Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Feud Explodes as PR War Sparks Lawsuit Firestorm

Wayfarer Productions sues PR veteran Stephanie Jones over explosive fallout behind It Ends With Us, alleging breach of trust, privacy violations, and a smear campaign fueling the Baldwin-Lively feud.

The behind-the-scenes drama of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s film It Ends With Us has exploded into a legal war — with PR powerhouse Stephanie Jones now at the center of the firestorm.

Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni’s production company, has filed a bombshell lawsuit against Jones, the founder of Jonesworks, accusing her of breaching contract, violating privacy laws, and fueling the conflict between the film’s two stars. At the heart of the case is a bitter fallout that started with a delicate truce between Lively and Baldoni — and ended in a string of lawsuits, leaked communications, and career-threatening allegations.

“This catastrophic sequence of events was initiated by Stephanie Jones violating the most basic of privacy rights,” said Bryan Freedman, counsel for Wayfarer. “She turned over confidential communications in a reckless act of revenge that betrayed the trust of her clients.”

The suit alleges that Jones, after being dropped by Baldoni in favor of trusted publicist Jennifer Abel, seized Abel’s work phone and shared its confidential contents with Lively’s PR team. Those contents, Wayfarer claims, were later weaponized in Lively’s legal case, accusing Baldoni and his team of orchestrating a smear campaign.

The allegations stem from behind-the-scenes chaos in mid-2024, as Baldoni’s camp grew frustrated with Jones’ perceived prioritization of celebrity clients like Dwayne Johnson and Jeff Bezos over Wayfarer. When Abel left to start her own PR firm, Jones allegedly tried to block Wayfarer’s crisis strategist, Melissa Nathan, from taking over. In retaliation, Wayfarer says, Jones “inserted herself” back into the campaign despite being disconnected from their internal planning.

Abel has filed her own countersuit, claiming fraud and invasion of privacy, arguing that Jones not only accessed her phone unlawfully but also shared sensitive documents without consent.

Jones’ camp, meanwhile, paints a very different picture. In a statement, attorney Kristin Tahler described the lawsuit as “a work of fiction masquerading as counterclaims,” adding that Abel and Nathan had conspired to sabotage Jones’ business from within and steal her clients.

“These facts are backed up by dozens of messages and cannot be credibly disputed,” Tahler said. “Abel and others attempted to destroy a business Ms. Jones spent decades building.”

The dispute highlights a rare power struggle not between actors or producers, but the publicists hired to control the narrative. Wayfarer’s suit alleges that Jones’ actions nearly derailed the film’s release, which had already been marred by escalating tensions between Lively and Baldoni.

Sony Pictures and other stakeholders reportedly scrambled to contain the fallout before the film hit theaters, desperate to avoid a full-blown media war.

“This should have been about the film. Instead, it became about betrayal,” Wayfarer’s legal team argued.

The legal battle continues to unfold, with both sides claiming the other is distorting the truth. But one thing’s clear: the off-screen drama of It Ends With Us has become just as captivating — and damaging — as what audiences were meant to see.

Tags: Stephanie Jones, Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, Wayfarer Studios, It Ends With Us, Hollywood lawsuits, PR feud, Jennifer Abel, Jonesworks, entertainment scandal
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