On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Lively was suing Baldoni for sexual harassment, accusing him and his crisis PR team of plotting a smear campaign to damage her reputation and credibility out of fear that she would take her allegations to the public go public. As part of the revelation, the Times published alleged text messages between Baldoni and his PR team in which they promised they could “bury anyone.”

Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, called Lively’s complaint “shameful” and full of “categorically false allegations.”

Flaa’s name is mentioned in the New York Times story in reference to online backlash against Lively. The article did not allege that Flaa was part of an effort by Baldoni’s team to stoke negative press, but it did note that her interview with Lively was not the first time she released a video targeting a client of Baldoni’s PR company was coordinated. Flaa also posted clips of Johnny Depp with the hashtag #JusticeForJohnny Depp in 2022, amid his legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.

“I was shocked when the New York Times insinuated that I had worked for Baldoni’s team. “I felt sick when I read that,” Flaa said diversity. “I contacted The New York Times and asked them how they could publish such a wild conspiracy theory, and they added an update to the story yesterday. I still find it terrible that the journalists never contacted me to confirm or deny such serious allegations.”

The New York Times did not immediately respond diversity Requested comment, but updated article with Flaa’s response after publication.

Flaa expressed her support for Depp and said in a separate video on her YouTube channel titled “How I feel about being dragged into Blake Lively’s lawsuit and Justin Baldoni’s smear campaign” that it had nothing to do with the PR firm that he had hired to drum badly against Heard. “I like Johnny Depp, I had great experiences with him and I thought Amber Heard would lie in court,” she said. “I posted it to express sympathy for him and the fans who love him.”

During the “It Ends With Us” press tour, rumors swirled that Lively and Baldoni weren’t getting along, as the film’s two leads didn’t do press together and online sleuths discovered that most of the cast unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram. Lively was criticized in the lead-up to the film’s release for downplaying the domestic violence storyline and using media coverage to promote her new hair care line. In the film, based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel, Lively plays a florist who finds herself in an abusive relationship with a charming surgeon (Baldoni). It Ends With Us was a huge box office hit for Sony, grossing $350 million worldwide against a budget of $25 million. Despite the commercial success, a source said diversity that a sequel is unlikely to happen because “there probably isn’t a world where these two will work together again.”

In the video posted to her YouTube channel, Flaa shared that she was unaware of the backlash against Lively when she reposted her video interview and that she did so because she was “fed up with Hollywood and wasn’t afraid of being canceled.” to become”.

Flaa told diversity She doesn’t regret re-circulating the previous conversation with Lively, in which she says the actor “was very dismissive of me and ignored me for most of my interview.” People in the comments section described it as “bad girl” behavior.”

“The lawsuit is not an excuse for their behavior in my 2016 interview. I also believe that two things can be true at the same time. Blake misbehaved in my interview. “Justin allegedly behaved terribly towards her during filming,” Flaa said in a follow-up interview. “One has nothing to do with the other.”

Flaa clarified that she has not and never has had contact with Baldoni’s PR team. “I don’t know anything about Justin Baldoni. “I don’t know anything about his PR team and under no circumstances would I work with a PR team to spread hatred against anyone or denigrate anyone online,” she said. “I would never do that.”

In her video, Flaa concluded that she “has no idea where the truth lies” – referring to the allegations against Baldoni – but added that she would “never accept money to compromise my integrity as a journalist.” to endanger”.