Blake Lively has made a strategic move by enlisting the help of Nick Shapiro, the former deputy chief of staff at the CIA, to act as her PR crisis manager as her legal dispute with Justin Baldoni intensifies.

The actress, 37, is suing her former It Ends with Us costar, 41, for sexual harassment and retaliation. 

In the ongoing lawsuit, the Gossip Girl actress has accused Baldoni of various forms of sexual harassment, including unwelcome physical contact and body shaming, as well as orchestrating a smear campaign to tarnish her reputation.

Subsequently, Baldoni retaliated by filing a counterclaim against Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, seeking $400 million in damages, alleging that they attempted to ruin his reputation. Additionally, he sued the New York Times for defamation, seeking $250 million in damages.

On Friday, a spokesperson for Willkie Farr & Gallagher, confirmed to Variety that the litigation team representing Lively ‘retained Mr. Shapiro to advise on the legal communications strategy for the ongoing sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit occurring in the Southern District of New York.’

Shapiro has more than two decades of crisis management and was the CIA’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Director. 

Blake Lively has hired Nick Shapiro, the CIA’s former deputy chief of staff, to serve as her PR crisis manager amid her escalating legal battle with Justin Baldoni; seen earlier this month

He has also worked in the White House as a Senior Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Aide on the National Security Council and was a National Security Spokesperson for President Obama.

While working for the federal government, Shapiro helped lead the Obama Administration’s response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the Boston Marathon bombing, numerous cyber attacks and various natural disasters.

Shapiro launched his crisis PR firm 10th Avenue Consulting in 2015. 

In 2020, Shapiro faced criticism after signing an open letter, alongside a group of 51 former senior intelligence officials, stating Hunter Biden’s laptop ‘has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.’ 

Back in August, Baldoni hired his own crisis public relations firm to represent him, four months before Lively filed her lawsuit against him.

He hired PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan, best known for representing Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, for help. 

Nathan launched her firm The Agency Group in June, and her initial clients included Depp, Drake, The Chainsmokers, Logan Paul and more.

The Agency Group is based in Los Angeles and New York, with a satellite office in Washington, DC.

The actress, 37, is suing her former It Ends with Us costar, 41, for sexual harassment and retaliation; seen in 2023

Baldoni countersued Lively and her Hollywood actor husband Reynolds, turning the spat on its head by claiming it was their team doing the smearing and asking for $400 million in damages

Nathan had previously worked for the crisis management leader Matthew Hiltzik at his Hiltzik Strategies agency.

It was there that she represented Depp during his defamation trial against Heard, but the controversial actor jumped ship to join her once her new firm was announced.

News of Lively hiring Shapiro come after a judge blocked her efforts to make Baldoni surrender more than two years’ worth of texts and call data. 

Lively had subpoenaed the actor for ‘documents concerning ingoing and outgoing calls or text messages … within the time period of December 1, 2022 to the present’.

The itemized demands included ‘call logs, text logs, data logs, and cell site location information.’

A New York court agreed with Baldoni, however, the her discovery request was ‘overly intrusive and disproportionate’ in a ruling on Friday. 

Federal Judge Lewis Liman said the trove of data would be so vast it could include communications with nonparties or sensitive information related to doctors and psychologists.

He also questioned why Lively needed texts dating back more than two years to prove that Baldoni and staff from his Wayfarer production company started to harass her in 2024.

Shapiro (pictured above) has more than two decades of crisis management and was the CIA’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Director.

He has also worked in the White House as a Senior Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Aide on the National Security Council and was a National Security Spokesperson for President Obama

‘Lively mainly argues that the Subpoenas will help to identify “the larger network of individuals” who perpetuated a negative media campaign against her,’ he remarked.

‘But according to Lively’s complaint, this negative campaign did not begin until approximately August 2024 … it is therefore unclear how communications to and from Wayfarer Parties in 2022 and 2023 would reveal individuals who participated in the campaign.’

Judge Liman told mom-of-four Lively to rework her subpoenas but didn’t quash them entirely.

Baldoni’s lawyers wanted to stop her from asking third parties for similar discovery materials but Liman tossed that argument.

‘The Wayfarer Parties may assert a privacy interest in their own phone records, but they have not provided any basis for asserting an interest in the communications of non-parties,’ he said in a six-page filing.

Lively and Baldoni, whose 2024 adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s acclaimed novel It Ends With Us a box office hit, are months into the bitter legal war. 

