Justin Baldoni sued by ex-publicist amid Blake Lively furore
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A publicist has filed a lawsuit against her former client Justin Baldoni, his production company and his current publicity team, days after Blake Lively accused them of orchestrating a smear campaign against her. Stephanie Jones, who owns PR company Jonesworks, has accused Baldoni of breaching his contract which required him to pay 25,000 dollars (£19,940) a month after he allegedly left the firm a few months into a year-long contract.
Baldoni moved to work with publicist Jennifer Abel, who left Jonesworks to start her own publicity firm, according to the lawsuit. Ms Jones is also suing Ms Abel who she claims “went around” her to arrange for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios to hire crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan – who is also named in the lawsuit – “and launch a smear campaign against Lively”.
It comes after Lively filed a legal complaint accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment on the set of It Ends With Us, as well as embarking on a “multi-tiered plan” with his team to damage her reputation. Bryan Freedman, a lawyer representing all defendants, previously described the claims in the Lively complaint as “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious”, adding that the studio “made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film”.
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