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Stephanie Jones accused It Ends With Us actor Justin Baldoni’s publicist, Jennifer Abel, of document theft and client poaching.
It Ends With Us was released in August. (Photo Credits: YouTube)
All is not well between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Blake has filed a lawsuit, in California, where she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment. Amid this, a report claimed that Baldoni’s publicist, Jennifer Abel, left her previous position following allegations of bullying. His former publicist, Stephanie Jones, founder of the PR firm Jonesworks, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Jennifer Abel, accusing her of breach of contract. The lawsuit also mentions the name of Baldoni’s crisis manager, Melissa Nathan, and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.
Stephanie Jones’ lawsuit centres on allegations of client poaching, document theft, and a smear campaign against actress Blake Lively. She alleged that Jennifer Abel’s actions were part of a larger scheme to tarnish her reputation and secure high-profile clients, including Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.
TheWrap quoted a source close to Jennifer Abel, who stated that she left Jonesworks due to the toxic environment. The insider shared that the former employee of the PR firm decided to quit over “bullying” behaviour from Jones towards her colleague Matthew Mitchell. The latter was Abel’s partner on accounts for Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni and the “majority of other clients, which she also references in her texts” after her exit.
Jennifer Abel, after she resigned from Jonesworks on July 10, started her PR firm, RWA Communications. Her last working day was scheduled for August 23. However, she was fired from the company two days prior, on August 21, after accusations surfaced claiming that she tried to client information and some documents.
Talking about Wayfarer Studio and Baldoni leaving Jonesworks, the source stated, “They were not ‘stolen,’ nor were any other clients,” adding that the others who left the PR firm were Abel’s longtime clients from her years prior to joining Jonesworks. One client left Jonesworks because Abel “had personally signed while at Jonesworks who had no relationship with Stephanie Jones.”
In her lawsuit filed on Tuesday, December 24, Stephanie Jones claimed that Jennifer Abel and crisis manager Melissa Nathan, together with Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, implemented an aggressive media smear campaign against Blake Lively. In the court documents, she also mentioned that Abel stole 70 confidential documents, encouraged her clients to leave her firm and spread false rumours against Jones.