Explore the latest development in the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni lawsuit, including Amber Heard’s support and a shocking link to Johnny Depp.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal war has been drawing the attention of many, from celebrities to fans. In the midst of all this, a lot of people have come to support the Gossip Girl star, including It Ends with Us author, Colleen Hoover. And Lively has recently gained another ally, Amber Heard.
Heard, infamous for the legal battle between her and her ex-husband Johnny Depp, recently showed support to Lively as a surprising link has been discovered between Baldoni and Depp.
Amber Heard supports Blake Lively amid Justin Baldoni lawsuit
Blake Lively recently filed a complaint against It Ends with Us director and co-star, Justin Baldoni, alleging him of s*xually harassing her as well as allegedly using a calculated smear campaign to ruin her image and changing the narrative during the film’s press tour. While Baldoni has been dropped by his talent agency in the midst of this, Lively has gained the support of several celebrities including Amber Heard.
Heard, who was embroiled in a high-profile, very publicized legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp, recently came out in support of the Green Lantern star. In an exclusive interview with NBC, she stated,
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.
Heard had previously been accused of trying to tarnish ex-husband Johnny Depp’s reputation. A jury had unanimously declared that she had defamed Depp and he was awarded $5 million in punitive damages as well as $10 million in compensatory damages while Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages. She now lives in Spain.
The surprising connection between Justin Baldoni and Johnny Depp
Blake Lively’s long and extensive complaint mentions in detail how an alleged smear campaign was being run to destroy her reputation during the It Ends with Us press campaign. Not only did Justin Baldoni appeared separately from the rest of the cast in interviews and events but he also hired a PR campaign.
Apparently, Baldoni hired the same PR crisis manager, Melissa Nathan, as Johnny Depp had hired during his infamous legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard. Nathan worked at Hiltzik Strategies but left the firm in October 2023 and launched her own company in June 2024. Her other clients include the rappers Drake and Travis Scott (via The Hollywood Reporter and The New York Times).
In response to Heard’s claims, Bryan Freedman, the attorney for Baldoni, Wayfarere Studios, and all its representatives, released the following statement (via THR),
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.
According to Lively’s complaint, which includes 22 pages of texts from Baldoni and his team to Melissa Nathan, the director and actor allegedly wanted to ‘bury her’ by tarnishing her reputation. Meanwhile, fans, although shocked and appalled by the complaint, believe Lively destroyed her own reputation by behaving the way she did during the press tour and wrongly promoting the film as a fun watch instead of addressing its main theme which is domestic violence.
