Justin Baldoni Sued by Former Publicist: I highlighted + annotated the 52-page filing (no paywall)

A lot was potentially revealed about how Blake Lively's team got access to the damning text messages and attempts to smear her reputation.

As someone who works in entertainment marketing, I truly believe this Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni lawsuit has the potential to completely change the entertainment and celebrity PR industry forever.

What was once done in the shadows is now coming to light.

One of the biggest questions asked when Blake Lively filed her lawsuit last week was: “How did Blake Lively get those text messages?”

That was my first question. In case you need a reminder, the leaked text messages were between Baldoni, his business partner and co-producer on “It Ends With Us” Jamey Heath, his long-time publicist Jennifer Abel and an outside, contracted publicist named Melissa Nathan.

In the text messages, it seems that they banded together to try and discredit Blake Lively (allegedly) in the days leading up to the release of the movie because Baldoni was worried that she might speak up about the on-set sexual misconduct and unprofessional behavior that he and Heath had been accused of earlier in the year while filming.

The lawsuit, filed by Lively, is for the (alleged) retaliation that Baldoni and his publicist inflicted on Lively during the press run of the movie as punishment for speaking up on set.

You can read the full filing that I highlighted and annotated here.

A few days after Lively’s suit was filed, Baldoni’s former publicist and boss of the publicist named in the Lively lawsuit (Abel) has filed her own suit against the four people named in the Lively suit plus 10 John Does.

Her name is Stephanie Jones and she is the founder of high-powered celebrity PR-firm Joneswork.

According to Stephanie Jones, her former employee Jennifer Abel went behind her back and led the smear campaign on Blake Lively during the “It Ends With Us” movie premiere, all while secretly conspiring to take top Joneswork clients and start her own firm, including Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer.

Because I am hyper-fixated on this story and what it could mean for the future of celebrity PR, I took the time to read through the entire 52-page filing. I highlighted and annotated parts that stood out to me. K

Keep in mind, I am NOT a lawyer. Just nosey.

From the filing, it seems that Jennifer Abel was fired by Stephanie Jones on August 21st, 2024 when an IT personnel flagged that Abel had been downloading sensitive client information, such as contact info, and removing the Joneswork Logo and instead replacing it with the logo for the competing PR firm she planned to launch. This raised alarm bells so they fired Abel and confiscated her work phone and laptop. This is where the alleged texts and emails seem to be leaked from.

I am going to do a deep dive podcast episode on this new lawsuit in Monday’s episode of “Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe” so hang tight for that. But if you want to read the filing now, you can do that below.

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Tune into the AOTC podcast on Monday (1230/24) to hear me break down this filing and what it means for the future of celebrity PR. Subscribe to my best-selling Substack to unlock all articles and extended episodes of the weekly marketing podcast.