Blake Lively filed a complaint last Friday against her ‘It Ends With Us’ co-star and director Justin Baldoni, accusing her of sexual harassment. The complaint also alleges that Baldoni’s PR team conducted a retaliatory defamation campaign to damage Lively’s reputation and disrupt her business ventures.
Lively’s lawsuit also alleges that Baldoni was astroturfing, a manipulative tactic designed to create the illusion of “grassroots support” or opposition. Astroturfing takes its name from synthetic grass and involves creating a false sense of public consensus.
According to the complaint, Baldoni’s troubled PR firm, The Agency Group (TAG PR), ran a social media campaign portraying Lively as “controlling” and “difficult” during the film’s production.
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“I hope my legal action will help expose these horrific retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak out about misconduct and help protect others who may be targeted,” Lively said. the new York Times,
PR expert explains what astroturfing is amid Baldoni’s allegations
Boston University professor and expert on disinformation Dr. John Donovan told people magazine“It’s about showing off to the crowd. When social media accounts – whether fake or real – are coordinated to push a story, it is astroturfing. These campaigns are not organic. They are designed to look like real polls, but they are completely fabricated.
“It’s not just bots anymore. Real people are often paid or incentivized to post coordinated content,” Camargo explained. “This makes it difficult to distinguish between genuine engagement and fabricated campaigns.”
“Whether it’s corporate politics, sports, or Hollywood, you will see astroturfing. For example, if you want to generate buzz about a movie, you can pay for people to come to the theater or post with a hashtag on social media to get things going. Even though it seems harmless, it’s still astroturfing,” the PR expert said.
Responding to the allegations, Baldoni’s attorney Brian Friedman issued a statement on Monday, December 23, defending TAG PR’s actions. “They acted like any other crisis management firm when a client faced threats from two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources,” Friedman said.
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Per Friedman’s comments, Baldoni’s legal team has also strongly denied the claims, calling them “false” and a “deliberately cowardly move intended to hurt the public.”
Interestingly, Baldoni appointed Melissa Nathan, a crisis PR manager, who previously represented Johnny Depp, as well as publicist Jennifer Abel, during the release of the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestseller.
