Justin Baldoni and Jennifer Abel have filed a lawsuit against Baldoni’s former publicist Stephanie Jones, with the pair accusing Jones of leaking texts that led to the ongoing legal issues between Baldoni and Blake Lively.
What is Justin Baldoni’s newest lawsuit about?
Baldoni and Abel are alleging that Jones plotted a revenge campaign against both Baldoni and Abel after they announced their plans to leave Jonesworks. Abel was formerly Jones’ partner at the PR firm and was working directly with Baldoni.
According to Baldoni’s legal team, led by attorney Bryan Freedman, Jones is the main reason for the “catastrophic sequence of events” that led to Baldoni and Lively’s current legal battle.
“It is undeniable that Stephanie Jones initiated this catastrophic sequence of events by violating the most basic of privacy rights, as well as any remaining trust her clients held,” Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement to Variety. “No stranger to stirring up crisis scenarios for departing clients, Ms. Jones maliciously turned over communications from the phone she wrongfully took from her own partner to her cohort, [Lively’s personal publicist] Leslie Sloane, immediately after Jones was terminated for cause by Wayfarer due to her own wrongful behavior.”
The complaint, which was filed in New York federal court on Friday, is the latest in a number of lawsuits filed in the ongoing battle. Late last year, Jones herself also filed a lawsuit, alleging that Justin Baldoni and Abel were the ones who orchestrated a smear campaign against Lively, behind her back completely.
Jones accused Baldoni of breaching their contract in 2024. The contract, which says Baldoni must pay her $25,000 a month, was allegedly breached after Baldoni dropped the firm in August, and joined a firm started by Jennifer Abel, who also worked at Jonesworks and left to start her own firm.
Alongside the lawsuit against Baldoni, Jones is also suing Abel and Baldoni’s publicist Melissa Nathan, joining Blake Lively in accusing the pair of coordinating a smear campaign against the actress. Jones’ lawsuit alleges that the pair are attempting to blame her for the campaign.
