Blake Lively’s ‘Sisterhood’ Costars Speak Out Against Justin Baldoni’s “Vindictive Smear Campaign”
Amber Heard empathizes with Blake Lively.
After the Gossip Girl alum filed a legal complaint against her It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni—which includes allegations that he engaged in a campaign to ruin her reputation amid her own concerns about him on set—the Aquaman star reflected on her own experience with public vitriol amid her and Johnny Depp’s infamous defamation trial.
“Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on,’” Heard expressed in a statement to NBC News Dec. 23. “I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”
Indeed, Lively’s legal filing, obtained by E! News, alleges that Baldoni, as well as It Ends With Us producer Jamey Heath, hired crisis public relations expert Melissa Nathan, who also represented Depp amid his trial against Heard, and has counted Drake and Travis Scott as past clients—to combat Lively’s on-set sexual harassment allegations. (Attorneys for Heath and Baldoni deny the allegations made in Lively’s filing).
In response to Heard's statement to NBC News, Bryan Freedman, an attorney representing Baldoni, shared a note to E! News.
"The only correlation between both individuals,” Freedman said in part of the statement, “was that for decades every move they have made has been out there for everyone to see, widely filmed and documented for the public to make up their own minds—which they did, organically."
Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
Lively's complaint, filed with the California Civil Rights Department and obtained by E! News, includes alleged text messages from Nathan to a publicist for Baldoni in which she says, “You know we can bury anyone,” in relation to Lively’s reputation.
Heard—who has since relocated to Spain—was sued by Depp for defamation in 2019 after she had written an op-ed piece alleging she was the victim of domestic violence the prior year. In a 2022 verdict, the jury found Heard liable for defamation—which she later appealed. However, the 38-year-old ended up settling the case later that same year, calling it “a very difficult decision,” and cited the vilification she experienced online amid the trial.
"It is important for me to say I never chose this," Heard wrote in an Instagram post after announcing her plans to settle with her ex-husband. “I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed.”
Taylor Hill/WireImage
Heard emphasized that her settling was not an act of concession, adding, “I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder.”
For Lively’s part, she noted her pursuit of legal action against the Wayfarer Studios executives was intended to uplift others facing her same predicament.
“I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct,” she wrote in a statement, “and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
Keep reading for stars who have spoken out in support of Lively amid her filing.
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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