In Blake Lively’s bombshell sexual harassment complaint against Justin Baldoni, the perpetrators are now part of the problem.

Lively’s surprise weekend lawsuit against her director and co-star Baldoni tops the list of allegations of misconduct on the set of the film “It Ends with Us” and exposes a show business process designed to operate in secret – hiring expensive experts for Crisis communications to influence opinion and uplift customers.

Lively’s lawyers obtained numerous text messages between Baldoni’s personal representative, Jennifer Abel, and the crisis team he hired this summer, led by Melissa Nathan. Documents and texts said Baldoni did this to prepare for a scenario in which Lively would make allegations from the set, as well as narratives that key cast members distanced themselves from Baldoni while promoting the Sony Pictures release. The exchange turns out to be sincere – or “pathetic,” as a rival crisis expert said diversity – Attempts to counter Lively by recruiting fellow journalists and supposedly hiring a digital expert to fabricate and distribute unflattering content about her.

Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, called the allegations and supporting documents, such as text messages and a multi-page strategy, “cherry-picked” to build a narrative that foregoes crucial context and, importantly for Baldoni in this case, inaction comes after Lively. As Freedman’s complaint is investigated, the attorney said he is confident the bigger picture will show that “nothing untoward happened” when it comes to Lively and Baldoni’s team — and “reputation management” like it Commonly mentioned by celebrities in digital life is routine for countless public figures.

This weekend, Abel addressed the Lively complaint in a private Facebook group for PR and marketing professionals. The post, reviewed by diversitysaid that the texts and documents received had no intention of denigrating the actress. “There was never any negative press spread, no social battle plan, although we were prepared for it as it is our job to be prepared for any scenario, but we didn’t have to implement anything because the internet did the work for us.”, wrote Abel.

In a statement, Freedman added that Nathan “acted like any other crisis management firm when hired by a client facing threats from two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources,” referring to Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. “The standard scenario planning designed by TAG PR proved unnecessary as audiences found Lively’s own promotions, interviews and marketing during the promotional tour uncomfortable and responded organically to what the media itself picked up.”

Some people in power were dismayed by Abel and Nathan’s harsh tactics to “vilify” Lively. Nathan laid out a four-month battle plan at a cost of $175,000 to start “theory threads” in Baldoni’s favor on platforms like Reddit and TikTok and “create social fan engagement to go back and forth with all the negative accounts.” and so contribute to change (sic) narrative and stay on the right path,” Lively’s complaint states. There was also a contract with Jed Wallace, who ran a company called Street Relations. One source described him as a “Ray Donovan” type fixer hired by powerful people. Freedman, who knows Wallace well, said he wouldn’t describe him as a fixer, but rather as someone with great resources for unusual circumstances (he knows how to get a helicopter for medical evacuations in remote parts of Italy, for example).

Lively’s complaint, filed with the California Department of Civil Rights, said Wallace “armed a digital army across the country from New York to Los Angeles to create, distribute and promote content that appeared authentic.” While the lawsuit does not elaborate, Whatever stories may have targeted Lively, numerous unflattering statements about the actress resurfaced during the It Ends with Us press tour. These included problematic past comments about the trans community (using the term “trans”) and an attempted lifestyle brand launch in which Lively promoted the “appeal” of an antebellum South aesthetic.

What is most important, Nathan emphasized at the beginning, is that these efforts are “incomprehensible.” No longer.

“It is quite common for people to react, monitor and respond to situations in crisis situations,” said a veteran media broker who has hired crisis firms on behalf of his clients. “But orchestrating this whole campaign? To put this in writing?”

The source added that “repair shops usually employ some cyber warriors who come in to manage the chatter, but it’s an unwritten code that you’re not going to hire companies or social media agitators to go out and create a new narrative.” to write.”

Crisis PR is common in many industries for individuals, companies and political parties. What horrifies industry insiders about this conflict is the nature of the correspondence.

“You know we can bury anyone,” Nathan Abel wrote in an August text quoted in the complaint, ironically in an exchange about how she couldn’t tell Baldoni such things in writing. The quote ended up in a New York Times headline. In a statement early Monday, Freedman said it was “ironic that the New York Times, in its attempt to expose an underhanded public relations stunt, played directly into the hands of Lively’s own dubious public relations tactics by publishing leaked personal text exchanges that “There was a lack of criticism.” Context – the exact same tactics she accuses the company of implementing.”

Some PR professionals expressed sympathy for Abel and Nathan given the unusual disclosure of private texts and documents that were likely covered by a nondisclosure agreement.

“There are two smear campaigns going on here,” said a top studio manager. “One against Lively and one against the PR people. That doesn’t mean Jen Abel and Melissa Nathan did nothing wrong, but who betrayed them? There’s a code that you don’t break.” Another industry representative, who is often involved in high-profile conflicts, said: “That’s crisis PR talk, isn’t it?” Everyone talks like that. Everyone loves to talk about a big game.”

The severity of the proposed campaign against Lively has led to some questions about how punishable this type of service might be in court.

“I think people might view what Baldoni did as at least unfair, if not harmful or possibly illegal in terms of further harassment or retaliation,” said Ryan Baker, co-founder of law firm Waymaker LLP. “That puts a little more scrutiny on this because all of these things clearly happened in a dynamic where Lively and Baldoni were going back and forth.”

Another PR guru asked said on condition of anonymity that the sensational nature of the complaint distracts from the industry reality.

“These days, all PR is crisis PR,” they said.

Updated December 23rd: This post has been updated to reflect that Nathan wrote to Abel in August 2024, not February. The former’s SMS messages were delivered and postmarked in European date format.