Blake Lively recently accused her “It Ends With Us” costar Justin Baldoni and others of sexual harassment and waging an online smear campaign against her. The actress filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. The 80-page document is as damning as it is astounding. How could any woman be subjected to such sexual aggression, dehumanization, and harassment.
For his part, Baldoni, countersued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, for defamation.
Lively’s legal filing names Baldoni as well as co-producer Jamey Heath; Wayfarer; Steve Sarowitz; Jed Wallace; Melissa Nathan; and Jennifer Abel. In addition to sexual harassment, the complaint also alleges retaliation, among other claims. After Lively made requests to help her feel safe while filming, Baldoni allegedly hired a crisis management executive to smear Lively and discredit her.
Some of the claims include, and I am quoting from the New York Times, that “Baldoni had improvised unwanted kissing and discussed his sex life, including encounters in which he said he may not have received consent.” She also accused Heath of showing her a video of his naked wife, and coming into her dressing room, uninvited, when she was undressed.
As troubling as this matter is, it provides several public relations reminders. Here are five things stands out to me.
- When we see people undergo significant public shaming and online attacks, we should question who is behind the attacks. Attacks don’t come out of nowhere; think about Megan Markle and the incessant attacks she’s faced since marrying into the royal family. Think about the online harassment and attacks women and women of color experience. We see this in entertainment but I believe it also happens in politics. There are hired hands whose explicit job is to spread online hate against individuals it deems to be a problem.
- The first step in character assassination is to imbue a person’s name. If you can get the public to think differently about a person, you can impact their livelihood and more. When we see character assassination, we should always be curious as to whether there is more to the story.
- A cardinal rule in Public Relations is not to become the story. Public Relations and strategic communications advisers should make the news, not become it. But there is a whole trail of emails and text messages where at least two public relations executives affiliated with Baldoni and Wayfarer outlined plans to destroy Lively’s image.
- By orchestrating and participating in a smear campaign against Lively, the public relations executives soured their reputation and credibility. What help can a public relations representative be for clients and colleagues if they are lacking in credibility? There must be a bar that PR reps are unwilling to cross.
- Communicating via text messages and emails is risky; even for seasoned PR representatives. Anything in writing can be subpoenaed. Anything in writing can later be published in print. If anyone knows this, it should be public relations professionals.
Jennifer R. Farmer is a public relations executive and bakery lover. See her other posts here