Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s Feud Shifted Public Opinion Regarding Both Stars in the Negative According to Most Recent Data

The conflict between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni started months ago during the filming of ‘It Ends With Us.’ After the movie wrapped, Lively accused Baldoni of harassing her on set, body shaming, inappropriate romance scenes, and burying her public image following the release of the movie.

Things calmed down for a while, but Lively later filed a legal complaint, turning it into one of the biggest celebrity controversies of the year, and eventually a Federal Lawsuit. Recently, Baldoni filed his own complaint, and lawsuit against The Times, with consideration to pursue a lawsuit against Lively as well.

Now according to the most recent data provided to Business Insider Blake Lively’s and Justin Baldoni’s social-media image has taken a hit due to their ongoing feud.

A new analysis by Sprout Social, which tracks social media mentions, shows that the volume of posts about the actors grew significantly after the accusations were made, with most of the comments being negative. Lively’s detailed complaint, filed in December, has led public relations experts to suggest it will be hard for Baldoni to recover from the damage to his reputation.

After Blake Lively filed her complaint against Justin Baldoni, negative opinions about both actors surged. Lively’s negative sentiment rose by 29% to 61%, while Baldoni’s positive image flipped to 63% negative.

When both filed lawsuits on December 31, the backlash intensified. Lively’s negative sentiment increased from 39% to 52%, and Baldoni’s went from 42% to 52%. Positive opinions for both actors were very low, with only 6% for Lively and 7% for Baldoni.

Both actors accused each other of using PR teams to spread negative stories, with Lively accusing Baldoni’s team of a tactic called “astroturfing,” where fake online comments are made to look like real ones. The data suggests the feud reached its peak after they both took their legal battles to the press.

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