Amber Heard has spoken out in support of Blake Lively in the wake of her explosive allegations against Justin Baldoni, saying she too knows how it feels to be on the receiving end of a smear campaign.
Lively’s lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star alleges that he embarked on an elaborate effort to tank her reputation once filming had wrapped.
The movie production was marred with stories about their tense relationship, and the promotional tour that followed was disastrous. Lively was branded out of touch for failing to address domestic violence, and clips resurfaced in which she was seen being rude to journalists.
In her bombshell lawsuit, she accuses Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath of repeated sexual harassment. Among the most damning claims is that Baldoni ‘improvised’ kissing scenes to suck and bite on her lip.
She also alleges she was forced into nude scenes during which Heath’s friends were on-set.
Heard has long claimed that she was the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by her famous ex, Johnny Depp, during their infamous court battle over domestic violence.
Baldoni, who has been dropped by his talent agency, hired TAG PR and Melissa Nathan in August of this year as stories surrounding the drama onset emerged.
Nathan founded the company in August this year, but previously worked for the same firm Depp hired to help him navigate his trial with Heard.
In a statement to NBC News of Lively’s claims, she said: ‘Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying “A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.”
‘I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.’
NBC reports that Baldoni’s PR, Melissa Nathan, helped Depp through the trial – something her reps deny.
She started up her company, TAG PR, earlier this year – long after the Depp and Heard’s showdown.
Nathan’s reps denied that she had anything to do with a smear campaign against either woman, telling Daily Mail: ‘TAG PR must be the most powerful group of publicists the world has ever seen for it to be able to completely change the perception of both Amber Heard and Blake Lively.
‘The only correlation between both individuals 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.
‘All you have to do is watch the interviews that still remain if they have not already been scrubbed by their crisis PR teams (which is apparently their crisis teams next move since that’s what crisis teams do, they protect their clients).’
Heard was sued by Depp over allegations she fabricated claims of domestic abuse to further her career after she published an op-ed in the Washington Post outlining her accusations.
The jury sided largely with Depp after a weeks-long televised trial.
He was awarded $15million in damages in total. The amount was later reduced.
Heard has always maintained her innocence, insisting that the jury got it wrong. She lamented Depp’s revived popularity, and moved to Spain after the scandal died down.
Lively’s claims against Baldoni went viral over the weekend and have sent shockwaves through the industry.
Celebrities are lining up to throw their support behind Lively.
Among them are Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Schumer, It Ends with US author Colleen Hoover, and director Paul Feig, who worked with Lively on A Simple Favor.
In her complaint, Lively states Baldoni fostered a toxic workplace environment on the set of their movie, which included the director showing her nude videos and images of other women and discussing his previous alleged porn addiction.
She claimed Baldoni made inappropriate inquiries about her weight, comments about her dead father as well as sexual remarks about the cast and crew.
The situation became so unworkable that she and her husband demanded crisis talks during filming to put a stop to the behavior, according to the lawsuit.
