Happy New Year from The Rest Is PR! In the first episode of 2025, Jacki and Lyle pick up where they left off in 2024, as Justin Baldoni fights back in his ongoing showdown with Blake Lively. The pair have now essentially exchanged lawsuits, albeit Baldoni's initial target is a somewhat surprising one. Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni and his publicity team earlier this week, alleging sexual harassment on the set of the film and a scheme to 'destroy' her reputation. A legal complaint outlining the same allegations was filed last month. Baldoni, meanwhile, has fought back by filing a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times, the publication which first reported Lively's legal complaint, accusing their journalists of working with the actress to damage his reputation and ignoring evidence which contradicted her claims. For their part, the New York Times has denied these allegations and said their original story was 'meticulously and responsibly reported'. Baldoni's lawsuit was filed alongside nine other plaintiffs, including his publicists Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan, whose text messages were obtained by Lively and allegedly contained a message from Nathan claiming 'we can bury anyone' in relation to Lively. In this episode, Jacki and Lyle read some of your comments from the previous episode, which rightly take the podcast to task over Lively's initial move being a legal complaint and not a lawsuit. Many of the comments continue to perceive Lively as a manipulator, with at least one making the excellent point that these suits have conveniently been filed at a time when the film that originated this feud, It Ends With Us, having recently been released on Netflix in the US and due for streaming release in the UK this month. There has even been speculation that the suit and prospective counter-suit by Lively and Baldoni respectively could lead to a battle over the film's rights, with Lyle arguing that the closest example he has ever seen to this situation is the continuing uncertainty surrounding the relationship between Harry Potter megastars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, and the character's creator J.K. Rowling due to the latter's incendiary views on trans rights. Jacki and Lyle analyse everything surrounding this latest development, such as Baldoni's bold move to take the New York Times to court, the public backing or otherwise of Lively by mainstream celebrities, with Jacki citing a lack of public support from the likes of Taylor Swift, and ultimately the skewed public perception of PR professionals as a result of this ongoing saga. We're back with a bang in 2025, and we're delighted to have you with us!

Artwork & music by Lyle Fulton

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