This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit cocomocoe.substack.com

Everything in this video and article is based on opinion and everything is alleged. I am not a journalist or lawyer. I always encourage you to do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

On December 21st, 2024 the New York Times published an expose article, detailing the online retaliation Blake Lively faced after raising concerns about on-set misconduct that she and others allegedly faced at the hands of co-star and producer, Justin Baldoni, along with his business partner and co-producer, Jamey Heath.

News broke that Lively was filing a 70-page complaint (a prerequisite to a lawsuit) which detailed her team’s findings of a sinister smear campaign at the hands of publicists and social contractors hired by Justin Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.

I highlighted and annotated the 70-page court filing, which you can read for free on my Substack here.

Today’s episode of “Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe” will be a complete breakdown of the court filing along with my own thoughts and theories as someone who works in marketing and PR.

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni Introduction - 0:00

Going through the 70-page lawsuit filing - 8:26

“The Protections for Return to Production” Letter from Blake Lively to Wayfairer in January 2023 - 11:21

Billionaire Steve Sarowitz who BL names in the lawsuit - 17:36

What is astroturfing - 18:50

Justin Baldoni’s PR Team Outlines Plan in Texts - 20:26

How Ryan Reynolds blocking Justin Baldoni was the catalyst - 22:00

Melissa Nathan’s TAG PR team proposal - 22:57

Text screenshots - 24:50

Baldoni sends Twitter thread about Hailey Bieber “mean girl” accusations - 26:39

The mysterious Texas contractor - 27:29

More screenshots - 30:30

The journalist publishing stories was the sister of the publicist hired by Baldoni - 32:10

More details of the inappropriate behavior on set - 33:55

How Blake Lively was set up in the press - 48:15

More screenshots of messages - 50:37

The retaliatory plan in lead up to movie release - 52:29

Lawsuit mention of Taylor Swift and her fans - 55:10

Manipulating of journalists and the press - 56:00

Saying goodbye to free listeners - 59:01*

EXTENDED EPISODE ON SUBSTACK:

Them talking about suppressing videos that reflect badly on JB in the FYP - 1:00:00

Other women had filed HR complaints against JB - 1:03:27

More journalist manipulation - 1:04:31

Acknowledging BL silence - 1:05:19

The timing - 1:07:53

Putting on our Molly McPherson PR hats - 1:11:05

The Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun connection - 1:15:30

TAG Management PR patterns? - 01:17:09

JB Publicist Speaks Out - 01:19:00

Concluding Thoughts - 1:25:33

Become a paying member of the best-selling Substack to unlock the extended episodes of the podcast: cocomocoe.substack.com

REFERENCE LINKS:

Free break down of the lawsuit on Substack: https://cocomocoe.substack.com/p/blake-lively-vs-justin-baldoni-i

My Amazon Storefront for Creators: https://amzn.to/3ltAuqs

Baldoni’s publicist responds: https://www.deuxmoi.world/latest/publicist-jennifer-abel-allegedly-breaks-silence-on-explosive-text-messages-in-baldoni-lawsuitist

My last podcast on “It Ends With Us” movie: https://cocomocoe.substack.com/p/it-ends-with-us-pr-fiasco-or-genius?utm_source=publication-search

“Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe” is a marketing podcast that covers internet and pop culture but from a branding angle. Coco Mocoe is a trend forecaster and marketing expert who loves diving deep into why things go viral on the internet and how you can apply that to your own brand or creator journey.

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