Jennifer Abel, the publicist at the center of the scandal surrounding an alleged smear campaign against Blake Lively, has publicly defended her client, Justin Baldoni, amid ongoing legal drama. Abel, whose name appeared in the text messages involved in Lively’s lawsuit, responded to the accusations in a now-deleted Facebook post. She asserted that there was no “smear” campaign against Lively during the promotion of It Ends With Us and that no negative press was ever deliberately generated about the actress. Instead, she claimed that the crisis PR team, which was hired following Lively’s sexual assault allegations, simply joked privately about the public’s reaction to Lively.
Abel explained that Baldoni’s team had been monitoring social media accounts and staying on top of the narrative, but she denied that this amounted to orchestrating a smear campaign. According to Abel, Lively’s team had allegedly been planting negative stories about Baldoni, which prompted the hiring of the crisis team in the first place. Abel also praised Baldoni, stating that he has “dedicated his life to the equal treatment of others, especially women,” and had no history of negative treatment toward anyone.
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, further defended the PR team’s actions, arguing that they were just performing their duties in response to threats and that Lively’s own actions during the promotional tour contributed to the distasteful narrative. Freedman also criticized The New York Times for playing into Lively’s PR tactics.
Lively has received support in her legal fight from public figures such as It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover, her co-stars from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (America Ferrera and Alexis Bledel), and even Amber Heard, who had a contentious relationship with Baldoni’s crisis PR team during her own legal battles with Johnny Depp.