Justin Baldoni Hired Johnny Depp's PR Crisis Manager. A Week later, The Whole World Turned On Blake Lively
ICYMI: there has been a lot of off-screen drama surrounding Justin Baldoni, the director and star of 'It Ends With Us', and his co-star, Blake Lively.
Normally, I'm not someone to step in the mud with off-set stuff like this. However, I'm just so impressed that I feel the need to document this. If you're unaware of this movie, it is an adaptation of a very popular book and focuses heavily on domestic violence. It's been doing really well at the box office, landing firmly in second place over the last couple weeks. I saw it opening week and thought it was fine. Lively and Baldoni both felt very miscast and the first half was a lifetime movie slog but the second half is solid and wraps up well.
The quality of the movie isn't what anybody is talking about, though, as stories started to come out of the woodwork about how Baldoni and Lively did not get along on set. A video here, a "source on set there". Soon enough, the narrative began to form that Baldoni was a tyrant on set that was making Lively and the other costars uncomfortable. Here are some gossip rag snippets.
(DAILY MAIL) Disturbing TRUTH behind why Blake Lively and her It Ends With Us stars are feuding with Justin Baldoni
- Rumors of a feud between Justin, 40, and Blake, 36, have been swirling for weeks
- A source told DailyMail.com Justin was 'unprofessional' and 'chauvinistic' on set
- They claim he focused on 'what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint'
(People) It Ends with Us Justin Baldoni's Clash Goes Past Blake Lively: 'Cast Will Have Nothing to Do with Him' (Exclusive)
"All is not what it seems," a set source tells PEOPLE. "There is much more to this story."
(PAGE SIX) Multiple sources told Page Six that Baldoni allegedly made the mother of four “uncomfortable” on set and cultivated an “extremely difficult” work environment for the cast.
Another insider mentioned that Lively — who gave birth to her son, Olin, a few months before filming — was occasionally “uncomfortable” about her postpartum figure.
As you can see, the more dominant sentiment was that Baldoni was hard to work with and nobody liked him. Then, Baldoni hired Melissa Nathan, a PR crisis manager who previously represented Johnny Depp during his trial vs Amber Heard. If you remember any of that, the narrative for a long time was that Johnny Depp was an animal. Going into the trial, that flipped on its head and, before long, most everyone was on Depps side as new info about Heard made it's way into the media.
Since hiring Nathan, which can be dated to the 13th, the entire house has caved in on Blake Lively. The narrative completely shifted to how Blake Lively was trying to turn a serious book about domestic violence into a RomCom that she was plugging her hair product in. Old interviews began to surface, speficially this one where she appears to "mean girl" this Norwegian interviewer.
While that was the heavy hitter, there has been a ton of mud dredged up in general.
Advertisement
Even as I write this, I'm sure there are more interview moments that are about to hit the timeline. Before you are too quick to jump back to Baldoni's side, though, there is something that I've seen raised as a counterpoint. He has written two books, check out the titles.
There is just something about these titles that rings very false. Like, the more someone has to brag about how good of a person they are, the less I believe it to be true. Personally, I think this situation is pretty similar to the Depp v Heard debate that Nathan previously handled. While she may have shifted public sentiment against Lively, the reality is maybe just that both people kinda stink.
What I have taken away from this saga is not a dislike of either celebrity but a respect for Melissa Nathan. This woman is Ray Donovan come to life! In fact, she may be the most powerful woman in Hollywood! Maybe I should have hired her after the Dozen….