Blake Lively sued by crisis PR firm she accused of launching a 'digital army' against her
Blake Lively is facing another lawsuit as the publicist she named in her complaint against It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni filed a defamation case against her.
Jed Wallace of the crisis-management firm Street Relations, Inc. sued Lively for $7 million (PhP406 million) in a Texas federal court on Feb. 5.
Lively's civil rights complaint in December alleged that Wallace was hired by Baldoni's PR team for a smear campaign. The actress' camp claimed he "weaponized a digital army around the country from New York to Los Angeles to create, seed, and promote content that appeared to be authentic on social media platforms and internet chat forums."
Wallace stated in his lawsuit that he had "nothing to do" with the supposed smear campaign. He is seeking $7 million in damages as he suffered millions of dollars in reputational harm over being named in the complaint and a court order stating he didn't engage in harassment or retaliation against Lively.
The new lawsuit marks the fifth case amid Lively and Baldoni's feud.
"Another day, another state, another nine-figure lawsuit seeking to sue Ms. Lively 'into oblivion' for speaking out against harassment and retaliation," the actress' legal team said in a statement. "This is not just a publicity stunt—it is transparent retaliation in response to allegations contained within a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint that Ms. Lively filed with the California Civil Rights Department."
"While this lawsuit will be dismissed, we are pleased that Mr. Wallace has finally emerged from the shadows, and that he too will be held accountable in federal court."
Wallace was entangled in the Lively-Baldoni feud after the actress' lawyers obtained text messages between him and Baldoni's publicists Jen Abel and Melissa Nathan.
Lively's lawsuit, which named him as a respondent, stated that Wallace described himself as a "hired gun" with a "proprietary formula for defining artists and trends."
On the other hand, Wallace, through his lawyer Charles Babcock, stressed that he has never met or spoken to Lively and that "he has not engaged in a smear campaign against her at any point in time."
"The decision to file this lawsuit to rightfully protect himself and his family was made after Ms. Lively not only filed against him first in Texas, but intended to name him in yet another lawsuit."
Baldoni recently launched a website containing texts and a timeline of "relevant events" relating to his legal battle against Lively.
It Ends with Us row
The legal saga of Lively and Baldoni, who were co-stars in the movie adaptation of the novel It Ends With Us, stemmed from her filing a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni and Jamey Heath, chief executive officer of Wayfarer Studios. She also accused them of running a smear campaign against her.
In her complaint, Lively accused Baldoni and Heath of telling her about their past sexual relationships and "previous porn addiction."
Heath also allegedly showed Lively a video of his wife naked and giving birth.
Baldoni and Heath likewise supposedly entered Lively's makeup trailer without permission, "including when she was breastfeeding her infant child."
Lively also recalled Baldoni claiming he could communicate with the dead, including her father, Ernie Lively. She found it "off-putting and violative."
That's when the Times published its We Can Bury Anyone report.
Baldoni's camp has called the accusations "categorically false."
Freedman said a crisis manager was hired ahead of the film's marketing campaign "due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production."
On Jan. 1, Baldoni filed a $250 million (P14.5 billion) lawsuit against the Times—plus 10 other plaintiffs, including publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel—for libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and breach of implied-in-fact contract for its report.
The Times defended its article as "meticulously and responsibly reported."
Later, Baldoni's camp released a series of video takes during the production of It Ends with Us in an attempt to debunk Lively's sexual harassment allegations against him. It also announced plans to launch a website containing "all correspondence" with her and "relevant videos."
Lively and Reynolds, in turn, requested a gag order.
