Amber Heard comments on Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni: 'Saw this firsthand'

MADRID, SPAIN: Amber Heard has weighed in on the lawsuit Blake Lively filed against 'It Ends With Us' co-star and director Justin Baldoni.

Heard commented on social media's role in shaping narratives, drawing parallels to her own experiences. The comments came after the Internet noticed similarities between her and Johnny Depp's case.

Blake Lively accuses Justin Baldoni of harassment in lawsuit

Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni of harassment, a hostile work environment, and efforts to tarnish her reputation in a complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department.

Lively’s complaint alleged that Baldoni hired prominent PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan, who also worked with Depp during his high-profile defamation trial against Heard in 2022.

Lively claims Baldoni and his team created a “retaliatory social manipulation campaign” aimed at damaging her reputation.

According to the complaint, Baldoni’s crisis manager proposed strategies involving social media manipulation and orchestrated online fan posts to alter public perception.

The plan also allegedly included planting critical news stories about Lively and leveraging domestic violence survivor content to boost Baldoni’s public image.

Amber Heard compares Blake Lively's lawsuit to her own experiences

Amber Heard, who faced intense public scrutiny during her 2022 defamation trial against Johnny Depp, addressed the allegations raised by Blake Lively.

Heard spoke out about the role of social media in shaping narratives and reputations.

"Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying 'A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on,'" Heard said in a statement to NBC News.

She added, "I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive." Heard now lives in Spain, seeking privacy to live private life, following the trial.

Heard was found to have defamed Depp by a jury verdict on June 1, 2022, and was ordered to pay $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, which was later reduced to $350,000 due to legal limits, the actual amount ordered to be awarded to Depp was $10.35 million, as per NPR.

Depp at the time described the verdict as giving him his life back. Heard received just $2 million in compensatory damages in her counterclaim but no punitive damages.

Blake Lively claims Justin Baldoni and team orchestrated smear campaign against her

Blake Lively claimed that Justin Baldoni attempted to damage her reputation after she and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, addressed repeated harassment and other "disturbing behavior" by the director and a producer.

She claimed Baldoni and the studio launched a "multi-tiered plan" to damage her reputation which included the hiring of the crisis manager.

In response, Bryan Freedman, an attorney representing Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, stated that hiring a crisis manager was a proactive measure due to Lively’s multiple demands and threats during production.

"These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media," Freedman said.

Heard stated in December 2022 that social media vilification is an "amplified version of the ways women are re-victimized when they come forward."

She added, "It's important for me to say that I never chose this. I defended my truth in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed." Heard’s lengthy statement appeared in an Instagram post after settling her case with Depp.

Since her legal battle, Heard has moved to Spain and is expecting her second child following the 2021 birth of her daughter Oonagh Paige, via surrogate. She now leads a quieter life, focusing on her family according to multiple People.