Blake Lively has recruited a new member to her team in preparation for her legal battle with Justin Baldoni. The ‘It Ends With Us’ actress has strengthened her public image with a significant hire: a former CIA agent as her crisis public relations manager to help her enhance her defense in the cross-lawsuits filed by the actress and the director and co-star in the film.
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The controversy erupted publicly last December after Lively announced that she had filed a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, director and co-star of ‘It Ends With Us’, for sexual harassment and attempting to destroy her reputation.
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This information appeared in the newspaper The New York Times, which also ended up being dragged into the litigation as Baldoni reacted by first suing the newspaper for defamation and then filing a countersuit against Blake, extending it to her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million, for defamation and extortion.
Who is the former CIA employee that Blake Lively hired for her case against Justin Baldoni?
This prestigious professional is none other than Nick Shapiro, who was the Deputy Chief of Staff at the CIA, the United States intelligence service, and the principal advisor to John Brennan, former director of the mentioned agency. His impressive resume includes more than 15 years of experience in crisis management, national security, and strategic communications in the White House, as stated on the website of the NGO he is part of, All Hands and Hearts, whose mission is to assist citizens in the event of a disaster.
In addition to having been a federal agent, Shapiro also worked in the White House as a senior assistant for counterterrorism and national security. In fact, he became the spokesperson for this area in Barack Obama’s administration.
The legal team of the actress, from the firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, spoke about this new hiring with the outlet Page Six, saying that the team “hired Mr. Shapiro to advise her on legal communication strategy in the ongoing lawsuit for sexual harassment and retaliation taking place in the Southern District of New York.”
The trial against Baldoni is expected to take place in a year (in March 2026).