How Blake's lawyers extracted explosive texts from Justin's PR team
What's the story
In the latest development in the legal battle between Hollywood actor Blake Lively and It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni, it has been revealed that the text messages that were key to Lively's sexual harassment case against Baldoni were obtained via a subpoena issued to Jonesworks LLC, her attorneys confirmed on Monday. The messages, exchanged between members of Baldoni's PR team, discussed ways to "bury" Lively.
Text acquisition
Lively's lawyers obtained texts through legal process
The text messages were included in a complaint filed by Lively with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her. The original complaint read, "Ms. Lively obtained the communications set forth in this Complaint through legal process, including a civil subpoena." However, it did not reveal the source of these messages. Ultimately, these messages proved to be instrumental in setting up Lively's case against her former co-star.
Procedure
This is how the texts landed with Lively's lawyers
Baldoni was a Jonesworks client, and both founder Stephanie Jones and her in-house publicist Jen Abel worked on the Jane the Virgin star's PR and image control. According to Variety, on August 21, Jones called Abel into her office and asked her to sign documents, relinquishing her office phone. Apparently, Jones had discovered that Abel was looking to start her own firm. Four months later, we find that the bombshell text messages bared open have come from this very phone.
Legal response
'The truth is completely different than what has been portrayed'
Bryan Freedman, who represents Abel, Baldoni, and others in the case, said none of his clients were subpoenaed over the matter. He said he intends to sue Jones and added, "If all of the text messages were produced in that 'subpoena,' then Lively's team knows the true facts of what actually happened and did not happen." "The truth is completely different than what has been portrayed in the complaint," he added.
Defense statement
Jones's attorney defended her client's response to subpoena
Defending her client, Jones's attorney Kristin Tahler said that she is being made a "scapegoat" in the affair for merely responding to a subpoena. She said, "Desperate to shift attention away from their disgraceful sliming of Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni's team is doubling down on their smears by going after someone who had nothing whatsoever to do with this ugly campaign."
Case spotlight
The case shines a light on crisis publicists
The case has highlighted the role of crisis publicists, who typically work behind the scenes. Four different agencies are now caught in this legal battle. Notably, Jones is the only person known to have had Abel's phone after their professional split. But Jonesworks hasn't been named in Lively's suit. Meanwhile, another firm, Tag PR, is named in Lively's complaint with its founder Melissa Nathan being cited 88 times. Nathan famously worked with Johnny Depp during his 2022 defamation suit.