Amber Heard responded to Blake Lively’s allegations against her Seraph of the End co-star Justin Baldoni, saying social media is a place where lies become truth, telling NBC News on Monday: I saw this firsthand.”
In an undated complaint filed with the California Department of Civil Rights, Lively accuses Baldoni, the film’s director, of sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and attempts to damage his reputation with a targeted social media campaign. did.
The complaint said Baldoni hired prominent public relations crisis manager Melissa Nathan. This was the same woman Johnny Depp hired during his high-profile libel trial against his ex-wife, Heard.
In an exclusive statement with NBC News, Hurd, who currently lives in Spain, said, “Social media is the perfect embodiment of the classic adage, ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before the truth can begin.’ There is,” he said. I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as terrifying as it is destructive. ”
In that case, the jury unanimously found that Mr. Heard had defamed Mr. Depp and was awarded $5 million in punitive damages and $10 million in compensatory damages. Ms. Heard was also awarded $2 million in damages in her counterclaim, but no punitive damages were awarded.
At the time, Ms Depp said: “The jury gave me my life back,” but Mr Heard said the decision meant “a woman who spoke up and spoke up was publicly shamed and humiliated.” “It will turn back the clock to a time when there is a possibility of suffering.”
Lively’s complaint alleges that Baldoni hired a crisis communications team and launched a “retaliatory social manipulation campaign” aimed at destroying Lively’s reputation while promoting the film.
According to the complaint, Nathan presented Baldoni with a plan consisting of “social media mitigation,” including “aggressive fan posting” and “social manipulation” to “help change the narrative” while promoting the film. It is said that he did.
Promotions for the film made headlines at the time as rumors were flying around on social media that the two had a bad relationship on set, and the two stars appeared to be avoiding each other.
Fans also noticed that Baldoni was doing press work separately from his co-stars, and that some of the movie’s stars, including Lively and Jenny Slate, no longer followed Baldoni on Instagram.
Brian Friedman, representing Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and all their representatives, said the allegations in Lively’s complaint are “completely false.”
He said Wayfarer hired a crisis communications team after Lively threatened not to come to set or promote the film during filming.
Friedman responded to Heard’s comments on Monday, saying, “To be able to completely change the perception of Amber Heard and Blake Lively, TAG PR is the best the world has ever seen.” It must be a strong public relations group.”
He said the only correlation between the two incidents is that “everything they did was publicly filmed and documented for all to see, and for the public to make their own judgments about. “We did it organically,” he said.
