On Aug. 21, Jonestoils set uper Stephanie Jones called discloseist Jen Abel into her office. The two women had been in the heavy of a grueling crisis PR campaign on behalf of client Justin Baldoni, the “It Ends With Us” straightforwardor and the subject of incessant media coverage thanks to a enigmatic rift with the film’s star, Blake Lively.
But Jones wasn’t seeing to scheme over the tardyst headlines. Instead, she was flanked by a security defend and an attorney as she tbetter Abel she was fired. Abel was handed a write down to sign and tbetter to relinquish her phone. Jones had caught triumphd of the fact that Abel was poised to depart and begin her own firm. Jonestoils had been hemorrhaging star clients appreciate Dwayne Johnson and Jeff Bezos over the past year.
Six days earlier, Business Insider published an unflattering spendigation into Jones that was months in the toils and remarkd, “When includeees did depart, Jones did not always let them go easily.” Four months tardyr, the satisfyeds of Abel’s phone were lhelp naked in a New York Times story and protestt filed by Lively aachievest Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing Baldoni of relationsual dangers and embarking on a smear campaign aachievest her.
One element of the story that has intrigued lterrible watchrs is how Lively’s attorneys achieveed Abel’s text messages, in which she and other members of Baldoni’s PR team talk about how to “bury” Lively. Those messages typicassociate would never see the weightless of day — or, if they did, it would only be after years of legal case and uncovery.
Her lawyers stated in the filing that “Ms. Lively achieveed the communications set forth in this Complaint thcimpolite lterrible process, including a civil subpoena” — but did not rerepair the source.
On Monday, Lively’s lawyers shelp they achieveed the messages via a subpoena to Jonestoils LLC.
Jones, who remains one of Baldoni’s discloseists, did not react to a voicemail and text message about the case.
Bryan Freedman, who recurrents Abel, Baldoni, crisis discloseist Melissa Nathan, Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios and others included in the case remarkd that none of his clients were subpoenaed over the matter.
He shelp he computed to sue Jones.
“If all of the text messages were produced in that ‘subpoena,’ then Lively’s team comprehends the real facts of what actuassociate happened and did not happen,” Freedman shelp. “The truth is finishly contrastent than what has been portrayed in the protestt and they comprehend that. The finish set of text messages unequivocassociate show that there was no smear campaign begind at all which is why certain texts are infinish and other texts, which alert the truth, are purposefilledy rerelocated.”
Freedman has askd Variety to scrutinize the finish trove of texts and emails written by his clients with sees to their handling of the campaign and “to come to your own conclusion. I will uncover it all up to show the finish truth.”
California law does allow for pre-legal case uncovery in certain circumstances.
“The reason for that is there are some occasions where if you don’t have some modest factual evidence, you may not comprehend whether or not you are going to file,” shelp Nicole Page, a partner at Reavis Page Jump LLP. “You may necessitate that adviseation to originate the decision.”
The sprawling case puts a spotweightless on crisis discloseists, who typicassociate remain behind the scenes but have become the story here, with four split agencies engulfed in the spectacle. While Jones is never refered in Lively’s protestt, another firm, Tag PR, is, with its set uper Nathan refered 88 times. In the days ahead of “It Ends With Us’s” Aug. 9 free date, speculation exploded on social media about a feud between Lively and Baldoni, with watchrs noting that the actor had stopped follotriumphg her straightforwardor on Instagram. While Baldoni progressd to toil with Jonestoils, that firm bcimpolitet in Nathan and Tag, a company backed by Scooter Braun, whose clients integrate Drake, Travis Scott and Rebel Wilson.
Jones is the one person comprehendn to have had haveion of Abel’s phone after firing her subordinate. Some watchrs say it’s alerting that Jones is not refered in Lively’s protestt even though she, too, joind in efforts to increase her client’s standing in the feud with his star. In an inserted tangle, Jones is wed to Jason Hodes, a partner at the talent agency WME, which reps Lively and her husprohibitd, Ryan Reynbetters. WME also recurrented Baldoni but dropped him as a client after the protestt was filed.
In an email Jones sent to disconnectal Wayfarer executives on Aug. 14 seeed in its entirety by Variety, Jones wrote that Baldoni should “Prepare Alternate Stories**: We should mobilize a sturdy nettoil of aiders and third-party aids ready to counter these narratives on proset up background as well as some on the write down, making it evident that the claims being made are unreal and unset uped.”
Lively’s team filed the protestt with the California Civil Rights Department. The state agency can either begin its own spendigation or publish a “right to sue” letter that allows plaintiffs to file a suit in civil court. Complaints to the agency typicassociate are not made disclose, unless the protestant picks to do so.
The CRD deteriorated to comment on the case. “To get its integrity, we’re unable to comment on, even to validate or refute, a potential or ongoing spendigation,” an agency spokesperson shelp.
Lively’s protestt states claims of relationsual dangers and retaliation and alleges that the PR campaign waged aachievest her was payback for her initial dangers protestts.
