Actor Blake Lively has accused her It ends with us Director and co-star Justin Baldoni accused of sexual harassment on the film’s set and a subsequent attempt to “destroy” her reputation through a lawsuit.
The complaint, obtained by The Associated Press, precedes a lawsuit. The New York Times reported that the petition was filed with the California Department of Civil Rights on Friday.
It’s called Baldoni, the studio behind it It ends with us and Baldoni’s publicists among the defendants.
In the lawsuit, Lively accuses Baldoni and the studio of embarking on a “multi-stage plan” to harm her reputation after she and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, encountered “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” from Baldoni and her during a meeting a producer had discussed the film.
The plan, the complaint says, included a proposal to spread theories in online forums, develop a social media campaign and post messages critical of Lively. The complaint also states that Baldoni “abruptly deviated from the film’s marketing plan” and “used content from domestic violence survivors to protect his public image.”
“These allegations are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with the intent to publicly offend and rehash a narrative in the media,” attorney Bryan Freedman, who represents Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and their representatives, said in a statement.
Freedman pushed back against Lively’s allegations of a coordinated campaign, saying the studio “proactively” hired a crisis manager “due to Ms. Lively’s multiple demands and threats during production.” He said Lively threatened not to show up on set and not promote the film “if her demands weren’t met.”
These demands were not specified in the statement.
“I hope my legal action will help lift the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak out about wrongdoing and protect others who may be targeted,” Lively said in a statement to the Times.
A representative for Lively referred the Associated Press to the Times report, in which Lively denied spreading negative information about Baldoni or the studio.
It ends with usan adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling 2016 novel, was released in August and exceeded box office expectations with a $50 million debut.
But the film’s release was marred by speculation about discord between the lead actors. Baldoni took a back seat in promoting the film, while Lively took center stage along with Reynolds, who did press work for the film Deadpool and Wolverine at the same time.
Baldoni, who starred in the telenovela show Jane the Virgindirected Five feet apart and wrote man enough, A
The book, in which he pushes back against traditional notions of masculinity, responded to concerns that the film romanticized domestic violence, saying at the time that critics were “absolutely entitled to that opinion.”
“If someone has had this experience in real life, I can imagine how hard it would be to imagine this experience in a romance novel,” he said. “I just want to tell you that we were very intentional in making this film.”
