The disaster administration crew that represented actor-director Justin Baldoni amid his alleged smear marketing campaign in opposition to co-star Blake Energetic seems to have hyperlinks to a number of different celebrities on the middle of main scandals lately.
Baldoni’s relationship with Melissa Nathan, a publicist who focuses on disaster administration, has come beneath scrutiny after Energetic filed a authorized criticism accusing Baldoni and associates of participating in a “retaliatory social manipulation campaign” in opposition to his “It Ends With Us” castmate.
Nathan and her public relations agency, The Company Group PR, are identified for specializing in messy conditions, together with disaster and fame administration.
Nathan labored with Johnny Depp throughout his 2022 defamation trial in opposition to ex-wife Amber Heard.
Earlier than, throughout and after the trial, Heard confronted a deluge of on-line harassment from Depp followers, who banded collectively beneath the hashtag #JusticeForJohnnyDepp. Ultimately, the jury decided that Heard had defamed Depp and awarded him $15 million in damages.
AMMAR ABD RABBO through Getty Photographs
In accordance with The New York Instances and The Hollywood Reporter, The Company Group PR has additionally represented a variety of celebrities who’ve been at the middle of authorized battles and public controversies.
On its web site, the company boasts that its work “redefines the rules of reputation management,” with “years of success behind some of the most noteworthy, high-profile crisis and litigation events in recent history.”
The corporate’s roster of purchasers is alleged to incorporate rappers Drake and Travis Scott, along with YouTuber-turned-pro fighter Logan Paul.
This yr, rival rapper Kendrick Lamar accused Drake of getting intercourse with minors in a collection of diss tracks. In a November authorized criticism, Drake accused recording large Common Music Group of serving to Lamar defame the “Certified Lover Boy” rapper by releasing the allegedly libelous tracks.
Cole Burston through Getty Photographs
Scott and live performance colossus Reside Nation are nonetheless caught in civil litigation over the 2021 AstroWorld Competition tragedy in Houston, the place a crowd crush resulted in 10 concertgoers’ deaths and lots of of accidents.
Paul is going through a variety of authorized points. His beverage firm, Prime Hydration, is the goal of a number of lawsuits, together with allegations of trademark infringement and a multimillion-dollar breach-of-contract dispute.
Nathan even has a Donald Trump connection, beforehand fielding press inquiries for the president-elect’s youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, throughout his first run for workplace, within the 2016 presidential race, based on Politico.
Representatives of Nathan and The Company Group PR didn’t instantly reply to HuffPost’s request Monday for remark concerning their consumer listing.
Baldoni appeared to be looking for out somebody with a knack for fame rehabilitation when he employed Nathan and her company in August. On the time, he was contending with an array of adverse rumors about his conduct throughout the making of “It Ends With Us.”
After hiring Nathan, a PR proxy battle between Baldoni and Energetic appeared to ensue. Energetic started to face a slew of adverse press, with lots of the stories drawing from years-old press appearances that had painted the actor as impolite and out of contact. Others criticized the star for having an overly cheery method to selling a movie whose topic is home abuse.
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Energetic’s go well with in opposition to Baldoni and his manufacturing firm, Wayfarer Studios, alleges that the adverse media consideration was the results of a coordinated smear marketing campaign which was orchestrated by Nathan.
As proof, the submitting consists of textual content messages alleged to be between Baldoni, Nathan and his private publicist, Jennifer Abel. In one of many alleged exchanges included within the submitting, a sender stated to be Nathan tells her consumer, “You know we can bury anyone.”
