Model Sues LA Attorney Bryan Freedman Over Alleged Online Smear Campaign

Model Paige Jimenez claims attorney Bryan Freedman created a website falsely accusing her of drug dealing and prostitution. The lawsuit was filed in LA Superior Court.

Model files lawsuit against high-profile LA attorney over alleged smear website

A model and former MasterChef contestant has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against prominent entertainment attorney Bryan Freedman, alleging he orchestrated a coordinated online smear campaign against her at the request of her then-boyfriend's parents. Courthouse News Service reports that Paige Jimenez accuses Freedman — best known recently for representing director Justin Baldoni in his legal dispute with actress Blake Lively — of creating a website packed with false and damaging claims about her.

In her complaint, Jimenez states that Freedman called her in 2024 and disclosed he had been retained by the wealthy parents of her then-boyfriend, Kaiko Manson. During that call, he instructed her to vacate Manson's apartment and end the relationship immediately. When Jimenez threatened to publicize Freedman's demand on social media, she says he responded with a text message directing her to a website already registered in her name.

"I would tag the LAPD, DEA, IRS and Osamu along with the multitude of drug dealers you've been seen with over the past week or so," Freedman allegedly wrote. "You can post it to www.paigejimenez.com."

The site, which Jimenez says she had no part in creating, branded her "the real ketamine queen" and stated she was "wanted for questioning related to the death of Matthew Perry" — the Friends actor who died of a ketamine overdose in 2023. The website also accused her of prostitution and tax evasion, referenced her ex-husband, and published her home address. Jimenez writes in the complaint that the disclosure of her address left her fearing for her personal safety.

Following the confrontation, her relationship with Manson deteriorated. He maintained his parents had no involvement with the website. "Jimenez did not know what to believe," her complaint states. "She was traumatized, devastated and scared, leading to negative changes in her mental state and a psychiatric hospitalization."

Jimenez subsequently identified a series of strikingly similar smear websites targeting other women, among them musician Amanda Ghost, model Jessica Serfaty, and Blake Lively. Her lawsuit names Freedman alongside two public relations figures — Melissa Nathan and Jed Wallace — as the architects behind these campaigns.

The complaint draws explicit connections between the various sites. "These connections include what appear to be online commenters linking in posts and articles to the site aimed at Ms. Jimenez, with other 'commenters' linking to other smear websites also allegedly made by named defendants," Jimenez writes.

Her attorney, Meredith Drukker Stratigopoulos, said in an emailed statement: "Paige hopes that by coming forward, what happens to her will not happen to others and that those behind the smear campaign will be held accountable."

A spokesperson for Nathan's firm, The Agency Group, denied any connection to Jimenez in a written statement: "The Agency Group has never had any contact with Paige Jimenez or provided services to anyone relating to her. To the best of our knowledge, no one at The Agency Group was familiar with Ms. Jimenez, had any information relating to Ms. Jimenez or even know of her existence prior to the filing of the lawsuit."

Freedman did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a representative for Wallace's firm, Street Relations.

The lawsuit arrives in the wake of the high-profile Lively-Baldoni dispute, which drew widespread attention to what one trade publication described as "Hollywood's secret smear machine." According to The Hollywood Reporter, Freedman, Nathan and Wallace have also been linked to aggressive legal and PR efforts on behalf of clients including Rebel Wilson, music executive Scooter Braun, and wellness personality Andrew Huberman.

Wilson is currently suing Ghost over a dispute that emerged during the production of the film The Deb, which Wilson directed and Ghost co-produced. Ghost has alleged that Wilson, Freedman, Nathan and Wallace were all involved in creating a website that labeled her "the Indian Ghislaine Maxwell," as well as "a con artist, a thief and a pimp" who procured "young women for the pleasure of the extremely wealthy."

The Jimenez lawsuit was filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Source: Courthouse News Service