Released in theaters on August 14, the film Never Again (It Ends With Us in original version) created controversy upon its release. Adapted from a novel by Colleen Hoover, the feature film was widely criticized for its treatment of domestic violence.
On December 20, its lead actress and co-producer Blake Lively (revealed in the series Gossip Girl at the turn of the 2010s) filed a complaint against her colleague, co-producer and director Justin Baldoni. She accuses him of sexual harassment during the filming of the film, then of having set up a smear campaign including astroturfing practices during the promotion of the film.
In addition to Baldoni, the complaint targets producers Jamy Heath and Steve Sarowitz, the Wayfarer studio, and three communicators including Melissa Nathan. Before being hired by Justin Baldoni, the latter had managed press relations for actor Johnny Depp, accused of domestic violence by his ex-partner Amber Heard.
Press relations deviations
In her complaint, to which the New York Times had access, the actress details a “multi-level plan” set up by Justin Baldoni and the film's production to damage his reputation. During filming, the actress said she complained to the production about regular violations of her consent and inappropriate comments.
She accuses the actor Justin Baldoni of having forced kisses on her and of having repeatedly imposed stories on her about his sex life – including relationships with partners from whom he did not obtain consent –, and the producer Jamey Heath for showing him videos of his naked wife. She also accuses the two men of entering her dressing room several times while she was undressed or breastfeeding.
After her reports, Blake Lively obtained several guarantees, including the presence of an intimacy coordinator on the set. In the spring of 2024, according to the New York Times, she indicated to several colleagues that she noticed an improvement in the situation.
But as the film's release approached, Justin Baldoni and Jamey Heath hired press relations and crisis management specialists. They who had presented themselves as allies of feminists at the time of the explosion of the #MeToo movement feared that Blake Lively's accusations would become public and cause them harm.
According to the documents that the latter obtained by subpoena, Justin Baldoni asked that his colleague be “buried” publicly, a request to which Melissa Nathan declared she could accede. In fact, while “Never Again” was a box office success, Blake Lively found herself at the center of an intense online smear campaign.
Targeted digital manipulations
Melissa Nathan's previous clients have included rappers Drake, Travis Scott, and actor Johnny Depp. The complaint for defamation filed by the latter in the United Kingdom was rejected (the court concluded that twelve of the fourteen acts of violence reported by the tabloid The Sun were “substantially” true). A second trial, public and widely commented on online, concluded in the United States that he and his ex-wife Amber Heard had defamed each other.
Considering for a time to appeal, Amber Heard gave up in the face of the scale of the wave of hatred she suffered online. The latter, as detailed by documentary filmmaker Cécile Delarue in an investigation broadcast on France 5, had reached this unparalleled dimension following the coordination of a handful of actors.
According to the messages collected by Blake Lively's counsel and submitted to Justice, Melissa Nathan's teams therefore worked in two ways: by managing to reduce the scope of articles relating to the actress's complaint to human resources services about Justin Baldoni, and promoting any stories online that could denigrate Blake Lively's reputation.
In practice, Melissa Nathan notably proposed hiring freelancers to launch “theories” online, theories which, once taken up by the general public, would make it possible to “change the narrative”. To do this, she notably worked with Jed Wallace, a communicator who once presented himself on LinkedIn as a “hitman” whose company Street Relations could “creating artists and trends”.
Concrete effects
Married to actor Ryan Reynolds, close to singer Taylor Swift, who herself had to deal with various campaigns of digital violence, Blake Lively, according to the New York Times, suffered one of the most violent attacks here against his career reputation.
The Daily Mail, for example, headlined on the possibility that it is « cancelled » (deleted). The actress has been accused of not considering the reality of domestic violence and of being a horrible colleague, among other things. Blake Brown, his hair products company, estimates that it has lost up to 78% of the sales it could have made from August.
According to the complaint, “Millions of people (including many reporters and influencers) who saw these stories and social media posts and other fabricated content had no awareness that they were unsuspecting consumers of a management campaign. crisis, astroturfing and retaliation created and financed by Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer to attack Ms. Lively”. Lawyers for Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios deny these accusations, which they call ” completely false ».
Justin Baldoni, who regularly presents himself as a defender of women's rights, has avoided the majority of digital attacks. The latter, however, often revolved around the subject of the film “Never Again”, that is to say on the fact that the relationship maintained by his character and that of Blake Lively would not correctly represent domestic violence.
