Justin Baldoni’s Former Publicist Sues Team Behind Alleged Blake Lively Smear Campaign
Justin Baldoni has been hit with another lawsuit, this time from his former publicist Stephanie Jones. The actor, as well as his publicist Jennifer Abel, crisis manager Melissa Nathan and Wayfarer Studios, are named as defendants in a suit alleging defamation and breach of contract. The filing arrives less than one week after Blake Lively, who stared alongside Baldoni in It Ends With Us, filed a suit alleging that her co-star and director sexually harassed her and orchestrated a smear campaign against her.
The newly-filed lawsuit alleges that Jones was kept in the dark about Abel and Nathan’s “scheming to ‘bury’ and ‘destroy’ co-star Blake Lively to protect Baldoni” using “an aggressive media smear campaign,” according to documents reviewed by Rolling Stone. “At the same time, Abel and Nathan were pursuing a far more selfish purpose: Tearing down Jones’s reputation to take her clients and enrich themselves upon Abel’s planned departure from Jonesworks,” it claims.
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Abel worked for Jones’ company, Jonesworks, from July 2020 through August 2024. Her employment was terminated after Jones discovered the aforementioned plot, the complaint alleges. It was around the time of her termination that Baldoni allegedly began working with Abel on a plan to course correct after he “began to fear that the media might report on allegations of misogynistic and toxic on-set behavior and that the fallout would be harmful to his reputation and career.”
Abel is accused of seeking out Nathan to remedy the situation through the alleged smear campaign, which the suit claims has been unfairly pinned on Jones. Nathan’s client roster has included the likes of Johnny Depp, Drake, and Logan Paul. Jones claims to have had no knowledge or involvement in the campaign against Lively.
“To this day, Abel and Nathan continue to point the finger falsely at Jones now that their own misconduct is coming to light, and to defame and attack Jones in the industry,” the suit alleges. “Defendants will not stop attacking Jones, and have refused any efforts to resolve these issues out of court. This lawsuit seeks to finally put a stop to their continued misconduct and to compensate Jones and Jonesworks for the damage Defendants’ conduct and scheme has inflicted.”
The document contains screenshots of text messages between Abel and Nathan that are said to have been obtained through a sweep of the publicist’s company phone following her termination from Jonesworks. “Abel and Nathan’s covert take down and smear campaigns were revealed in black and white,” the suit claims.
Lively’s lawsuit also contained text messages from Abel, Nathan, and Baldoni. Abel recently dismissed the “cherry picked messages” in a since-deleted Facebook post. “No negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan, although we were prepared for it as it’s our job to be ready for any scenario,” Abel wrote. “But we didn’t have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us.”
In the exchanges listed in Jones’ suit, Nathan seemingly encouraged Baldoni to depart from Jonesworks, both as an individual client and through his company Wayfarer Studios, to work with Abel at her new company RWA Communications. “We are going to war,” reads one text from Abel to Nathan around the time of her intended departure, prior to Jones terminating her employment. Abel allegedly downloaded “sensitive client and business information” for brands and clients prior to her leaving Jonesworks.
“With the encouragement and assistance of Nathan, Baldoni, and Heath, Abel stole Wayfarer and Baldoni as clients, targeted other Jonesworks clients to leave, and launched the long-planned and competing RWA Communications,” the suit claims. “As a result, Wayfarer and Baldoni ceased working with Jonesworks and, despite being under contract with Jonesworks, refused to pay Jonesworks what they contractually owed for its services.”
Reps for Baldoni, Abel, Nathan, and Wayfarer Studios did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
Jones is seeking damages to herself and her company in an unspecified amount to be determined at trial.
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