Amber Heard criticises social media in response to Blake Lively lawsuit against Justin Baldoni

US actress Lively accused her co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment, hostile work environment and embarking on a plan to damage her reputation.

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Amber Heard has claimed social media spreads lies more quickly than it does the truth, in the wake of Blake Lively’s complaint against her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni.

US actress Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, hostile work environment and embarking on a “multi-tiered plan” to damage her reputation with claims of a targeted social media campaign.

The legal complaint states that Baldoni, 40, hired crisis communications specialist Melissa Nathan, the same publicist who actor Johnny Depp is said to have hired during his high-profile defamation trial against Heard in 2022.

In a statement given to NBC News, Aquaman star Heard said: “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 first-hand and up close.

“It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”

Depp successfully sued ex-wife Heard over a 2018 article she wrote for The Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser.

At the time, Heard said the jury’s verdict “sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated”.

Bryan Freedman, a lawyer representing Baldoni and the other named defendants, said Lively’s claims were “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious”, adding that the studio “made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film”.

It Ends With Us, based on Colleen Hoover’s novel of the same name, is about a woman’s pursuit of a loving and healthy relationship, with Lively playing lead character Lily Bloom and Baldoni as her love interest Ryle Kincaid amid a backdrop of domestic violence.

After the legal action was filed, Hoover appeared to voice support for 37-year-old Lively, writing on her Instagram stories: “@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.”

Hoover posted a link to a New York Times article titled We Can Bury Anyone: Inside A Hollywood Smear Machine.

Lively’s former cast members from the 2005 film The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel, also released a joint social media statement to defend their long-time friend.

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“As Blake’s friends and sisters for over 20 years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation,” the statement said.

“Throughout the filming of It Ends With Us, we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice.”

They added: “We are struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment,” the statement continues.

“We are inspired by our sister’s courage to stand up for herself and others.”