Justin Baldoni’s former publicist is suing him, his company Wayfarer Studios and his current publicity team over alleged breach of contract and the purported smear campaign started against It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively.
Steph Jones, owner of PR firm Jonesworks, accused Baldoni of breaching their contract, for which he was paying her $25,000 per month. Baldoni hasn’t been represented by the firm since August, leaving a few months into a year-long deal, after his Jonesworks publicist, Jennifer Abel, left to start her own PR company.
Jones is also suing Abel and publicist Melissa Nathan, a veteran of crisis PR who Baldoni hired after Lively sued him. Nathan works for The Agency Group, which is owned by Scooter Braun’s company HYBE America.
In the suit, Jones claims that Abel and Nathan “secretly conspired for months to publicly and privately attack Jones and Jonesworks, to breach multiple contracts and induce contractual breaches, and to steal clients and business prospects.”
It reads: “Behind Jones’ back, they secretly coordinated with Baldoni and Wayfarer to implement an aggressive media smear campaign against Baldoni’s film co-star,” Jones, referencing the alleged campaign against Lively that the actress mentioned in her recent legal complaint, claims, “and then used the crisis as an opportunity to drive a wedge between Jones and Baldoni, and to publicly pin blame for this smear campaign on Jones—when Jones had no knowledge or involvement in it.
“To this day, Abel and Nathan continue to point the finger falsely at Jones now that their own misconduct is coming to light, and to defame and attack Jones in the industry,” the lawsuit, filed in New York, states.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni on the set of ‘It Ends with Us’ on January 12, 2024 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Jones’ lawyer Kristin Tahler gave a statement to E! News echoing the lawsuit’s statement.
“For months, this group has gaslit and disparaged Stephanie Jones and her company for financial gain, to settle personal scores and most recently to distract from their disgraceful smearing of Blake Lively,” Tahler said. “This lawsuit is a necessary step to stop defendants’ continuing misconduct and for Steph to recover the reputation she has worked decades to establish and which the defendants disparaged for their own nefarious purposes.”
The alleged smear campaign to “bury” Lively purportedly mentioned both Taylor Swift and the “Weaponization of Feminism”.
“Our team can also explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to ‘bully’ into getting what they want,” (as per US Weekly).
The complaint also mentioned a text exchange between Baldoni and his crisis team in which he shared an X/Twitter thread that a user created about Hailey Bieber allegedly as an example of an astroturfing plan against his co-star.
Justin Baldoni. CREDIT: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Vital Voices Global Partnership
The text exchange showed that Baldoni had sent a screenshot of a threat that had unpacked “Hailey Bieber’s history of bullying women,” alongside a text message from him reading: “This is what we would need.”
As well as the alleged smear campaign, Lively’s complaint also claims Baldoni sexually harassed Lively on the set of the film and created a hostile working environment.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freeman, has called the allegations “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”
On Saturday (December 22), it was reported that Baldoni had been dropped by his talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) – which also represents Lively. As per Variety, the agency had felt that action was required immediately due to Lively’s serious allegations. At the time of writing, WME has yet to comment.
Baldoni has also had a women’s solidarity award rescinded over the claims.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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