Lively kicked off hostilities with a California civil rights complaint and subsequent federal lawsuit, claiming he had entered her trailer while she was topless, showed her graphic video of his wife giving birth and bit and sucked on her lips during an improvised kissing scene.

She further accused her co-star of smearing her reputation when she objected to the abuse, citing a text message from Baldoni’s publicist Melissa Nathan which read: ‘We can bury anyone.’

Lively’s bombshell claims made global headlines thanks to the near-simultaneous publication of a 4,000-word New York Times expose that quoted heavily from the civil rights complaint.

Lively accused Baldoni of repeatedly crossing boundaries during their intimate scenes, including improvising kisses that had not been previously rehearsed or discussed

Baldoni countersued Lively and her Hollywood actor husband Reynolds, turning the spat on its head by claiming it was their team doing the smearing and asking for $400 million in damages.

He accused her of twisting the meaning of his texts and emails and working in tandem with Leslie Sloane, a powerful Hollywood publicist, to plant damaging stories about him in the media.

It was all a ploy, Baldoni argued, to rebuild Lively’s reputation after she came in for criticism for being prickly and difficult in interviews and promotional events.

Any negative publicity surrounding his blonde leading lady had arisen ‘organically’, his suit contends.

Baldoni also sued The Times for $250 million, claiming it ‘relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims.’

The newspaper says it plans to ‘vigorously defend’ itself.

Lively and Baldoni, whose 2024 adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s acclaimed novel It Ends With Us a box office hit, are months into the bitter legal war; seen last year

Lively kicked off hostilities with a California civil rights complaint and subsequent federal lawsuit, claiming he had entered her trailer while she was topless, showed her graphic video of his wife giving birth and bit and sucked on her lips during an improvised kissing scene.

She further accused her co-star of smearing her reputation when she objected to the abuse, citing a text message from Baldoni’s publicist Melissa Nathan which read: ‘We can bury anyone.’

Lively’s bombshell claims made global headlines thanks to the near-simultaneous publication of a 4,000-word New York Times expose that quoted heavily from the civil rights complaint.

Baldoni countersued Lively and her Hollywood actor husband Reynolds, turning the spat on its head by claiming it was their team doing the smearing and asking for $400 million in damages.

He accused her of twisting the meaning of his texts and emails and working in tandem with Leslie Sloane, a powerful Hollywood publicist, to plant damaging stories about him in the media.

It was all a ploy, Baldoni argued, to rebuild Lively’s reputation after she came in for criticism for being prickly and difficult in interviews and promotional events.

Lively’s bombshell claims made global headlines thanks to the near-simultaneous publication of a 4,000-word New York Times expose that quoted heavily from the civil rights complaint; pictured in 2024

Any negative publicity surrounding his blonde leading lady had arisen ‘organically’, his suit contends.

Baldoni also sued The Times for $250 million, claiming it ‘relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims.’

The newspaper says it plans to ‘vigorously defend’ itself.

Baldoni’s team earlier this month released a website which includes private communications such as text messages that were included in court filings detailing his interactions with the Hollywood power couple over the making of romantic drama.

He claimed in court filings they made efforts made to usurp and undermine his input as the director of It Ends with Us.

Baldoni’s team previously said that the communications shared in court filings on the website – which already has fans talking – makes things clear about the motives of both parties, marking the latest chapter in the feud between the It Ends with Us headliners.

The website, which is live online at thelawsuitinfo.com, comes amid a spate of high-profile litigation between the collaborators on the film, which was a hit at the box office last August.

The site went live days prior to the first hearing, ahead of a trial with a starting date of March 9, 2026.

Baldoni countersued Lively and her Hollywood actor husband Reynolds, turning the spat on its head by claiming it was their team doing the smearing and asking for $400 million in damages;  Baldoni seen in 2024

Lively filed an 80-page civil rights complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against Baldoni December 20, before officially filing a federal lawsuit on December 31.

Lively in December sued Baldoni amid claims of sexual harassment during production of the motion picture. In her lawsuit, the Gossip Girl alum accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.

Baldoni and his reps have said in response to the lawsuit that Lively twisted the meaning of text messages and mislead the public about their interactions while making the motion picture.

In her lawsuit, Lively named a number of Baldoni’s collaborators, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel.

‘I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,’ Lively told the Times the day after she filed the complaint.