Blake Lively Files Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against 'It Ends With Us' Costar Justin Baldoni

12/21/2024 12:42 PM

Blake Lively filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her “It Ends With Us” costar Justin Baldoni Saturday. Lively’s suit claims Baldoni’s behavior caused her “severe emotional distress.”

The court documents also reveal a group meeting was held to address Lively’s concern, and that her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, also attended. The topics discussed reportedly included “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”

The demands also included, “No more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing by BL outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project.” Sony Pictures reportedly approved of each of Lively’s points.

Lively’s legal team also accuses Baldoni of attempting to damage her reputation following the film’s release by way of “social manipulation.” She told the New York Times in a statement, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman denied the allegations in a statement to People. He said Lively’s claims are “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt” and added that Lively displayed problematic behavior on set, including “threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release.”

In its own report, the New York Times noted that Baldoni and the film’s lead producer, Jamey Heath, hired a crisis public relations expert — who previously worked with Johnny Depp and Travis Scott — ahead of the movie’s release. While filming, Lively “had complained that the men had repeatedly violated physical boundaries and made sexual and other inappropriate comments to her.” As a result, the studio hired an intimacy coordinator and agreed not to retaliate against the actress.

But instead, the men shifted gears, Lively’s lawsuit also claims, and began to build a PR machine against her. Her court documents also include “excerpts from thousands of pages of text messages and emails that she obtained through a subpoena” that were reviewed by the Times.

“There have long been figures behind the scenes shaping public opinion about celebrities — through gossip columns, tabloids and strategic interviews,” the publication noted. “The documents show an additional playbook for waging a largely undetectable smear campaign in the digital era. While the film, about domestic violence, was a box office hit — making nearly $350 million worldwide — online criticism of the actress skyrocketed.”

In one text, a publicist working with Baldoni wrote “He wants to feel like she can be buried.” The crisis management expert, Melissa Nathan, texted back, “You know we can bury anyone.”

The Times also detailed Lively claim’s against Baldoni, including that he “had improvised unwanted kissing and discussed his sex life, including encounters in which he said he may not have received consent.” Heath “had shown her a video of his wife naked” and “had watched Ms. Lively in her trailer when she was topless and having body makeup removed, despite her asking him to look away.”

Lively’s documents add that “both men repeatedly entered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding.”,

A report produced in August for Lively by brand marketing consultant Terakeet concluded the actress’ reputation had been damaged by a “targeted, multichannel online attack” and that 35% of Google searches for Lively’s name also referenced Baldoni — something that “was highly unusual given the length of her career, the company said, and suggested that the media environment was being manipulated.”

TMZ first reported this news.

The post Blake Lively Files Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against ‘It Ends With Us’ Costar Justin Baldoni appeared first on TheWrap.