Blake Lively has accused Justin Baldoni of improvising unwanted kissing scenes. Photos: TNS, Justin Baldoni/Instagram
Hollywood actress Blake Lively has sued her co-star and director of the romance film It Ends With Us (2024), Justin Baldoni.
She is accusing him and the film’s producer, Jamey Heath, of sexual harassment and waging what she called a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” her reputation.
The American actor has been dropped by his talent agency WME in the wake of the accusations.
According to a legal complaint Lively filed on Dec 20, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, a meeting was held to address Baldoni’s actions and what the American actress felt was a hostile work environment during the production of the movie. The meeting was attended by various figures, including Lively’s husband, Canadian-American actor Ryan Reynolds.
During the meeting, Lively, 37, demanded safeguards, including a full-time intimacy coordinator for sexual scenes on the film, which is an adaptation of a best-selling romance novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover.
According to a report by The New York Times, Lively claimed that Baldoni, 40, had improvised unwanted kissing scenes and discussed his sex life, while Heath showed her a video of his wife in the nude.
She added that both men entered her make-up trailer without her consent while she was undressed, including instances when she was breastfeeding.
She demanded a stop to such actions on set and also went to Wayfarer Studios – the film’s production company co-founded by Baldoni and American billionaire businessman Steve Sarowitz – with a side letter that agreed the studio will not retaliate against her.
The complaint stated that the film’s distributor Sony Pictures and Wayfarer Studios agreed to her demands. Heath also signed her side letter.
But Lively alleges that Baldoni, who is best known for starring in comedy series Jane The Virgin (2014 to 2019), and Heath began waging a smear campaign against her, out of fear and anticipation that her complaints might become known to the public.
With excerpts from thousands of pages of text messages and e-mails that Lively obtained through a subpoena, some of which were published by NYT, Lively claimed Baldoni and Heath hired and worked with crisis public relations professionals Melissa Nathan and Jed Wallace to orchestrate a carefully constructed campaign aimed at damaging her reputation.
Ms Nathan’s previous clients include actor Johnny Depp, who was accused by his former wife Amber Heard of physical abuse.
The complaint added that Lively and her family have suffered “extreme” emotional pain due to the smear campaign.
In a statement to NYT, Lively said: “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 and Wayfarer Studios’ lawyer have dismissed Lively’s claims as “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious” and called the complaint a “desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation”.
The complaint comes months after the romantic drama premiered in August. While the movie was a box-office hit, grossing more than US$350mil (RM1.57bil) worldwide, it was plagued by rumours of behind-the-scenes conflict.
Netizens had noticed how Baldoni did much of the film’s press tour alone, apart from the rest of the cast members, and highlighted how several cast members and the book’s author Hoover were not following Baldoni on Instagram.
Actress Blake Lively and actor-director Justin Baldoni in the romance drama 'It Ends With Us'. Photo: Handout
Amid speculation of discord, Lively was heavily criticised in the wake of the film’s release. It stars Lively as a florist who is abused by her husband (Baldoni), before reuniting with her high school sweetheart.
The star was accused of being tone-deaf and insensitive to the film’s message about domestic violence, as she failed to talk about domestic violence in initial promotions for the film – instead embracing a floral theme in her red carpet outfits for the movie.
She also talked about how Reynolds, who had no role on the film, helped to rewrite a scene, prompting online chatter that he might have violated the Hollywood writers strike in 2023.
Messages exchanged between Ms Nathan and Baldoni’s publicist seemingly celebrated the negative coverage of Lively.
Ms Nathan wrote to the publicist: “Socials are really really ramping up. In his favour, she must be furious. It’s actually sad because it just shows you (how) people really want to hate on women.”
In contrast, Baldoni won praise for talking about domestic violence in his interviews about the film, which will be available to stream on Netflix in Singapore from Dec 27, as news stories about his “borderline abusive” behaviour on set went largely under the radar.
In November, he was unveiled as an honouree at 2024’s Voices of Solidarity awards organised by Vital Voices, a global non-profit aimed at amplifying and encouraging women’s leadership. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
