Blake Lively, Kangana Ranaut, Amber Heard: Celebs who spoke out about smear campaigns in film industry

Hollywood actress Blake Lively has joined the growing list of celebrities who have accused co-stars or associates of orchestrating smear campaigns. From Blake to Shatrughan Sinha, Amber Heard to Kangana Ranaut, several high-profile figures across Hollywood and Bollywood have recently spoken out about the damaging effects of these campaigns, which threaten not only their reputations but also their mental well-being. In today’s social media-driven world, where a single tweet can shape public perception, these stars face battles that go beyond their careers, putting their personal lives and legacies at stake.

Hollywood star Blake Lively has been making headlines after filing a complaint alleging sexual harassment and a smear campaign by her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni and a producer. Lively accused Baldoni, who also directed the film, of inappropriate conduct during filming. Her complaint details instances of Baldoni discussing his personal life inappropriately and attempting to alter the film to include unscripted intimate scenes.
Adding to her ordeal, Lively claims she was the target of a calculated campaign to tarnish her reputation. The complaint highlights a “coordinated and resourced retaliatory scheme” designed to silence her and others from exposing the alleged hostile environment.

Bollywood veteran Shatrughan Sinha also addressed what he described as a “vicious smear campaign” against his family early this year. This came after his son, Luv Sinha, revealed why he did not attend his sister Sonakshi Sinha’s wedding to Zaheer Iqbal. In a candid interview with Times Now, Sinha dismissed the alleged controversy brewing between the family over the interfaith marriage of his daughter. Speaking to the portal, he stated that his family had faced bigger challenges. “I won’t tolerate my family being attacked,” he asserted.

The legal battle between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp had the world watching. In what went down as one of the biggest celebrity feuds, Heard accused Depp of orchestrating a smear campaign against her through fake social media accounts. Heard alleged that her ex-husband and his camp “orchestrated a false and defamatory smear campaign” after he filed a $50 million suit against her. She claimed that the handles were created "specifically for the purpose of targeting" her. Depp's lawyers addressed the allegations and denied that the actor paid for a campaign to smear Heard.
The court drama concluded with Depp being awarded $15 million in damages after a jury ruled that Heard had defamed him.

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut has often found herself in the eye of controversies. In 2021, she accused a 'former lover' of running a smear campaign against her. Kangana alleged that paid trolls and a “mafia racket” were targeting her. "The man behind this particular social media smear campaign is a jilted obsessed lover I had a small fling with, he is faking a high profile relationship but won’t marry the kid cause he has many skeletons in his closet, I will reveal his name with solid proofs, hang in there," Kangana tweeted and added, "My team has tracked down this source, from where the money for smear campaigns flowing, we found unidentified companies and fake emails from where the information and memes along with money generate, but deep down I know who this is."

The late actor Sushant Singh Rajput also faced allegations of misconduct during the filming of Kizie and Manny which he claimd was a “well-timed and agenda-driven smear campaign.” Sharing screenshots of text messages with his co-star Sanjana Sanghi, he wrote, "The last thing worth doing is to defend yourself of the fiction created by an agenda. People using this much-required campaign for their personal agenda is too much to ignore." He urged the public to read the chats and judge for themselves.

In 2014, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan approached Mumbai Police, alleging a 'smear campaign' against him on social media. Khan claimed false and malicious messages were circulating to discredit him and his socially-conscious show, Satyamev Jayate. "Aamir Khan complained to us about some objectionable messages getting circulated (against him). Preliminary enquiry is on. Aamir is likely to share more details with us tomorrow," Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Sadanand Date at Mumbai Police Headquarters told PTI.