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While the film "It Ends With Us" has already come and gone from theaters — grossing over $350 million globally along the way — the drama is still unfolding.
Speculation over tensions among the film's actors began brewing over the summer, when costars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni did not interact with each other during the press tour. Around the same time, Lively faced online backlash for her lighthearted promotion of the film, which tackles topics like domestic violence, and past controversies, including a resurfaced 2016 interview.
But a recent bombshell legal complaint from Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and using social manipulation to tarnish her reputation. Since the complaint was made public, costars and fellow celebrities have spoken up in support of Lively — including Colleen Hoover, the author of "It Ends With Us."
The complaint's revelations — which include a trove of text messages and emails from Baldoni's publicists — have also sparked their own separate suit. Publicist Stephanie Jones sued Jennifer Abel, a former employee who worked with Baldoni as a publicist, and Melissa Nathan, a crisis communications professional, alleging that the two orchestrated the campaign against Lively without Jones' knowledge and set out to wreck her firm's reputation.
Here's a breakdown of all the key players in this saga.
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Lively is a prominent actor who played florist Lily Bloom in "It Ends With Us," and produced the film. She is suing costar Baldoni, publicists Abel and Nathan, Baldoni's company Wayfarer Studios, Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath, Wayfarer's cofounder Steve Sarowitz, and Jed Wallace, a contractor.
"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," Lively said in a statement to The New York Times.
Lively's complaint lists legal teams from two firms — Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The attorneys listed on the complaint are Esra Hudson, Stephanie Roeser, and Catherine Rose Noble of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, and Michael Gottlieb and Kristin Bender of Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
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Baldoni played Ryle Kincaid in "It Ends With Us" and directed the film; he's listed as a cofounder of Wayfarer Studios. Bryan Freedman, Baldoni and Wayfarer's attorney, said in a statement that accusations against Baldoni and the studio were false.
"It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its representatives, as 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," the statement said.
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Freedman is a heavyweight Hollywood lawyer who's been hired by the likes of Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson. He is representing Baldoni, Nathan, Abel, and their respective companies.
Nathan is a crisis communications professional whose firm, The Agency Group, was brought in by Baldoni and Abel in July, per Lively's complaint. Nathan's past clients have included celebrities like Johnny Depp and Drake.
Abel is Baldoni's publicist, as well as Wayfarer's. She started her own company, RWA Communications, and was previously a partner at Jonesworks, another PR company.
Jones is the founder and CEO of Jonesworks; she's filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, as well as Abel and Nathan, that alleges that Abel and Nathan conducted the campaign against Lively behind her back, used social manipulation tactics against her firm, and stole clients when Abel left Jonesworks.
Abel previously provided BI with a different account of how she left Jonesworks, sharing emails and text messages that show her submitting her resignation in July and planning to launch her own firm.
Tahler, an attorney at Quinn Emanuel, is Jones' lawyer. "For months, this group has gaslit and disparaged Stephanie Jones and her company for financial gain, to settle personal scores and most recently to distract from their disgraceful smearing of Blake Lively," Tahler said of the defendants in Jones' suit.
