- Actress Blake Lively has sued her costar Justin Baldoni, alleging he and his team pulled off a highly coordinated smear campaign in an effort to tarnish her reputation following the release of their film It Ends With Us. As a result, Lively’s lawyers allege, her business ventures have taken a dramatic hit.
Hollywood actress Blake Lively is suing her It Ends With Us costar Justin Baldoni, as well as senior executives at Wayfarer Studios (which produced the film) for sexual harassment and an alleged smear campaign effort, months after some fans suggested Lively was a bully or difficult to work with.
The rumor mill began back in August when the film adaptation of the smash bestselling book by the same name premiered in theaters. Fans quickly realized Lively, who plays lead protagonist Lily Bloom, didn’t do any press alongside Baldoni, who played opposite her as Ryle Kincaid.
Internet sleuths began sharing their theories on sites like Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram—and Lively slid quickly into poor favor. Commenters hung onto all kinds of perceived missteps, such as speaking in interviews about the new movie—which centers on domestic violence—with an uncharacteristically upbeat tone. They also found old interview clips in which Lively appeared standoffish or short-tempered.
But as new documents unearthed by the New York Times this weekend show, the poor fan perception may not have been entirely organic. NYT reporters, drawing on communications between the talent representatives and crisis PR firms that Baldoni and his team hired during the press tour, said Lively was likely the victim of a highly coordinated online smear campaign. (Baldoni’s team included Melissa Nathan, a crisis management expert who has represented Drake, Travis Scott, and Johnny Depp, as well as Jennifer Abel, another PR executive.)
Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath, among other executives, also stand accused of harassment on set. Allegations range from Baldoni improvising intimate kissing scenes and barging into her trailer while she was in a state of undress, to discussing his own sex life and pornography, and hiring a friend of his to act as the ob/gyn in a scene in which Lively’s character—nearly nude—was giving birth.
Bryan Freedman, the attorney for Baldoni, Heath, and Wayfarer Studio, in a statement to the Times, called the allegations against his clients “completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Representatives for Lively and for Baldoni did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Sales of Blake Brown alone may have dropped by nearly 90% in the aftermath, insider says
Lively’s court filings called the actions by Baldoni’s crisis PR firm “astroturfing,” meant to describe the strategic seeding of negative opinions and content about Lively on online forums.
Beyond the personal toll the smear campaign took, Lively’s business ventures took a big hit—her new hair care line alone may have experienced a nearly 90% drop in sales in the aftermath.
Drawing on internal sales projections, Lively’s lawyers said that the “sudden and unexpected negative media campaign” depressed retail sales of Blake Brown products by anywhere from 56% to 78%.
Before the “social manipulation campaign started,” her lawyers noted that Blake Brown—which generated $16 million in media impact value within one week—was “Target’s largest hair care launch on record.”
According to Puck, in the first three-and-a-half weeks on shelves at Target, sales of Lively’s brand came close to $5 million, which they called “a strong debut for any beauty brand, celebrity or not.”
Then came the drop-off. Per two internal sources who spoke to Puck, “Weekly sales of Blake Brown Beauty at Target dropped more than 87% between Aug. 11, when sales peaked, and Sept. 15.”
That’s even more than what Lively’s lawyers projected. “This dramatic drop was completely at odds with the high satisfaction scores that Blake Brown products received in the significant consumer testing performed before launch or its initial success after launch,” they wrote.
Representatives for Target did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Further fallout of the smear: Lively was forced to go ‘dark’ on social
It’s not only public perception that impacted Lively’s various business ventures. The backlash also forced the 37-year-old, who is married to fellow actor Ryan Reynolds, into hiding.
“The effects on Ms. Lively’s professional life were immediate and substantial,” her lawyers wrote. “Ms. Lively did not believe she could proceed with public appearances or events without being forced to openly discuss what happened on set.”
For example, the lawyer wrote that Lively canceled a corporate event at Target for her new hair care company, and backed out of her booking to host the first episode of the 50th season of Saturday Night Live.
None of Lively’s businesses “could operate as they ordinarily had before,” the lawyers added. “Instead, the Baldoni-Wayfarer astroturfing campaign forced each of Ms. Lively’s businesses to go ‘dark’ on social media in August. Ms. Lively did the same, for nearly two months, and during this time was unable to market or promote any of her businesses, all of which rely on her support, causing issues with many business partners and customers.”
Looking ahead, it remains to be seen how Lively’s businesses—which also include beverage lines Betty Buzz and Betty Booze—will fare from here. But luckily for Lively, online sentiment since the news of the lawsuit has already swung profoundly in her favor.
