Blake Lively Backlash was ‘a gift’ to Justin Baldoni: PR Expert

The reported breach has made headlines in recent weeks and led to a re-examination of Lively’s past, with many criticizing the star’s previous behavior.

But while Lively now tries to salvage her reputation, Baldoni navigated the tide of public opinion with a move from the celebrity scandal playbook — hiring a PR crisis team.

The actor and director, who rose to fame starring in the sitcom “Jane the Virgin,” enlisted the help of veteran PR manager Melissa Nathan, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“This was the right move for him,” Megan Balyk, PR expert and vice president of Jive PR + Digital, told Business Insider. “We always recommend hiring a reputation management firm before you need it.”

“I think it shows that Justin doesn’t trust Blake and thinks he’s going to try to control the narrative. He’s trying to make sure this outcome doesn’t negatively affect his career,” Balyk added.

Eric Schiffer, president of Reputation Management Consultants, said one of the first things Baldoni would likely have done with his new crisis team was to present “what really happened behind the scenes.”

The public has not yet had a complete picture of this.

It wasn’t until people noticed that the pair weren’t interacting during the film’s promotional tour this month that people started digging into what happened and came up with a variety of wild theories.

TMZ and Page Six have since reported on the tension on the set, while unnamed sources told The Hollywood Reporter that other problems arose in post-production when two different cuts of the film surfaced.

Baldoni should fill in the blanks for his PR team, confirming or denying reported rumors and giving his team the full picture, Schiffer said.

“Once you have that, you can formulate a battle plan,” he continued. “A big part of it is making sure you don’t detonate issues that can blow up.”

“But if things are favorable, the client may benefit from ‘leaking’ the truth if it’s not already there,” Schiffer added.

There has been some online speculation that journalist Kjersti Flaa may have been part of a smear campaign against Lively after she re-uploaded a 2016 interview with the actor to YouTube and captioned it: “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to I quit my job.”

The now-viral interview showed Lively acting hostile towards the reporter after congratulating the star on her pregnancy.

Speaking to MailOnline, Flaa said of her motivation for sharing the footage: ‘It’s time people who behave badly in Hollywood, or anywhere else, are called out for it. It’s not okay, even if you’re rich and famous.”

There’s no evidence that the audience’s sudden crowd of Livelys is Baldoni’s crisis squad in action.

Instead, as Schiffer put it, Baldoni “got a gift because of the distracting components that came out” about the former “Gossip Girl” star.

“The last thing Justin is going to want to do is redirect that attention to himself,” he said.

“The rule is, if the other side is self-destructing because of bad choices, you don’t change the subject. You let it play out,” he added.

Balyk said the actions Baldoni has already taken have helped give him the image of someone down-to-earth with the interests of those who might be connected to the film in mind.

Recent social media posts show him with his family talking about what inspired him to get into acting and surprise fans at US screenings.

Meanwhile, in interviews, he spoke fondly of Lively and pointed to “all the women I made this movie for.”

While much has been made of the fact that Baldoni’s new crisis team previously represented Johnny Depp during his high-profile battle against Amber Heard, Balyk said that probably has more to do with the fact that Baldoni he needs a heavyweight to fight his corner, given that Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds likely have an “equally strong PR team that’s probably on standby.”

“While Melissa Nathan has handled controversial cases like the Johnny Depp trial, her expertise in the entertainment industry is unmatched, which is necessary given that one of Hollywood’s most powerful couples has a direct hand in film she said.

As for how Baldoni should proceed, Schiffer said he just needs to “let things unfold.”

“When it comes down to it, Justin has a hit movie. Right now, the focus isn’t on him, it’s on Blake and her choices, and that’s where I suggest she try to keep it,” he added.