Justin Baldoni Talks Hailey Bieber In Lively Blake’s Astroturfing Plan

Justin Baldoni appear to use social media post from Hailey Bieber as an example in an astroturfing scheme against It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively.

According to text exchanges reviewed in a legal complaint obtained by Us Weekly On Saturday, December 21, Baldoni sent a screenshot of an X thread that unpacked “Hailey Bieber’s bullying of women,” according to the text, writing, “This is what we need.”

Lively’s lawsuit alleges that “Baldoni’s scheme went far beyond a standard PR crisis,” saying that Melissa Nathancrisis communications specialist for The Agency Group, was “a practice known as ‘astroturfing,’ which has been defined as ‘the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to they would come from ordinary members of the public but in fact come from a particular company or political group.’”

Earlier this year, Lively was the subject of a social media firestorm over the promotion of her film It’s Over With Us, when it was reported that she and Baldoni had clashed on set.

“There were two camps on the film – Blake’s team and Justin’s team,” a source just say Us of the film’s production in August. “It was this creative struggle that set the tone for the negative experience behind the scenes and it grew into the fact that they were no longer talking.”

Lively also received criticism for the way she answered questions about the film’s themes of domestic violence. In addition, her behavior was questioned in interviews resurfaced from years before. Amidst the backlash, Lively was divided domestic violence resources on social media, before her leave social media altogether.

Lively’s December complaint states that “millions of people (including many reporters and influencers) who saw these planted stories, social media posts, and other online content” were “unwitting consumers of a crisis PR campaign, astroturfing, and a digital revenge campaign” that was allegedly orchestrated. by Baldoni against Lively.

“That is exactly the goal of an astroturfing campaign,” the lawsuit says. “To stoke the fire and continue to fuel conversations in secret, blurring the line between authentic and manufactured content, and creating viral public causes.”

Lively’s complaint also referred to a Scenario Planning document by Baldoni’s team at TAG which spoke of exploring “planting stories about weaponizing feminism and how people in (Lively’s) circle such as Taylor Swift, have been accused of using these tactics to ‘ bully’ to get what. they want.”

Lively filed and sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni on Friday, December 20, claiming that his behavior on set caused her “severe emotional distress”. The lawsuit alleges that a meeting was held during production in January 2024 to address Lively’s claims about the “hostile work environment” on set. The meeting was attended by a number of people, including Baldoni and Reynolds.

According to the lawsuit, Lively’s demands for the meeting included “no more showing Blake videos or nude images of women, no more talking about Baldoni’s alleged ‘pornography addiction’, no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mention of the genitalia of the cast and crew, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”

Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, addressed Lively’s “absolutely false, outrageous and deliberately malicious” claims in a statement to Usclaiming that Lively filed the lawsuit to “fix her negative reputation” and “remake a narrative” regarding the production of the film.

He further alleged that the actress made “multiple calls and threats” during filming, including “threats not to show up to set, threats not to promote the film, ultimately leading to her demise during the release period , if her demands were not met.

In a statement to The New York Times In December, Lively said, “I hope my legal action will help pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about wrongdoing and help protect others who may be targeting.”

The actress also denied spreading negative information about Baldoni. Us has reached out to Lively’s rep for comment.