{"id":1236135226,"date":"2025-02-13T08:59:15","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T16:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/?p=1236135226"},"modified":"2025-02-13T11:30:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T19:30:29","slug":"justin-baldoni-alleged-fixer-jed-wallace-bryan-freedman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/business\/business-news\/justin-baldoni-alleged-fixer-jed-wallace-bryan-freedman-1236135226\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Baldoni\u2019s Alleged Fixer Is Fighting Back. Who Is He?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\tOn Jan. 21, Blake Lively\u2019s legal team petitioned a Texas court to depose Jed Wallace. The attorneys say he\u2019s a key player in the alleged smear campaign she believes Justin Baldoni enacted to counter her claims that he engaged in unprofessional and sexually harassing conduct while they worked together on their summer 2024 hit It Ends With Us.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tThe filing noted that Wallace, 54, who resides in an affluent area south of Austin, runs a crisis consultancy for \u201chigh-profile and high-net worth clients, including by contracting with other public relations and brand management firms to perform discrete work.\u201d It adds that he specializes in \u201cexecuting confidential and \u2018untraceable\u2019 campaigns across various social media platforms (including TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, and X) to shape public perception of his clients and their adversaries and to perpetuate those perceptions by, among other things, creating social media accounts with inauthentic users.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tLawyers for Lively contended that Wallace \u201cweaponized a digital army around the country, including in New York and Los Angeles, to create, seed, manipulate, and advance disparaging content that appeared to be authentic on social media platforms and internet chat forums.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tOn Feb. 4, Wallace fought back, filing<\/a> a multimillion-dollar defamation suit in Texas federal court accusing Lively of defamation for her claims. \u201cNeither Wallace nor [his firm] had anything to do with the alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, failure to investigate or aiding and abetting the alleged harassment or alleged retaliation,\u201d argued his lawyer. The filing describes Wallace\u2019s operation as a \u201ccrisis mitigation firm engaged by clients to help navigate real-life human crisis, threats, trauma and mental health concerns. It helps primarily families and individuals when they find themselves unjustly attacked, extorted, doxed, swatted, scammed or need help navigating through the most frightening situations.\u201d Lively\u2019s team dismissed the action as \u201cjust a publicity stunt,\u201d declaring to be \u201cpleased that Mr. Wallace has finally emerged from the shadows.\u201d Her legal representation has since pulled its Texas deposition request, apparently focusing efforts on its New York litigation, where the case is now heading toward a 2026 federal trial, and on Feb. 12 subpoenaed<\/a> Wallace as part of the discovery process. “We look forward to investigating more about Jed Wallace\u2019s entire business model and what else he was doing to distract from the very real sexual harassment and retaliation claims made by Ms. Lively,” her attorneys announced in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tPerhaps by design, Wallace has to this point maintained a negligible public footprint, with little known about his operations or client base. On his since-deleted LinkedIn profile, he positioned<\/a> himself as a \u201chired gun\u201d with a \u201cproprietary formula for defining artists and trends.\u201d His role was first revealed when earlier legal filings showed communications between representatives for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer praising how social media had turned against Lively and her husband, actor-producer Ryan Reynolds, \u201clargely [due] to Jed and his team\u2019s efforts to shift the narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tDocumentation in Lively\u2019s litigation and complaint filed with California\u2019s Civil Rights Department in 2024 shows that executives working at and on behalf of Wayfarer were in contact with Wallace about these efforts. Lively\u2019s lawyers appear to believe that his consultancy did its work for Wayfarer or else via its crisis publicist Melissa Nathan, whose own firm\u2019s other clients include Johnny Depp and Jake Paul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tWallace has his own relationship with Bryan Freedman, the prominent attorney representing Baldoni and Wayfarer. He told<\/a> Variety<\/em> that while he wouldn\u2019t describe Wallace as a fixer, he\u2019s an extraordinarily adept and well-resourced operator across international jurisdictions. (Both that publication as well as The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> spoke to individuals who compared Wallace to Ray Donovan, the eponymous problem-solver for entertainment elites on the Showtime <\/em>series.