It is the fifth lawsuit filed in the months-long celebrity feud that began when Lively accused movie co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, of sexually harassing her on set.
It is the fifth lawsuit filed in the months-long celebrity feud that began when Lively accused movie co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, of sexually harassing her on set.
By Brittany Busch
February 6, 2025 — 12.09pm
The owner of the crisis PR firm that actor Blake Lively has accused of orchestrating a smear campaign against her is now suing the Gossip Girl star for defamation.
It is the fifth lawsuit filed in the months-long saga that began when Lively accused co-star and director of It Ends With Us, Justin Baldoni, of sexually harassing her on set. He has denied the allegations.
Lively’s accusations were made in a civil complaint – a precursor to a lawsuit – in December. It also claimed Baldoni had enlisted publicists and crisis PR experts to destroy Lively’s reputation out of fear she would go public with the allegations.
Jed Wallace and his crisis PR firm Street Relations are seeking US$6 million ($9.5 million) in punitive damages from Lively for naming them in the civil complaint.
The complaint was widely reported and included evidence of Wallace’s alleged involvement in the alleged smear campaign, such as how he “weaponised a digital army around the country… to create, seed, and promote content that appeared to be authentic on social media platforms and internet chat forums”.
One text included in the complaint, from a member of Baldoni’s publicist team, credited Wallace’s firm for swaying public opinion on Lively: “We’ve started to see shift on social, due largely to Jed and his team’s efforts to shift the narrative”.
Lively filed her formal lawsuit on December 31, suing Baldoni, his studio, his friend and collaborator Jamey Heath, and his publicists, Jen Abel and Melissa Nathan.
Baldoni then filed counterclaims against Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, and other members of her team for civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy. In a separate suit, Baldoni is suing The New York Times for its reporting of the case. Baldoni’s ex-publicist is suing him for a breach of contract.
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In the latest action, Wallace claims he has suffered both emotional harm and loss of business after Lively or her team gave her original complaint to media organisations, though he was not named as a defendant in the formal lawsuit.
He denies being involved in any harassment or retaliation against Lively.
“[Wallace and Street Relations] were nowhere near where the alleged harassment/retaliation took place,” the lawsuit said.
“It is not the case that she was harassed by some masked stranger who turned out to be the Plaintiffs. She knew (and knows) that they were not the harassers/retaliators but made these allegations anyway, leaked them to the press hoping they would be widely republished (which they were) but then excluded plaintiffs from the formal lawsuit (knowing they had nothing to do with the events depicted therein).”
In a statement to US media, Lively’s legal team said Wallace’s action simply furthers the retaliatory campaign against Lively. “While this lawsuit will be dismissed, we are pleased that Mr Wallace has finally emerged from the shadows, and that he too will be held accountable in federal court”.
Brittany Busch is a reporter at The Age.Connect via email.
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