A former publicist is dropping the dime on what it’s REALLY like to work with Justin Baldoni… and she has nothing but good things to say! You hear that, Blake Lively?!
Amid the ongoing and increasingly controversial It Ends With Us brouhaha, an ex-PR flack named Alegra Kastens took to TikTok on Friday to reveal her past history with Baldoni. It wasn’t a takedown or anything like that. Far from it! In fact, it was a glowing review of Justin as a person and a professional. Seriously, she is REALLY in his corner!
Kastens began her 99-second-long video by saying:
“I was the publicist to Justin Baldoni when he was launching his app Belly Bump. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to say something on TikTok or not, but after watching how the promotion of this film has been handled, I wanted to say something and talk about my experience working with him.”
And then she continued:
“I experienced some awful men in Hollywood as a publicist, and Justin was not one of them. He was kind, he was respectful, and he really cared deeply about his impact on the world. At the time, when I was a publicist, I worked at a boutique PR firm. We pitched him, and he took a meeting with us, and he chose us — the boutique firm — instead of some massive firm because he believed in our connection to the cause and his work.”
She then linked her past experiences with Justin to how he has been promoting IEWU lately:
“He lived and breathed advocacy. He cared about causes, and it was a part of every single thing that he did. You can tell that by his promotion of It Ends With Us, and how seriously he’s taking it, which I’m grateful for because this is not some flowery rom-com.”
And she contextualized it in the realm of other Hollywood people:
“I know what you’re thinking: that some of the best people are actually assholes. That they are virtue signalers, and they are actually terrible people. But I just don’t think that about Justin. Even though I haven’t worked for him for years, I can only speak to my experience of him, and that experience was never anything but lovely.”
Before following up by delivering some BIG shade at Blake for how she’s been promoting the film:
“He so clearly cares about DV, and portraying it accurately. I will say that I don’t like the way that Blake has been promoting the movie. ‘Grab your friends and your florals’? This is not a night at the Taylor Swift Eras Tour. This is a real-life trauma that many women have endured, and it needs to be handled with care.”
Wow!
Ch-ch-check out the full video (below):
@alegrakastens I encountered some awful men in hollywood as a publicist and @Justin Baldoni was not one of them — this is just my experience #justinbaldoni #itendswithus
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[Image via Lia Toby/WENN/CBS Mornings/YouTube]