Justin Baldoni appeared to use a social media post of Hailey Bieber as an example in an astroturfing plan against It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively.
According to text exchanges reviewed in a legal complaint obtained by Us Weekly on Saturday, December 21, Baldoni sent a screenshot of an X thread that unpacked “Hailey Bieber’s history of bullying women,” according to the text, writing, “This is what we would need.”
Lively’s lawsuit alleges that Baldoni’s “plan went well beyond standard crisis PR,” saying that what Melissa Nathan, a crisis communications specialist for The Agency Group, had proposed was “a practice known as ‘astroturfing,’ which has been defined as ‘the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group.’”
Earlier this year, Lively was the subject of a social media firestorm surrounding the promotion for her film It Ends With Us, when it was reported that she and Baldoni had clashed on set.
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“There were two camps on the film — team Blake and team Justin,” a source exclusively told Us of the movie’s production in August. “This creative struggle set the tone for the negative experience behind the scenes and grew into them not speaking anymore.”
Lively also received criticism for the way she answered questions about the film’s themes of domestic violence. Additionally, her behavior in interviews resurfaced from years prior was also called into question. Amid the backlash, Lively shared domestic violence resources on social media, before she left social media entirely.
Lively’s December complaint states that “millions of people (including many reporters and influencers) who saw these planted stories, social media posts, and other online content” were the “unwitting consumers of a crisis PR, astroturfing, and digital retaliation campaign” allegedly orchestrated by Baldoni against Lively.
“That is precisely the goal of an astroturfing campaign,” the lawsuit stated. “To light the fire and continue to stoke conversations secretly, blurring the line between authentic and manufactured content, and creating viral public takedowns.”
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Lively’s complaint also cited a Scenario Planning document from Baldoni’s team at TAG that mentioned exploring “planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people in [Lively’s] circle like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to ‘bully’ into getting what they want.”
Lively filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni on Friday, December 20, alleging that his behavior on set caused her “severe emotional distress.” The lawsuit claims that a meeting was held during production in January 2024 to address Lively’s claims of the “hostile work environment” on set. The meeting was attended by numerous people, including Baldoni and Reynolds.
Per the lawsuit, Lively’s demands for the meeting included “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman addressed Lively’s “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious” allegations in a statement to Us, claiming that Lively had filed the lawsuit to “fix her negative reputation” and “rehash a narrative” regarding the production of the film.
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He further alleged the actress made “multiple demands and threats” during filming, including “threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.”
In a statement to The New York Times in December, Lively said, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
The actress also denied spreading negative information about Baldoni. Us has reached out to Lively’s rep for comment.
