Support grows for Blake Lively over smear campaign claim

A chorus of support is growing behind actress Blake Lively after she filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment and a smear campaign against "It Ends With Us" co-star Justin Baldoni.

Actress Amber Heard became the latest celebrity to speak out on behalf of the "Gossip Girl" alum on Monday about what she says was a coordinated social media effort to tarnish her name.

Over the weekend, Lively filed a complaint claiming that Baldoni and a lead producer had behaved unacceptably during the filming of the box-office hit "It Ends With Us.

"The allegations included that Baldoni -- who also directed the film -- had spoken inappropriately about his sex life and had sought to alter the film to include sex scenes that were not in the script and had not been agreed to.

They also detailed how lead producer Jamey Heath had watched Lively while she was topless despite having been asked to turn away.

But the complaint goes into great detail—including texts and emails—on a PR campaign to wreck her reputation and divert attention from any public comments she might make about the men's alleged misbehavior.

This was "a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her and others from speaking out about the hostile environment that Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath created," the complaint says.

It includes allegations that the two men hired a crisis PR team to amplify or plant negative stories about Lively on social media platforms.

"You know we can bury anyone," Melissa Nathan, a member of the team, is alleged to have said, according to messages contained in the complaint.

Heard's ex-husband, Johnny Depp, hired the same PR team during the high-profile defamation trial between the couple in 2022, in which a jury unanimously found that Heard defamed Depp over allegations he abused her.

"Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying 'A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on,'" Heard said in a statement by NBC News.

"I saw this firsthand and up close. It's as horrifying as it is destructive."

Heard's support came from a joint statement by America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel, who starred with Lively in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

"As Blake's friends and sisters for over 20 years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation," they wrote on Instagram.

"Throughout the filming of 'It Ends with Us,' we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice."

A lawyer for Wayfarer, the studio behind the film, said in a statement released to the New York Times that neither the studio, its executives, nor its PR team did anything to retaliate against Lively.

"These claims are completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to hurt and rehash a narrative in the media publicly," lawyer Bryan Freedman wrote.

The complaint was lodged with the California Civil Rights Department and is a precursor to a lawsuit.

Major Hollywood talent agency WME -- which represents Lively -- has reportedly dropped Baldoni as a client.