Why is Rebel Wilson’s alleged smear campaigner so familiar?

8 hours ago 2

You probably haven’t seen Rebel Wilson’s musical comedy The Deb – it hasn’t been released yet, after all. But chances are you’ve heard of it.

The Australian film, which marks Wilson’s first turn as a director, has been tied up in legal disputes for months, preventing it from landing on the big screen. The most recent development has seen Wilson accused of enlisting an American publicist to launch a smear campaign against one of the film’s producers.

Rebel Wilson directed the unreleased musical comedy The Deb, now mired in legal disputes.

The publicist in question is Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group PR.

In a defamation claim lodged in the Federal Court by The Deb star Charlotte MacInnes, Nathan was alleged to have been asked by Wilson in August 2024 to publish websites that called producer Amanda Ghost “the Indian Ghislaine Maxwell” who had “turned full pimp” after failing in music, and was “procuring young women for the pleasure of the extremely wealthy”.

Nathan’s name may ring a bell. That’s because this isn’t the first high-profile celebrity case she has been involved in. The publicist has worked with a who’s who of A-list clients, including Johnny Depp and Justin Baldoni.

So, who exactly is Melissa Nathan, and why does her name keep popping up alongside some of the most controversial figures in show business?

Who is Melissa Nathan?

Nathan is a veteran communications and public relations strategist. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she began her career at the Outside Organisation, a British creative and entertainment PR agency founded by Alan Edwards, who has worked with major stars like David Bowie and the Beckhams.

Since then, Nathan has become a heavy hitter in the PR and crisis communications field, often working with highly recognisable figures embroiled in public controversy.

For nearly a decade, Nathan was the executive vice president of New York consulting and communications firm Hiltzik Strategies, which represented Depp during his legal dispute with Amber Heard in 2022.

Last year, Nathan left Hiltzik Strategies to establish The Agency Group PR.

What is The Agency Group?

Nathan launched The Agency Group PR (TAG) in June 2024. It specialises in communications, crisis and reputation management, as well as personal publicity and digital team services for clients within the entertainment, corporate, innovation and litigation spaces.

Some of these clients include controversial figures such as Depp, Drake, Travis Scott, wrestler and influencer Logan Paul and organisations such as HYBE America – the US arm of the massive entertainment and media company behind many of South Korea’s biggest K-pop groups (BTS, NewJeans).

Johnny Depp worked with Melissa Nathan during defamation proceedings against his ex-wife Amber Heard in 2022.

TAG’s majority stakeholder is a company run by entertainment industry executive Scooter Braun, per The New York Times.

According to TAG’s website, the firm “redefines the rules of reputation management”.

Who has Nathan worked with before?

Many celebrities, but her most well-known clients so far are arguably Johnny Depp and Justin Baldoni.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nathan worked with Depp during defamation proceedings against his ex-wife Amber Heard in 2022, in which Depp claimed his reputation had been damaged by Heard’s allegations that he was a domestic abuser. Heard countersued Depp over claims by his former lawyer that she was engaging in an “abuse hoax”.

The six-week trial became a global spectacle. Some suspected a targeted online campaign was launched against Heard and her supporters to tarnish their credibility.

TAG and Nathan were contacted for comment.

Depp ultimately won the case and was awarded $US15 million. Heard, meanwhile, was awarded $US2 million over a defamatory comment made by Depp’s former lawyer.

Two years later, Nathan returned to the public eye after taking on actor-director Baldoni as a client amid his rift with his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively. The Hollywood Reporter said Baldoni hired Nathan during the release of the Colleen Hoover-adapted film. Notably, Nathan was not the only PR professional working with Baldoni at the time.

Justin Baldoni allegedly hired Melissa Nathan during the release of It Ends With Us.

Late last year, Lively filed a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni and others associated with the film’s production company. She also accused him of launching a smear campaign against her to “destroy” her reputation. Baldoni denied all the claims, and later filed a $US400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and her publicist, citing defamation, invasion of privacy and civil extortion.

Baldoni’s case has been dismissed, but Lively’s is ongoing, with a trial date set for March 2026. The actress has, however, dropped her claims against Baldoni of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

One of the most reported elements of this case was the smear campaign allegedly launched by Baldoni and his team against Lively. In her lawsuit, Lively included text messages (obtained via a subpoena) between Baldoni and his PR team, including Nathan, as evidence of an alleged attempt to damage her reputation.

Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni and his team of a smear campaign against her during the release of It Ends With Us.

“[A] website (to discuss), full reddit, full social account take downs, full social crisis team on hand for anything – engage with audiences in the right way, start threads of theories (discuss) this is the way to be fully 100 per cent protected,” one of the text messages allegedly sent to Baldoni from Nathan read.

In a separate text exchange allegedly between Nathan and a publicist working with Baldoni and the production studio – published in a New York Times article in December – the latter said Baldoni wants to feel like Lively “can be buried”.

“You know we can bury anyone,” a text message allegedly from Nathan replied.

Baldoni argues many of the text messages included in Lively’s lawsuit were taken out of context, and that any negative press she received was of her own making. He also alleged it was Lively’s team that orchestrated a smear campaign against him and the production studio.

In February, a website appeared called “thelawsuitinfo”, which includes links to Baldoni’s amended complaint and a “timeline of relevant events”.

Lively’s lawyers called the website an “extrajudicial campaign” that could be used by Baldoni and his lawyers to allegedly “influence [the] proceedings and the public perception of legal filings”. “There already is a serious risk that his misconduct is tainting the jury pool,” her lawyers said.

In response, Baldoni’s lawyer said all they want is to show the public the “actual text messages”, video footage and other evidence that “directly contradicts any false allegations”.