"It Ends With Us" Star Sues Film's Director

12/21/2024 05:37 PM

One of the big non-IP hits of the year was “It Ends With Us,” a film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s romance novel which explores themes of domestic violence and emotional abuse.

Despite mixed reviews from critics, the film was a box-office success and pulled in a very strong $350.9 million worldwide from a production budget of just $25 million.

However it also generated months of speculation over a seeming rift between its leading lady Blake Lively and her co-star and director Justin Baldoni. Gossip was fueled by Baldoni’s absence from joint press events and how many of the key people on the film didn’t follow him on social media.

Now, The New York Times and THR report that Lively has filed a legal complaint accusing Baldoni, producer Jamey Heath, and studio Wayfarer for creating a hostile work environment and retaliation over her reporting misconduct.

She has also reportedly filed a lawsuit against Baldoni for sexual harassment and causing her emotional distress. She further alleges they had executed a retaliatory public relations campaign to damage her reputation – including social media manipulation and the planting of negative stories.

The trade report adds that cast and crew were under a contractual obligation to promote the film whilst not just avoiding the domestic violence element of the story but also couldn’t discuss it in a way “that makes it feel sad or heavy”.

Baldoni's legal team has fired back against the reports. They tell the trade these sare “serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives” and say the claims are “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media”.

Before this, talk was out there about a proposed sequel film based on Hoover's second novel in the series “It Starts With Us”. Said sequel has yet to be officially announced but, as the report points out, Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios has the rights to the sequel meaning if it were to proceed then Baldoni and Lively would have to work together in some way again. That would seem impossible at this point.

Source: The New York Times, THR

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