and misinformation.
Amber Heard has spoken out in defense of Blake Lively, who is filing a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, her director and co-star from ‘It Ends With Us’, for sexual harassment and creating an unfriendly work atmosphere. The details of the lawsuit, which hasn’t been given a specific date, were made public over the weekend, revealing claims that Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign through his crisis PR team – the same crisis management team that Amber Heard worked with during her high-profile defamation case against Johnny Depp.
In a California Civil Rights Department filing, I personally brought forth allegations against Ian Baldoni, claiming instances of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior during our work on the production of “It Ends With Us,” adapted from Colleen Hoover’s novel. Specifically, my complaint detailed Baldoni’s actions such as sharing explicit videos or images of women without my consent and improvising intimate scenes without my approval. A key point of contention in my complaint was his collaboration with a crisis PR team to launch a “retaliatory social manipulation campaign” aimed at damaging my reputation in the media, which I believe was an attempt to divert attention from these serious allegations.
Amber Heard issued a statement to NBC News, subtly hinting at a common ordeal with Blake Lively which she described as both distressing and devastating, without explicitly referring to Johnny Depp or his public relations team.
“Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.’ I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”
As stated in the formal complaint, Baldoni brought in crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan during the promotional phase of the movie “It Ends With Us” after Lively, some fellow actors, and author Colleen Hoover chose not to join Baldoni for promotional activities. In a conversation between publicists, one working for Baldoni and his studio said to Nathan, “He wants to make it seem like [Lively] is out of the picture,” to which Nathan replied, “We can certainly give that impression.
Over the weekend, Lively expressed her hope that the initial grievance she filed, which could lead to a legal action, would help expose underhanded retaliatory strategies used against individuals speaking out about wrongdoing. She also aims for it to safeguard others who might face similar targeting in the future.
How Blake Lively’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Lawsuit Sheds Light on the Depp v. Heard Trial
In 2020, Johnny Depp lost a libel case in the UK against The Sun newspaper, which had labeled him as a “wife beater.” A British judge decided in favor of The Sun, stating that there was ample evidence to support the claim that Depp had indeed physically abused Amber Heard on multiple occasions. However, in 2022, Depp sued Heard over an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post, where she portrayed herself as a public figure advocating against domestic abuse. Heard did not mention Depp specifically, but he argued that he lost roles due to her piece. In June of the same year, a US jury found both Depp and Heard guilty of defamation, with the verdict heavily favoring Depp, who was awarded significantly more in damages than Heard.
During the highly publicized court case, Depp’s supporters were noticeably vocal. They attended the courthouse to back Depp and flooded social media with criticisms and mockery directed at Heard, often focusing on her emotional testimony. Many of these posts contained misogynistic remarks and offensive language. It appeared that the backlash against Heard was disproportionately harsh compared to those expressing support for her and domestic violence survivors, which might have been intentional.
Through Blake Lively’s complaint against Baldoni, it was disclosed that Johnny Depp had hired crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan. The correspondence between Nathan, her team, and Baldoni revealed potential strategies the PR firm might have used to amplify negative perceptions of Amber Heard during the US defamation trial. Reflecting on the promotional phase for It Ends With Us, Nathan orchestrated a successful smear campaign: initial reports implying Baldoni’s inappropriate behavior appeared inconsequential before a wave of negative attention targeted Lively, who faced criticism for not delving into the heavier themes of the domestic-abuse story. Social media users resurfaced past scandals involving Lively, such as her wedding on a southern plantation and alleged rudeness to a reporter during an interview. Notably, the interviewer who criticized Lively also shared a clip from Depp’s 2022 defamation trial interview and expressed support for the actor during that time. The New York Times highlighted this same interviewer.
In texts concerning the Lively controversy, Nathan and his group admit to skillfully diverting media attention away from previous reports that portrayed Baldoni unfavorably. When a publicist on the team queries, “So we’re off the hook now?”, Nathan replies, “The press is so intense that we’ve left people bewildered with all the conflicting information. It’s quite amusing if you consider it from another perspective.” In another text, Nathan remarks, “Baldoni doesn’t seem to realize just how fortunate he is at this moment in time.
In the midst of rejoicing over the slanderous campaign, Nathan delivers what might be her most incriminating comment, and a stark condemnation of the persistent misogyny that fuels such manipulations: “It’s truly unfortunate because it reveals just how much people desire to belittle women.
In the same vein as the public reaction towards Amber Heard, my attempts on social media to defend and support myself were often overshadowed by negative opinions. It seemed that many were quick to criticize me, much like they did with her, regardless of repeated calls to believe women.
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2024-12-23 21:02