When PR becomes weaponised and women pay the price
Why is the burden of proof always on women?
In the unfolding story of Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni, the allegations read like a modern-day Shakespearean tragedy, but the villains aren’t confined to the stage.
They are in boardrooms, PR agencies, and behind the glow of our phone screens.
Blake Lively’s civil rights complaint against Justin Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliation, and an orchestrated PR smear campaign, has ignited a firestorm. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that this isn’t just about Blake Lively.
It’s about a society that still refuses to believe women, especially successful women.
It’s about an industry where PR firms accept contracts to destroy lives, and a social media ecosystem that amplifies the loudest, most salacious voices while drowning out nuance, context, and humanity.
It is about victim blaming, the gendered double standards women face, and the relentless machine of public opinion.
The PR Playbook: Smear, distract, destroy
According to Lively’s complaint, Justin Baldoni hired The Agency Group PR, the same firm behind Johnny Depp’s PR campaign against Amber Heard. Their alleged mission?
“Bury” Lively. This isn’t just PR; it’s weaponised PR.
Text messages allegedly show PR representatives gleefully strategising Lively’s public downfall. Terms like “social manipulation” and “astroturfing” paint a chilling picture: fake accounts, manufactured outrage, and a sea of planted narratives designed to overwhelm the truth.
Here’s the question we must ask: At what point does PR stop being reputation management and start becoming reputational terrorism?
Where are the ethical boundaries? Who’s holding these firms accountable?
The answer, right now, is no one.
Why are successful women held to a higher standard?
When Sony reportedly instructed the cast of It Ends With Us to focus on an “uplifting” narrative during press interviews, Blake Lively followed the plan. She did her job.
And yet, when the narrative flopped, it was her fault.
Justin Baldoni was applauded for his somber tone and commitment to survivors. Meanwhile, Lively was dragged online for being “tone-deaf” and “insensitive.”
We’ve seen this before.
Amber Heard became a global villain overnight. Gisèle Pelicot, after experiencing one of the most horrific violations imaginable, was still questioned and scrutinised.
It’s a tale as old as time: women must not only be perfect victims, but they must also navigate impossible double standards.
If they are too soft, they are weak.
If they are too strong, they are abrasive.
If they are emotional, they are hysterical.
If they are composed, they are cold.
When will we start asking: Why are women held responsible for systems that fail them?
Victim blaming: A cultural epidemic
“Why didn’t she leave?”
“Why didn’t she speak up sooner?”
“Why didn’t she refuse to film those scenes?”
These tired, harmful questions echo across every platform.
But here’s the truth: victims don’t owe us perfect reactions.
Research from the American Psychological Association shows that victim blaming is deeply rooted in societal bias. People prefer to believe in a “just world”, where bad things don’t happen to good people unless they somehow “deserve” it.
This cognitive bias creates a dangerous narrative: if something bad happens to a woman, she must have done something to invite it.
When Lively raised concerns internally, she followed protocol. And yet, her actions were twisted into evidence of “unlikeability” and “mean girl” behaviour.
So, I will ask again: Why is the burden of proof always on her?
The social media factor: Lies spread faster than truth
Social media thrives on controversy. Algorithms reward anger, reward engagement, and reward divisive narratives.
According to MIT’s research, false information spreads six times faster on social media than the truth. And women are disproportionately harmed by misinformation campaigns online.
For Lively, it only took a handful of posts, Reddit threads, and speculative TikToks to reshape her public image.
This isn’t a Blake Lively problem. This is a systemic problem.
How do we create accountability on platforms that profit from misinformation?
How do we, as audiences, resist the urge to become armchair judges and jury members without all the facts?
PR ethics: Who holds the power?
At the heart of this case is an uncomfortable truth: PR firms can do immense damage when ethics are sidelined in favour of profit.
When a client approaches with the mandate: “Destroy her life. Bury her reputation,” why is the answer ever “Okay, let’s start planning”?
The PR industry must grapple with these ethical failures, but regulation won’t fix everything. There must also be a cultural shift, an acknowledgment of the power these firms wield and the responsibility that comes with it.
Are industry leaders ready to address this? Or will we continue to see smear campaigns masquerading as “crisis management”?
What needs to change?
As a parent, I think about my two-year-old daughter. Will she grow up in a world where her voice is dismissed because it’s inconvenient for someone more powerful?
Will she face impossible double standards in her career? Will she be silenced by systems designed to protect abusers and punish truth-tellers?
I hope not. But hope isn’t enough.
Change requires accountability. It requires systemic shifts. It requires us, all of us to stop looking away when stories like Lively’s unfold.
Here’s what needs to be done:
• For PR firms: Establish and enforce industry-wide ethical guidelines. Refuse clients seeking malicious campaigns. Transparency should not be optional.
• For social media platforms: Increase accountability for astroturfing, fake engagement, and coordinated misinformation campaigns.
• For audiences: Stop engaging with unverified claims. Be mindful of the narratives you share. Remember that behind every viral scandal is a real person.
• For businesses: Believe victims. Create environments where whistleblowers are protected, not punished.
Because what happened to Lively, Heard and Pelicot is a reflection of society’s deepest cracks.
And if we don’t start fixing them now, they will only get deeper.