has hired veteran PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan amid the release of , the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 hit book, has learned. The news comes days after sleuths between Baldoni and his cast and crew, including co-star and producer , as well as Hoover. Chatter spiked when fans noticed Baldoni’s absence from joint press events and the lack of group photos of Lively and Baldoni together at the New York premiere Aug.
6. Some also pointed out that neither Lively, Hoover, nor the rest of the cast, follow Baldoni on Instagram (though he follows them). Nathan earlier this summer after spending nearly a decade working for leading crisis strategist Matthew Hiltzik.
Her New York-based outfit specializes in communications, crisis, reputation management, personal publicity and digital team services across the entertainment industry. Among the clients joining her from Hiltzik Strategies was Johnny Depp, whom she represented during the Amber Heard trial. Sources have told that there was a fracture between Baldoni and Lively in the post-production stage, wherein two different cuts of the movie emerged.
Lively commissioned a cut of the movie from editor Shane Reid, who was an editor on , according to multiple sources. It was unclear if any of this cut was ultimately used in the final project, which was credited to editors Oona Flaherty and Robb Sullivan. The hiring of The Agency Group comes as Baldoni has been the subject of over allegations that he made Lively uncomfortable on s.