Less than a day after it was revealed that actor Blake Lively had sued her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment, a new report has revealed private text messages allegedly between Baldoni and his publicists. The messages filed as part of Blake Lively’s lawsuit appear to show Baldoni orchestrating a PR-driven smear campaign against Blake after she accused him of inappropriate behavior on the set of the film. (Also read: Justin Baldoni was ousted from the talent agency following Blake Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit)

The alleged plan to “bury” Blake Lively.

The New York Times has reported how Justin Baldoni contacted Jennifer Abel, the public relations director at his studio Wayfarer, and together they hired crisis management expert Melissa Nathan for the job. A NYT report states that in May 2024, months after filming ended, Baldoni discovered that Ryan Reynolds, Blake’s husband, had blocked him on Instagram. “We should have a plan IF she does the same thing when the movie comes out,” he wrote of Lively in a text exchange that also included Jennifer Abel. “Plans make me feel better.”

Abel shared this with Melissa Nathan and wrote, “I think you guys need to be tough and show how strong you are in these scenarios. He wants to feel like she can be buried.” Nathan answered carefully: “We can’t write, we will destroy her.” But a moment later she added: “Imagine a document with everything written in it , what he wants ends up in the wrong hands. You know we can bury anyone.”

Days later, Baldoni reportedly texted Abel with a social media post about a celebrity’s bullying behavior, adding that it was what he needed. According to the report, Melissa Nathan then made suggestions about hiring contractors to dominate social media by “completely deleting social accounts” by starting “theory threads.” She added: “More than anything, this will all be untraceable.”

Blake Lively’s lawsuit

On Saturday, TMZ broke the news that Blake Lively is suing Justin Baldoni, with whom she starred in It Ends With Us. The lawsuit alleged a hostile work environment on the film’s set, including sexual harassment and a coordinated effort on Baldoni’s part to destroy Blake’s reputation.

The lawsuit also addressed the following demands over Justin’s alleged conduct, which included “no more showing Blake nude videos or images of women, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged past “pornography addiction,” and no more discussions of sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of the cast and crew’s genitals, no further inquiries into Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”