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tThe extent of Freedman\u2019s professional involvement with Wallace is unclear. The lawyer\u2019s own crisis publicist briefly included Wallace in correspondence during the 2024 reporting of a THR <\/em>profile<\/a> that Freedman considered adversarial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tNeither Wallace nor Freedman agreed to speak for this coverage. Instead, Freedman, decrying unspecified inaccuracies, suggested that because Disney and Marvel are advertisers with THR<\/em> and its parent company, Penske Media Corporation, that this publication is doing the bidding of Reynolds. In January, Freedman sent<\/a> a publicized letter to those companies\u2019 CEOs, contending that Reynolds had used their tentpole Deadpool & Wolverine<\/em> to unfairly mock Baldoni with a minor character called Nicepool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tLast year, a tech CEO named Christian Lanng alleged in a defamation and extortion action that Freedman\u2019s law firm \u201chired third parties to create deepfake stories\u201d by utilizing counterfeit websites and inauthentic social media accounts \u201cin an attempt to leverage a higher settlement\u201d against him. Lanng later claimed that an unnamed consultant had pseudonymously posted on X, formerly Twitter, as a fictitious character, claiming to have been sexually victimized by the chief executive and encouraging others to come forward to Freedman. This consultant\u2019s other plans purportedly included trolling on Reddit forums that would harm the opponent and his company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tIn court, Freedman has denied these claims, and he\u2019s previously told THR<\/em> it \u201csounds like a spy novel about the CIA.\u201d Now Lanng\u2019s lawyer Christopher Frost says of the Wallace revelations, \u201cwe\u2019re watching this matter closely.\u201d He adds of their own assertion of a \u201csocial media smear campaign\u201d: \u201cIf those [Lanng] allegations were met with any skepticism, I suspect there is less skepticism today,\u201d given Wallace\u2019s since-publicized connection to Freedman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tIn 2009, THR <\/em>wrote about how Freedman\u2019s representation of gossip blogger Perez Hilton (currently a vociferous<\/a> Baldoni supporter) had led him to establishing a \u201clucrative niche practice protecting celebrities and others who want defamatory statements about them removed from the Internet.\u201d At the time, Freedman noted that this subsidiary, Electronic Reputation Protection Services, tracked down anonymous posters, explaining, \u201cI\u2019ve been inundated over the past year with people wanting to clean up their reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tCrisis communications experts observe that the \u201csocial manipulation\u201d campaign Wallace allegedly performed is increasingly common across the entertainment industry, as social media now often drives traditional media\u2019s narratives and framing. \u201cIt\u2019s more prevalent than you think \u2014 even if you think it\u2019s prevalent,\u201d says one of these professionals. \u201cPeople subcontract out to Eastern Europe and India to operate these bot and sock puppet accounts. It\u2019s pennies per post.\u201d (Sometimes it even occurs in-house; in 2023, HBO CEO Casey Bloys apologized<\/a> that he and his division used fake Twitter accounts to troll TV critics.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tA digital marketing veteran who works with major celebrities explains that such work is born out of a desperate impulse: \u201cWhen traditional PR people can\u2019t kill a story, this is the obfuscation technique. It\u2019s taking a crayon and scribbling all over the picture. The goal is to make things unclear. You don\u2019t even want to look at it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tWallace\u2019s role in the offscreen drama around another production, years prior to the Baldoni-Lively scandal, reveals a further dimension to his activities. In 2021, Bam Margera, who has long publicly battled alcoholism, sued Paramount Pictures, Johnny Knoxville and others affiliated with Jackass Forever<\/em>, alleging he\u2019d been wrongfully fired from the franchise film for violating a \u201cwellness agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tMargera ultimately dropped the suit. But beforehand, lawyers for Paramount explained to the court that Jackass<\/em> production company Dickhouse tasked Wallace, who it described as \u201ca leading expert in developing and assisting in the execution of treatment and recovery plans,\u201d with managing Margera\u2019s wellness program, whose compliance determined the performer\u2019s participation in the movie. Coincidentally \u2014 or not \u2014 Freedman has also done legal work for Dickhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tTHR<\/em>\u2019s conversations with the players who deal in the high-profile end of the recovery community indicate that Wallace, whose qualifications in addiction treatment are unknown, isn\u2019t as much of an established figure in that realm as the Paramount filing suggests. However, he does possess experience handling communications for rehabs as well as working with the interventionist Heather Hayes, who was featured on A&E\u2019s Intervention<\/em>. (His name has been scrubbed from a page on her website that details her company\u2019s crisis intervention services.