Blake Lively has filed a legal complaint against her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment.
In her suit, the actress also alleged that Baldoni attempted to launch a smear campaign against her, causing significant emotional distress to her family, reported Variety. In response, Justin’s team dismissed the accusations, calling them “categorically false.”
According to Blake Lively’s lawsuit, things became so bad during the film’s production that an “all-hands-on-deck meeting” was held to address her claims of a hostile work environment, which was attended by her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
During the meeting, Blake and Ryan demanded that there be “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Lively, no more mention of Justin Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ and no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake Lively.”
They also insisted that Baldoni refrain from commenting on the cast and crew’s genitalia, asking about Blake Lively’s weight, or mentioning her late father.
According to the complaint, Blake Lively also insisted during filming that she would not be asked to perform any additional sex scenes beyond what she had consented to when signing on to the project.
The lawsuit claims that although the studio accepted and approved these conditions, Justin Baldoni and the production company, Wayfarer Studios, later launched a “social manipulation” campaign against Blake Lively to “destroy” her reputation.
Part of the strategy was to post news articles critical of Blake Lively, create a social media campaign, and post theories on internet message boards. Additionally, according to the complaint, Justin Baldoni “used domestic violence ‘survivor content’ to protect his public image” and “abruptly pivoted away” from the film’s marketing strategy.
Justin Baldoni’s legal team responded to Blake Lively’s accusations.
Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, said, “It is shameful that Ms Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real-time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.”
He added, “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
It Ends With Us, based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling 2016 novel, exceeded box office expectations with a $50-million opening. But rumours of tension between the lead actors overshadowed the film’s release.
During the promotion, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds took centre stage, while Justin Baldoni played a more subdued role. Social media amplified the rift rumours, with many claiming that the Gossip Girl actress appeared more light-hearted in promoting a film about domestic violence than Justin Baldoni.
