Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are some of the major stars of It Ends With Us who find themselves currently embroiled in arguably the most unbelievable controversy in all of Hollywood-a big lawsuit that includes allegations against him of sexual harassment in California. And from these developments, there started to come some allegations involving his former publicist, one Jennifer Abel, who was reportedly leaving her position under very controversial circumstances.
Recent reports indicate that Abel departed from her role after facing accusations of bullying. Stephanie Jones, the founder of the PR firm Jonesworks and Abel’s predecessor, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Abel, claiming breach of contract. The lawsuit also implicates Baldoni’s crisis manager, Melissa Nathan, and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.
The meat of Jones’ lawsuit comprises serious allegations of client poaching, document theft, and a smear campaign against Blake Lively. Jones contends that Abel’s actions were part of a broader strategy to damage her reputation while securing high-profile clients, including Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.
A source close to Abel says the reason for her departure was due to a toxic work environment at Jonesworks-particularly citing bullying from Jones against her colleague Matthew Mitchell. The insider shared that Mitchell, who worked accounts for Baldoni, was similarly impacted by the allegedly hostile atmosphere.
Since quitting on July 10, Abel opened her own PR operation, RWA Communications. While her last official day was supposed to be August 23, she was apparently fired two days before that with allegations she tried to abscond with client information and documents.
Regarding the situation with Wayfarer Studios and Baldoni’s exit from Jonesworks, sources have clarified that no clients were “stolen” during this transition. They noted that many clients who left were longstanding associations of Abel from her previous tenure before joining Jonesworks.
In the lawsuit filed on December 24, Stephanie Jones claims Jennifer Abel and crisis manager Melissa Nathan, along with Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, engineered a media smear campaign against Blake Lively. The court documents detail allegations that Abel stole 70 confidential documents, urged her clients to desert Jonesworks, and spread malicious rumors about Jones.