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tSo far, the details of Wallace\u2019s work have mostly remained a mystery. The dueling litigation indicates it likely won\u2019t remain that way for long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jed Wallace, a mysterious Hollywood operator, says he assists people who\u2019ve found themselves in need of help \u201cnavigating through the most frightening situations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257353,"featured_media":1236135267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"override_post_title":"","override_post_excerpt":"","authors":[],"contributors":[],"styled_by":[],"_image_credit":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","pmc_selected_wwd_video_media":"","pmc_top_video_source":"","pmc_top_video_duration":"","wwd_top_video_source":"","wwd_top_video_duration":"","pmc_selected_featured_media":"","pmc_selected_video_media":"","pmc_selected_variety_video_media":"","variety_top_video_source":"","variety_top_video_duration":"","pmc_featured_media_has_alt_text":true,"_pmc_featured_animated_media_id":0,"_pmc_featured_video_override_data":"","_pmc_featured_video_override_url":"","pmc-gallery-linked-gallery":{},"pmc_list_item_description":"","primary_category":"","primary_vertical":"","_mt_pmc_exclude_from_seo":"","categories":64,"subcategories":65850,"thr-review-summary-credits":"","thr-full-credit":"","thr-review-mpaa-rating":"","thr-review-running-time":"","_synopsis":"","_air_date":"00-00-00","pmc-review-type":"","pmc-review-rating":"","pmc-review-rating-out-of":"","pmc-review-snippet":"","pmc-review-title":"","pmc-review-canonical-link":"","pmc-theatrical-release-date":0,"pmc-director":"","pmc-review-image_attachment_id":0,"thr_post_headlines":"Jed Wallace, a mysterious Hollywood operator, says he assists people who\u2019ve found themselves in need of help \u201cnavigating through the most frightening situations.\u201d","_variety-sub-heading":"","mt_seo_title":"Justin Baldoni\u2019s Alleged Fixer, Jed Wallace, Is Fighting Back","mt_seo_description":"Jed Wallace, Justin Baldoni\u2019s alleged fixer, is fighting back against Blake Lively. Who is he?","mt_pmc_exclude_from_seo":"off","_pmc_canonical_override":"","instant_articles_should_submit_post":false,"_sailthru_selected_alerts":[],"_sailthru_send_override":false,"_sailthru_alert_subject":"","_sailthru_breaking_news_meta_data":[],"experimental_features_inline_styles":"","linked_video_id":"","pmc_hubs_hide_header":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-02-13T16:59:28Z","apple_news_api_id":"35fc426b-ff1f-4bd9-94fe-b2987a828bb7","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-02-13T19:30:28Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ANfxCa_8fS9mU_rKYeoKLtw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"[]","_pmc_automated_related_links":{"settings":{"module_name":"Related","hide_box":0},"data":[{"url":"","id":"","title":"","automated":true},{"url":"","id":"","title":"","automated":true}]},"overlay_text_placement":[],"overlay_text_one":[],"overlay_text_two":[],"pmc-gallery":[],"kicker_meta_block_field":[],"_pmc_kicker":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[64,65850],"tags":[819,88843,89290,72689],"post_format":[],"_post-options":[65751],"pmc_ads_suppression":[],"hashtags":[],"ep_custom_result":[],"editorial":[65861],"coauthors":[72108],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Justin Baldoni\u2019s Alleged Fixer Is Fighting Back. Who Is He?","url":"http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/business\/business-news\/justin-baldoni-alleged-fixer-jed-wallace-bryan-freedman-1236135226\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/business\/business-news\/justin-baldoni-alleged-fixer-jed-wallace-bryan-freedman-1236135226\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/baum.fixer_image-1.jpg?w=200&h=200&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/baum.fixer_image-1.jpg"},"articleSection":"Business News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Gary Baum"}],"creator":["Gary Baum"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Hollywood Reporter","logo":""},"keywords":["blake lively","bryan freedman","jed wallace","justin baldoni"],"dateCreated":"2025-02-13T16:59:15Z","datePublished":"2025-02-13T16:59:15Z","dateModified":"2025-02-13T19:30:29Z","pmc-gallery-linked-gallery":{}},"rendered":"