Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni & How The Internet Normalised The Hollywood Smear Campaign

Thank you so much to Jose Cuervo for sponsoring this episode. Buy Jose Cuervo here: https://www.danmurphys.com.au/list/jose-cuervo

In this week's episode, I explore the Hollywood smear campaign through the lends of the 'It Ends With Us' legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. I look at the history of smear campaigns, politically and culturally, before questioning how the internet's mob mentality and our obsessive pursuit for virality aid in conducting these targeted attacks.

Timestamps:

5:47 Definition & history of smear campaigns

7:34 Bye Sister (lol of course)

8:34 Political smear campaigns

9:57 Red Scare

11:57 Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni: Breaking down the lawsuits

21:46 How and why social media normalised the smear campaign

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Sources:

https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/smear-campaign/44721 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTqM6I-Inek&t= 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/political-smear-campaigns-arent-new-but-trump-takes-them-to-a-whole-new-level/2020/05/19/007932f2-99c2-11ea-89fd-28fb313d1886_story.html 

https://www.npr.org/2008/06/12/91441620/obama-campaign-opens-anti-smear-web-site 

https://www.uwyo.edu/ahc/collections/topics/hollywood10.html 

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/opinion/12mann.html 

https://variety.com/2003/film/markets-festivals/katharine-hepburn-1907-2003-1117888652/ 

https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a14455448/directors-harvey-weinstein-blacklist-mira-sorvino-ashley-judd/  

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/15/peter-jackson-harvey-weinstein-ashley-judd-mira-sorvino 

https://www.tiktok.com/@itendswithusmovie/video/7400133808219032878?lang=en 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/business/media/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-it-ends-with-us.html 

https://www.tmz.com/2024/12/21/blake-lively-sues-justin-baldoni-sexual-harassment-retaliation-on-it-ends-with-us-set/ 

https://dam.tmz.com/document/3b/o/2024/12/24/3b19ecedd98a4a3c8e78130b817e280e.pdf 

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/justin-baldoni-dropped-wme-blake-lively-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-1235214856/ 

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Justin-Baldoni-LASC.pdf 

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-blake-lively-allegations-story-1236263099/ 

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/01/blake-lively-sues-justin-baldoni-alleging-harassment-and-smear-campaign-ntwnfb 

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/justin-baldoni-files-lawsuit-new-york-times-story/story?id=117243164 

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/johnny-depp-amber-heard-verdict-entertainment-1235283022/ 

https://centennialworld.com/selena-gomez-bella-hadid-kylie-jenner-hailey-bieber-full-breakdown-tiktok-eyebrow-drama/ 

https://x.com/liareigns/status/1633993711431327745 

https://www.tiktok.com/@duolingo/video/7208655051437460782 

https://x.com/kattenbarge/status/1634218867399467009 

https://centennialworld.com/hailey-bieber-witch-hunt-brands-capitalising-on-female-rivalry-for-social-media-marketing/