Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni is a 'masterclass in PR,' industry pros say

• Blake Lively filed a legal complaint against Justin Baldoni, her "It Ends With Us" costar and director.
• Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and a retaliation campaign to damage her reputation.
• A PR expert said Baldoni, who denied the claims, has "an uphill battle" to try and win the lawsuit.

Blake Lively's lawsuit accusing her "It Ends with Us" director and costar Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation could end in a settlement or play out in a very public trial. Either way, PR and legal experts say Baldoni has an "uphill battle" ahead.

News that Lively filed a complaint Friday with the California Civil Rights Department sent shockwaves through Hollywood over the weekend. The news comes months after rumors of a feud between Lively and Baldoni — then thought to be over creative control — overshadowed the August press cycle for "It Ends with Us," the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name.

In the legal complaint obtained by Business Insider, Lively said she attended a meeting during filming with Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath, who runs Baldoni's company Wayfarer Studios, to address the "hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the film."

In a statement, Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, called Lively's claims "completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

Mike Fahey, founder and CEO of Fahey Communications, told Business Insider that Lively's suit was thoughtful and well-timed.

"This is a masterclass in PR," Fahey said. "She and her team brilliantly waited a beat and listened. The Baldoni camp is definitely trying to grasp at straws to try to say that this is Blake's attempt to rehab her reputation."

Experts said Lively's suit was exceptionally detailed, and its timing was smart

In the legal filing, Lively said that after addressing the workplace concerns, all parties agreed to several stipulations, including hiring an intimacy coordinator. Other agreements included "no more mention of Mr. Baldoni or Mr. Heath's previous 'pornography addiction'" to Lively, referenced in the complaint as BL, and "no more showing nude videos or images of women, including the producer's wife to BL or her employees."

Lively's complaint alleged that the online backlash she endured over the summer was the result of a "sophisticated press and digital plan in retaliation for Ms. Lively exercising her legally protected right to speak up about their misconduct on the set, with the additional objective of intimidating her and anyone else from revealing in public what actually occurred."

Camron Dowlatshahi, a partner at MSD Lawyers in Los Angeles, a law firm that specializes in entertainment and employment law, told BI that Lively's camp filing the suit so close to the holidays, when Baldoni's team would be more likely to get caught flat-footed, speaks volumes.

"It was pretty strategic to have it this week and still get the benefit of the media attention just for a few days before Justin and his production team really get a chance to hit back immediately," Dowlatshahi said.

Lively's suit was also packed with details, making the case that Baldoni and his team coordinated a smear campaign against her. It included screenshots of messages that Lively's team said were from Baldoni, his publicist Jennifer Abel, and crisis communications specialist Melissa Nathan, whom Baldoni hired over the summer, discussing the strategy to ruin Lively's reputation.

Dowlatshahi said that this much detail and evidence in a complaint is rare. "You often don't have the actual text messages all ready to go," he added.

In his response, Baldoni's attorney Freedman called Lively's legal complaint "yet another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions."

Dowlatshahi called this a typical attorney response, though he added that Freedman "did add some color to some of the allegations" beyond the usual boilerplate statement and denial of Lively's claims.

Lively's complaint shed light on the dark side of PR

Lively's 80-page complaint garnered attention for its detailed account of the alleged PR strategy intended to damage her reputation — a facet of the entertainment industry that the average person isn't typically privy to or even aware of.

Fahey said that it's common for PR teams to anticipate a worst-case scenario and discuss possible situations. Still, he added, "You do not orchestrate an in-depth plan preparing how you are going to go after someone in the media."

Fahey added that Baldoni's team's alleged plan doesn't reflect the PR industry as a whole. "I would feel very confident saying it's not what's happening every single day," he said. "Are there coordinated campaigns? Yes, but I would hope for our society as a whole that people are not spending their time figuring out if they can bury someone for court."

Erik Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management, agreed. "This is not the only way to do crisis PR," he said. "Everybody makes their own choice, but I think there are a lot of people in the industry who would be taken aback at the weaponizing of astroturfing here and the general attitude."

While the legal complaint sheds new light on the backlash Lively faced during the "It Ends With Us" press tour, some online still dislike Lively.

"The issue is that the damage that's already been done to Lively isn't going to be undone by this," Bernstein said.

Bernstein said if Lively were his client, they'd assess how much damage has been done, what steps could be taken to shift public opinion, and how to distill her case into something digestible for her audience, like sharing a statement with her 45.3 million followers on Instagram or taking her side of the story to a national media platform.

The impact on Baldoni's career and reputation will likely be more severe. Since the news of the suit broke, the actor-director has been dropped by WME, the same agency that reps Lively.

Baldoni will have a hard time rehabbing his reputation in Hollywood, experts say

Dowlatshahi said that because the case is already so high-profile, "I would certainly go on the offensive if I were him, assuming he has some evidence to help himself out."

If Baldoni doesn't have enough evidence to publicly defend himself, Bernstein suggested that the actor stay silent until the dispute blows over.

"I don't want to over-speculate, but if he doesn't have evidence to really back up to and defend himself, this could drastically alter the course of his career," Fahey said. "This is not some small lawsuit. These allegations are very, very serious. Blake Lively isn't a PA on set. Blake Lively is one of the biggest names in Hollywood."

If Baldoni chooses to settle the case or fight in court, what happens next is up to him. Fahey thinks the dispute isn't looking good for him.

"The case that's already being presented is very damning against Justin Baldoni," Fahey said. "So he already has an uphill battle to try to even win this lawsuit."

Although most cases of this nature settle, Dowlatshahi said he thinks there's a chance Lively's complaint against Baldoni plays out publicly, like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's 2022 defamation trial did.

"If he wants to make this his hill to die on, he'll fight back," Fahey said of Baldoni. "He'll take this to trial and this could be like a Johnny-Depp/Amber-Heard-type situation. That is your most dramatic case scenario. On the other hand, if Justin wants this to go away quietly, he will settle and let everything go away," he said.

"I think that pride and reputation are what will dictate what happens next."