Justin Baldoni’s former publicist, Stephanie Jones, has issued a defamation lawsuit against the It Ends With Us actor and director, his production company, and his current publicity team. The lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court, accused Baldoni of defamation and breach of contract.
Stephanie Jones accused Baldoni of breaching their contract which required him to pay her $25,000 monthly. She alleged that Baldoni dropped out of the firm just a few months into a year-long deal to join hands with her former employee, Jennifer Abel. She has also sued Baldoni’s crisis manager, Melissa Nathan, for defamation and breach of contract.
Stephanie Jones and her PR firm Jonesworks have also accused Abel of breach of contract and defamation. In the lawsuit, Jones claimed she was ousted from representing Baldoni and his production studio during the It Ends with Us campaign. She also alleged that Abel and Nathan were responsible for orchestrating the aggressive media smear campaign against Blake Lively without her knowledge.
Jones claimed that Abel had violated her employment contract by setting up a new firm and stealing important documents and clients. “Defendants Abel and Nathan secretly conspired for months to publicly and privately attack Jones and Jonesworks, to breach multiple contracts and induce contractual breaches, and to steal clients and business prospects,” Jones stated in the complaint.
Justin Baldoni’s former publicist is suing him, his company, and his current publicity team for allegedly breaching their contract and orchestrating a smear campaign against Blake Lively without her knowledge. pic.twitter.com/ZSSN4qm19I
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 24, 2024
In the lawsuit, Jones alleged that Abel and Nathan are now attempting to shift the blame onto her to deflect scrutiny from themselves. She claimed to have been unfairly implicated despite having no involvement in the alleged misconduct. “To this day, Abel and Nathan continue to point the finger falsely at Jones now that their misconduct is coming to light, and to defame and attack Jones in the industry,” the lawsuit read.
Jennifer Abel has reportedly defended her resignation from Jonesworks, citing “bullying” and a toxic work environment as the reasons for her departure. She has also denied all of Jones’ allegations against her.
Jones’ defamation lawsuit comes days after Blake Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin Baldoni. Lively also accused Baldoni of starting a smear campaign against her with the help of Jennifer Abel and crisis communications representative, Melissa Nathan. Lively’s lawsuit includes claims that Baldoni shared explicit images with her, openly talked about his struggles with p—-graphy addiction, and made derogatory comments about her body.
Lively’s legal complaint stated, “To safeguard against the risk of Ms. Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the Baldoni Wayfarer team created, planted, amplified, and boosted content designed to eviscerate Ms. Lively’s credibility,”. “They engaged in the same techniques to bolster Mr. Baldoni’s credibility and suppress any negative content about him.”
Justin Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman called the claims “completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious.” He described the sexual harassment lawsuit as “yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ Lively’s negative reputation which was garnered from her remarks and actions during the campaign for the film.”
