Headline
Blake Lively Levels Allegations of Sexual Harassment and Smear Campaign Against "It Ends With Us" Co-Star Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively filed a gripe on Friday, insinuating "It Ends With Us" co-star and director Justin Baldoni of sexual misconduct and orchestrating a smear campaign against her. This comes after a perceived feud between the two during filming, with both parties denying the allegations via their legal representatives.
Key Points
Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing the "It Ends With Us" cast and crew of hosting an "all hands" meeting on Jan. 4, 2024. During this meeting, Lively and her team as well as other cast and crew members expressed their experiences of inappropriate behavior and tense working environment allegedly perpetrated by Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath, CEO of Wayfarer Studios.
The meeting saw several requests made, such as Blake requesting she no longer be exposed to nude women's videos or images, no more discussions of Baldoni's alleged past "pornography addiction," no more mentions of sexual exploits in front of her, no more genitalia/Lively's late father mentions, as outlined in the filing.
Lively also requested Baldoni to exclude additional sex scenes, oral sex scenarios, and on-camera climaxes beyond scripted limitations.
Following these requests and meeting demands, Baldoni embarked on a PR campaign alleged to be a "social manipulation" effort aimed at tarnishing Lively's reputation, according to the complaint.
This smear campaign appeared to have the following outcomes: the portrayal of Lively having a mixed public image, the planting of questionable stories about her through the media, including a DailyMail piece titled, "Is Blake Lively set to be CANCELLED?", and falsely attributing production team job losses to Lively, the complaint alleges.
Bryan Freedman, legal representative for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, labelled the complaint as "shameful" and full of "categorically false accusations" in a statement to Variety.
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Impactful Quote
Lively expressed to Deadline her hope that the complaint would "lift the veil on these malicious retaliatory tactics harming individuals who speak up about misconduct, aiding in protecting others from potential targeting."
Noteworthy Number
$100 million. This is the reported amount billionaire Steve Sarowitz, Wayfarer Studios co-founder, expressed his readiness to allocate for "ruining" Lively and her family's lives, as alleged in the complaint.
Unexpected Fact
Lively encountered backlash on social media during promotion of "It Ends With Us," with many critics accusing the actor of avoiding the film's central theme of domestic violence. Prior to the film’s release however, Lively and other cast members claimed they followed an agreed marking strategy promoting the "strength and resilience" embodied by Lively's character, rather than positioning the film as a domestic violence story. Additionally, Lively alleges Baldoni shifted away from the marketing strategy, focusing instead on domestic violence themes and "survivor content" to safeguard his image.
Background Info
Rumors of misconduct and supposed on-set drama surrounding "It Ends With Us" surfaced on social media before the film’s release. Fans observed Lively and Baldoni's rare presence on press tour events, while several other cast members and novel author Colleen Hoover did not follow Baldoni on social media. During post-production, Baldoni was reported to have employed a crisis public relations manager specialized in publicity and reputation management. Several "It Ends With Us" cast members reacted to the allegations on social media, including Brandon Sklenar, stating the claims should not distract from the original film motivations. Both Baldoni and Lively hinted at disagreements on set without clarifying if the two were involved in the conflicts.
- Despite the allegations of sexual misconduct and a smear campaign by Justin Baldoni, as claimed by Blake Lively in her complaint, Brandon Sklenar urged fans not to let the controversies overshadow the original motivations of the film "It Ends With Us."
- In the aftermath of the 'It Ends With Us' controversy, Blake Lively's co-star and director Justin Baldoni, represented by attorney Bryan Freedman, vehemently denied the accusations of sexual misconduct and a retaliatory smear campaign against Lively, calling them "categorically false" in a statement to Variety.
