Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson has come under the spotlight after an audio clip of her crisis public relations team discussing plans to launch an alleged ‘smear campaign’ targeting ‘The Deb’ film producer, Amanda Ghost, became public.
About the alleged smear campaign
New court filings in an ongoing legal dispute, in Los Angeles Superior Court, the actress’ PR crisis team allegedly considered creating anonymous websites accusing Ghost of “sex trafficking” and of “procuring young women for wealthy and powerful men.” A recording obtained by The Hollywood Reporter reportedly captures digital strategist Jed Wallace instructing entertainment publicist Melissa Nathan on how to frame serious allegations against Ghost and that their campaign can’t make it about “oh, she’s a b***h, she sucks...” He goes on to add, “It’s, like, it’s got to be really, really heavy and connected to something that heavy.”Nathan’s The Agency Group, is said to be a top PR firm in the entertainment industry, whose clients have included Drake and Johnny Depp, and has frequently worked with lawyer Bryan Freedman. As per the report, Freedman was not only Wilson’s then-counsel, but has also been in the headlines over his involvement in the ‘It Ends With Us’ legal saga.
The Justin Baldoni link
In a separate case, actress Blake Lively filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Wallace, Nathan and attorney Bryan Freedman, alleging a coordinated smear campaign tied to the production of the film ‘It Ends With Us’, which was directed by and starred Justin Baldoni.Responding to the latest allegations, Wallace’s representatives said, “The judge in the ‘It Ends With Us’ case sealed the audio file to prevent exactly this sort of out-of-context speculation.” In his statement, he also denied participating in any smear campaign against Lively “or anyone else.”
Link to Johnny Depp’s case
Ghost’s attorney, Camille Vasquez, who also represented Johnny Depp in his legal battle against Amber Heard, said the evidence contradicts Wilson’s previous denials of involvement in the alleged smear websites.“Rebel Wilson has repeatedly denied any involvement in the creation of the smear websites, not just on television but in her sworn legal testimony,” Vasquez said in a statement. “We had long suspected that she not only contributed to the malicious sites but that she was the driving force behind them.”
