Amber Heard has broken her silence on the lawsuit carried out by Blake Lively against co-star and director of It Ends with Us Justin Baldoni.
Blake Lively was announced over the weekend to be suing Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment and carrying out a social media ‘smear campaign’ against her.
While Baldoni has vehemently denied the allegations, the legal complaint included an alleged meeting between the director, Lively, and Ryan Reynolds, in which she gave 30 demands to allow production to continue.
Amber Heard has spoken out in an exclusive statement given to NBC News.
The actor spoke out after it was revealed that Baldoni had retained Melissa Nathan, a prominent PR crisis manager used by Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against Heard.
In her statement, Heard said: “Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.’
“I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”
In Lively’s suit against Baldoni, it is alleged that he hired a PR team to carry out a ‘retaliatory social manipulation campaign’ against her during production of the film.
According to the suit, this was done with the intention of ruining Lively’s reputation.
In Heard’s case against ex-husband Johnny Depp, she was sued for defamation after writing an opinion article for the Washington Post in which she alleged he was an abuser.
She did not name him in the article, but it was judged to be defamatory against Depp, who was awarded £12 million in compensation.
Heard launched a countersuit against Depp and was awarded £1.5 million.
Following the trial, Heard said the decision ‘sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated’.
Depp retained Melissa Nathan throughout the trial with Heard, and she has now become embroiled in another lawsuit due to her hiring by Baldoni.
The PR expert was hired during the production of the film, which released in August of this year.
During the film’s press tour, rumours began circulating of a rift between Lively and Baldoni, with fans noticing the pair not doing press together.
This is despite them being co-stars, and Baldoni also being the director.
It has been revealed through the lawsuit however that texts exchanged between Melissa Nathan and Baldoni’s publicist referenced the alleged social media smear campaign.
After the messages were revealed by a subpoena issued, one of the messages sent by publicist Jennifer Abel spoke of Baldoni wanting to feel ‘[Lively] can be buried’.
In response, Melissa Nathan said: “Of course – but you know when we send over documents we can’t send over the work we will or could do because that could get us in a lot of trouble,” before adding: “We can’t write we will destroy her.”
She went on to say: “Imagine if a document saying all the things that he wants ends up in the wrong hands.
“You know we can bury anyone but I can’t write that to him. I will be very tough.”
LADbible has previously contacted Sony Pictures, Wayfarer Studios, Lively and Baldoni’s representatives for comment.
