This is Justin Baldoni‘s first step in taking back the narrative.
It has been revealed by The Hollywood Reporter that the Jane The Virgin actor hired expert crisis PR phenom Melissa Nathan as he deals with the fallout from the It Ends With Us rift. You may not know her name out the gate, but she is the woman responsible for taking care of Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial. So yeah, she knows what she’s doing.
In case you missed it, at the New York premiere of IEWU in early August, Baldoni avoided the cast and only posed his wife Emily — Blake, Brandon Sklenar, Isabela Ferrer, and Jenny Slate seemed cozy and chummy chatting with press. Justin also avoided joining his co-star and author Colleen Hoover to intro the film at the screening which was odd. His lack of presence here is what really got the internet talking!!
He also ditched additional promo and the London premiere — but considering the headlines AND the entire cast unfollowing him on Instagram, that was to be expected.
Headlines attacking Baldoni have been aplenty over the last week, where they’ve highlighted that he was allegedly borderline abusive to Blake during filming. Considering his entire brand is being a kind, good, emotionally intelligent man, this was shocking to many fans. Soon after those sources did their sharing, it was revealed the real alleged center of the feud between Blake and Justin was within the final cut of the movie.
Related: Justin Baldoni Talks Friction On Set With Cast!
Justin has the book rights, his production company Wayfarer Studios was producing the project — and the actress still took it upon herself to hire a separate editor, reportedly Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Shane Reid, to cut her version. It was unclear if any of this was used in theaters, but the film is credited to editors Oona Flaherty and Robb Sullivan.
Curious to see what headlines and statements will come out in the days to come. How do U feel about Justin hiring help?? SOUND OFF in the comments.
[Image via Phil Lewis/MEGA/WENN]