Hollywood has barely cooled off from its scandals before a new battle breaks out: Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios are locked in a bitter feud with Blake Lively, and things have escalated dramatically since Taylor Swift came up. A crisis PR firm in Texas — hired to put out the media fire — has just sent in a request for a massive increase in its fees. The reason? “We’re not just fighting the media, we’re fighting a global army: the Swifties.”
A source close to the matter revealed that the crisis management plan initially revolved around controlling the press and responding strategically. But when some Taylor Swift fans began linking the incident to Taylor’s years-long friendship with Blake, the situation quickly turned into a media nightmare. Swifties — a notoriously unforgiving fan base — began digging for details, spreading hashtags calling for “protect Blake,” and exposing Justin Baldoni to attacks from hundreds of thousands of accounts every day.
An anonymous PR person revealed:
“This is no longer an internal Hollywood scandal. This is a global campaign led by one of the most powerful fan communities in the world. We need more people, more resources, and a lot more money to survive.”
It is known that Swifties not only directly attacked the image of Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, but also tried to link them to previous negative stories – even those unrelated to the incident. These “grave digging” campaigns have the PR team racing 24/7 to prevent Baldoni’s image from being completely destroyed.
Blake Lively has remained absolutely silent, but this silence has been interpreted by Taylor fans as a “hidden message” that she is on the singer’s side. All it takes is one shady photo or a cryptic line on stage for Taylor Swift to post and the whole story will explode tenfold. And that is what keeps Baldoni’s side up at night.
Media experts say that when the Taylor Swift factor comes into play, this is no longer a normal crisis. The power of Swifties lies in the speed at which information spreads, the ability to put pressure on the media and even influence the brands that cooperate with the person they “target”. A boycott can be launched in just a few hours.
For Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, the Texas PR firm’s demand for a fee increase is not good news, but they know they have no other choice. “Nobody wants to be an enemy of Swifties,” said one of the team. “This is a community that can turn your career into ashes with just one click.”
This drama is currently attracting attention not only in Hollywood but also around the world. And one thing is certain: as long as Taylor Swift is involved, things will continue to be tense, noisy and… expensive.
