Amber Heard has come out in support of Blake Lively right after the latter went public with her sexual harassment complaint against co-star Justin Baldoni. The Gossip Girl alum and Justin recently worked together in the film It Ends With Us, following which Lively accused him of harassment and an alleged smear campaign against her to spoil her reputation.
The actor/director is also being accused of conspiring to tarnish the names of celebrities like Hailey Bieber and Taylor Swift, as both the icons have been name-dropped in Blake Lively’s lawsuit.
As per recent updates, the masses seem to be rallying by Lively’s side support. Ranging from former co-stars to social media users, people have come out to support her, and amongst them is Amber Heard, who made it to the headlines for speaking out for Lively. Notably, the actor’s ex-husband, Johnny Depp, had also worked with the same PR manager during their infamous defamation lawsuit, that Baldoni hired earlier.
Heard, in her statement to NBC News, said:
“Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before (the) truth can get its boots on,’” stated the Aquaman star on NBC News. “I saw this firsthand and up close,” Heard continued. “It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”
Amber Heard was found to have defamed Johnny Depp in June 2022. The 61-year-old actor was awarded $25 million in damages, and Heard received $2 million in compensation. “[This verdict] sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated,” Heard wrote in a statement at the time.
When the lawsuit was announced, Amber Heard was heavily scrutinized on the internet. Her entire trial was eviscerated online, which she thought was not ‘fair.’ Heard is now expecting her second baby and lives in Spain with her 3-year-old daughter, Oonagh.
The smear campaign against Amber Heard and the smear Campaign against Blake Lively were organized by the same PR company. Are you getting it yet? pic.twitter.com/JS3t6hPuZi
— 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍𝙰𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 (@LeaveHeardAlone) December 21, 2024
Lively has four children with her husband, Ryan Reynolds. The Deadpool star was seen attending all meetings allegedly held about Justin’s inappropriate behavior. In the lawsuit, Lively reported that Baldoni showed her ‘nude videos and images of women’ and inquired about her weight while they were filming Colleen Hover’s 2016 adaptation.
She explained that Baldoni worked with a PR crisis firm during the movie promotions. The PR helped him manipulate social media to change the narrative about the alleged feud. Baldoni, however, has denied the allegations, framing Lively’s lawsuit as shameful and false. His talent agency dropped the actor after the allegations.
View this post on Instagram
Attorney Bryan Freedman also released the following statement on Page Six:
“TAG PR operated as any other crisis management firm would when hired by a client experiencing threats by two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources. The standard scenario planning TAG PR drafted proved unnecessary as audiences found Lively’s actions, interviews, and marketing during the promotional tour distasteful, and responded organically to that which the media themselves picked up on.
It’s ironic that the New York Times, through their effort to “uncover” an insidious PR effort, played directly into the hands of Lively’s dubious PR tactics by publishing leaked personal text exchanges that lack critical context – the very same tactics she’s accusing the firm of implementing.”
