Blake Lively's 'It Ends With Us' allegations, 'astroturfing' and when fans feel manipulated

When "It Ends With Us" was released, the press tour was, well, a mess. That disaster and the surrounding back-and-forth that played out in the press is now at the center of a legal complaint filed by the film's star, Blake Lively, who says she was the subject of a smear campaign at the time of the movie's release.

Over the weekend, Lively accused her "It Ends With Us" co-star and director Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign to cover it. Lively's lawyers claim Baldoni tried to "destroy" the "Gossip Girl" alum's career and privately conceal abuse of his own. USA TODAY has reached out to Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman for comment.

It's part of a practice called "astroturfing," the suit alleges, and it's left fans and news readers alike questioning who is pulling the strings when it comes to their opinions of Hollywood. Baldoni hired crisis PR executive Melissa Nathan and her company The Agency Group to protect himself from Lively's possible claims becoming public, and worked with experienced publicist Jennifer Abel, who is named in the complaint.

"This Blake Lively situation has made me terrified of how easy it is to be manipulated," one person commented on X after the details of the suit emerged. "It’s crazy how we can be manipulated so easily like you don’t know what to believe anymore," another stated.

It's not the first time the internet has sided collectively against a certain star, and speaks to the ravenous effects of social media and "stan" culture. "It's important to not hold celebrities to impossible standards because these are fallible humans with inevitable flaws and shortcomings, just like the rest of us," Shana Redmond, a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, previously told USA TODAY. "What we see on social media is a small slice of who they are – we can't substitute that glamour for the whole."

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More details: Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni feuded. Next came the smear campaign, she alleges.

What is astroturfing?

"Astroturfing" was described in the filing as "the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group."

The complaint includes several alleged instances where Baldoni's teams attempted to plant stories to "shift" the narrative in support of the actor. According to the filing, Abel and Nathan had a text exchange when Daily Mail published a story with the headline "Is Blake Lively set to be CANCELLED? String of 'hard to watch' videos that have surfaced following 'tone deaf' Q&A to promote 'It Ends With Us.'"

"You really outdid yourself with this piece," Abel said. Nathan responded, "That’s why you hired me right? I’m the best."

The complaint also alleges Abel colluded with Melissa Nathan's sister, Sara Nathan, an editor-at-large at the New York Post, to plant negative stories including one in the Post-owned tabloid Page Six with the headline, "Blake Lively approved final cut of ‘It Ends With Us’ amid feud with co-star director Justin Baldoni."

The filing claims Abel wrote, "He wants to feel like she can be buried," to which Melissa Nathan replied: "You know we can bury anyone."

In another instance in the filing, Baldoni texts Abel a social media post and thread that accused Hailey Bieber of bullying behavior and wrote: "This is what we would need."

How common is the weaponization of fans?

The claims in Lively's suit left fans question if they'd been manipulated in the past. In instances where the internet sided with one celeb over another, fans wondered, were their opinions of the controversies really their own?

For some, the moment is reminiscent of the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, in which he won his defamation lawsuit while she partially won her counterclaim. Heard alleged abuse, so did Depp, and social media users on TikTok tried to make sense of it; Heard was mostly villainized online.

She told NBC News Monday morning in reaction to Lively's case: “Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.’ I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”

Plus the viral nature of social media means platforms can elevate questionable content. It can also turn breed unhealthy levels of fandom.

"'Stan culture' has a different intensity when a celebrity can be virtually accessed any time of day, any day of the year," Redmond says.

All the allegations: Blake Lively details unwanted kissing, smear tactics and more in complaint

Justin Baldoni's past further complicates the allegations

Baldoni has long been considered one of Hollywood's most vocal leading men when it comes to decrying violence against women and the pervasive forms of masculinity that plagued the entertainment industry at the height of the #MeToo movement nearly a decade ago.

He co-hosts a Webby Award-nominated podcast "Man Enough" with writer Liz Plank, which describes itself as "a safe environment for a range of perspectives" to candidly discuss masculinity.

His Instagram bio includes a note about domestic violence prevention. Earlier this month, he accepted a 2024 Voices of Solidarity Award from Vital Voices, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending sexual and domestic violence based in Washington.

"When (figures) show themselves to be something other than what you imagine, disappointment is expected," Redmond says. "And it can happen often as we're constantly inundated with new media meant to hook us and make us fall for someone."

What Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni say now

Lively claims that Baldoni engaged in predatory behavior, which was sexual in nature, writing in the complaint that she and other "It Ends With Us" cast and crew members "experienced invasive unwelcome, unprofessional and sexually inappropriate behavior."

In a statement provided to The New York Times, Freedman called Lively's allegations "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media." He said that Baldoni's production company Wayfarer Studios "only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity."

As this development plays out in the public eye, Lively has the support of one influencer figure, whose opinion likely means a lot to the biggest fans of the film: Colleen Hoover, the author behind "It Ends With Us."In a message posted to her Instagram Story Saturday, the author wrote: "@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met. Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt."

This story has been updated with new information.

Contributing: Jay Stahl, Edward Segarra and Pamela Avila

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blake Lively accuses Justin Baldoni of 'astroturfing'