Is there anyone who hasn’t clocked some part of the battle between two mid-tier celebrities, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni? Probably not. But a bit of background anyway.
Last August, the movie “It Ends With Us,” based on the best-selling book of the same name by Colleen Hoover, was released. This story features a woman, played by Lively, in a relationship with a charismatic yet abusive boyfriend, played by Baldoni. The promotion of the movie was questionable, at best, and it was here we, the public, got our first hint the movie’s plot might be spilling over into the real world. Then, we were sure when that piece published in The New York Times, and we were doubly sure when the lawsuits began raining down.
This is a big one that isn’t close to over. What’s interesting from a PR perspective is how PR itself has become a focal point. Both actors claim the other has damaged his or her reputation by seeding negative stories, with both employing publicists, who are also now at the center of this crisis. Damage control works best and arguably only when it happens behind the scenes—when the effort is an authentic restoration of trust versus cloaked-uncloaked manipulation.
Once you pull back the curtain and see the Wizard, it’s generally game over for everyone involved. But let’s take a closer look at all that went wrong and see if there’s any way anyone can make it right.
1. It Started with Them
Rumors of a rift between the movie’s stars started during the movie’s promotion. Expectant fans noticed Lively and Baldoni weren’t appearing together on the press circuit. Lively seemed to be avoiding even speaking of Baldoni, and stories of sources saying Baldoni fat-shamed Lively on set started showing up. With the feud-feeding frenzy underway, Baldoni hired crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan, who uncoincidentally represented Johnny Depp in his defamation case against Amber Heard.
Around this point, the narrative seemed to shift.
Lively was suddenly the subject of strong criticism online. This included how she specifically promoted the film, bringing a lighthearted touch to a film about domestic abuse by saying things like “grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see (the movie).” Lively released a line of haircare products. In addition, questionable things Lively had said in interviews 10 or more years ago suddenly had new life on the socials.
Taking these one by one, it’s hard to imagine Lively was given no guidance regarding promotional movie messaging and chose to be upbeat in a vacuum. Part of the movie’s big reveal is to flip the script on key early moments in the movie, reframing things that at first appeared to be innocent as in fact damaging. We all bear responsibility for what comes out of our mouths, and whether this tone-deaf talk was part of a bigger, misguided strategy or not, it was a poor choice for a serious subject. It turned out the haircare launch was planned well in advance. Production delays pushed the premiere to coincide at the poor point it did, and it felt oddly timed that social sleuths were seized with the need to raise statements from years ago.
Regardless, lots of lessons here. Carefully consider strategy and messaging, review timing and potential conflicts closely, and know the internet is forever.
2. It Comes to the Courts
After months of mostly anti-Lively action, we arrive at December. On Dec. 20, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department alleging sexual harassment. The aforementioned article in The New York Times published on Dec. 22 and was written by Megan Twohey, who, uncoincidentally, was part of the investigative journalist team that broke the story on Weinstein in 2017 and helped ignite the #MeToo movement.
Titled “’We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” Twohey’s article included text messages from Baldoni’s PR team—mainly between Baldoni, his publicist Jennifer Abel, and his crisis manager Nathan. Snippets included Nathan suggesting “full social take downs” by pushing “threads of theories” and planting pieces focused on “how horrible Blake is to work with.” While there was some early mystery around how the texts were obtained, a later lawsuit filed by Baldoni’s ex-publicist Stephanie Jones revealed Jones was the source.
Then on New Year’s Eve, Lively’s lawsuit dropped against Baldoni and his publicist, along with other defendants, for “retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns.” Baldoni filed a libel lawsuit of his own against The New York Times that same day and has since filed against Lively, her husband actor Ryan Reynolds, her publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane’s PR firm. The legal maneuverings haven’t stopped there, with Baldoni amending his lawsuit against Lively as recently as Jan. 31, accusing her husband of “bullying” him by giving a character in Reynolds’ new “Deadpool & Wolverine” movie a man bun. Sigh.
There’s a lot going on with the lawsuits, and while I can’t comment from a legal perspective, the surrounding PR isn’t doing anyone any favors. According to Business Insider, negative sentiment for Lively went from 39% before the lawsuits to 52% right after, with Baldoni earning similar scores, going from 42% to 52% after filing.
3. It Ends with All of Us
Baldoni’s team continues to feed the beast, releasing so-called evidence outside of the courts to strike a chord in the court of public opinion. In January, Baldoni released movie outtakes, claiming they’re proof of his version of events. Lively claims they prove her position is correct, with swaths of people weighing in with their own perceptions of the opposed perspectives. Then, Baldoni shared a six-minute voice note he left for Lively one fine evening at 2 a.m., where he apologizes in rambling fashion. It’s unclear how this supports any assertion. Now, Baldoni has a website, which was published on Feb. 1 and so far, contains two lengthy legal documents.
Lively has requested a gag order on Baldoni’s lawyer, which was scheduled for review in a pre-trial conference on Feb. 3. So, it’s possible we’ll see some of the peripheral chatter die down before the actual court case, which won’t take place until a full year from now. It’s possible, but unlikely. Despite all the damage done to the brand and reputation of both, this doesn’t show any signs of slowing. And if the Depp v. Heard case tells us anything, surging on socials and in the media for nearly three years, we’re likely in for something similar.
Again, considering the point of crisis PR, neither Lively nor Baldoni are winning. While we may see someone rise from the ashes after the trial concludes, we’ve got a long year plus ahead of us, and PR will be very much on trial as well. When the crisis has spun out of control, sometimes the best response is silence.
Thank you as always for journeying with me through the world of communications fails. I hope to see you online!
Best,
Aaron Blank
President and CEO
Fearey