Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni starrer It Ends With Us took the box office by storm upon its release back in August this year. However, the online discourse surrounding the film centred more on the way it was promoted with Justin (who also directed the movie) taking a back seat and going with the angle of domestic abuse, while Blake took the spotlight in promoting the film along with her husband Ryan Reynolds. Months after the release of the film, Blake has filed a lawsuit against Justin, accusing him of “disturbing” inappropriate behaviour on the sets of the movie, sexual harassment, and purposely orchestrating a smear campaign against her online in an effort to malign her reputation during the film’s promotions. Along with Justin, the complaint was also filed against the film’s producer Jamey Heath and Justin’s production company Wayfarer Studios and others, as per a report on People magazine.
Blake Lively sues Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment and online smear campaign
According to the complaint filed by Blake, her allegations on Justin date back to even before the duo began shooting for the film, which is adapted from a novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover. Blake claimed that Justin “inserted improvised gratuitous sexual content and/or scenes involving nudity” in the film in “highly unsettling ways”. In her complaint she alleged that these scenes weren’t a part of the original source material (the novel from which the film is adapted) and were added without her consent after she’d signed the project. She further stated that Justin “intrusively asked” her about intercourse with her husband which she found “invasive” and refused to discuss.
Allegedly, while filming the intimate scenes included in the film, Justin “improvised physical intimacy” that wasn’t rehearsed or discussed with her. Moreover, no intimacy coordinator was involved at the time. People magazine also reported that the complaint mentions that it was agreed upon by Justin’s Wayfarer Studios that an intimacy coordinator would be present on set “for all scenes involving nudity and/or stimulated sex” after a meeting that was held in January, between Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds, Justin and the producers of the film. The meeting resulted in a list of 30 protections, of which 17 were intended to require Wayfarer to check the “invasive, unwelcome, unprofessional and sexually inappropriate behaviour” of Justin and Jamey. Some of the protections mentioned in the list included no more improvised kissing, and personal, physical touching of, or sexual comments by either Justin or Jamey to be tolerated by Blake or any of her employees, or any female cast or crew member without their consent.
Blake’s complaint also highlighted “disturbing” behaviour of both Justin and Jamey Heath who would share their own “personal sexual experiences” on several occasions and coerced Blake to partake. Furthermore, Jamey allegedly showed a graphic and “fully nude” video of his wife to Blake and her assistant on the set, without consent. The complain also mentioned that Justin and Jamey repeatedly invaded Blake’s privacy by entering her trailer, uninvited and unannounced, while she was topless or undressed.
Justin Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign against Blake Lively
The complaint also alleges that Justin signed a team of public relations and crisis management experts onboard before the premiere of It Ends With Us in August, in order to safeguard his reputation and turn people against her, as he feared that Blake would go public about her harrowing on-set experiences. People magazine reported that the complaint said, “To safeguard against the risk of Ms. Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the Baldoni-Wayfarer team created, planted, amplified and boosted content designed to eviscerate Ms. Lively’s credibility.”
Private messages and emails exchanged between the public relations executive of his studio (Jennifer Abel) and the crisis management expert (Melissa Nathan) included in the complaint mention how Justin was frustrated with the initial plans of the alleged smear campaign against Blake. “He wants to feel like she can be buried,” Jennifer told Melissa about Justin. Reportedly, the plan outlined a proposal to plant theories on digital message boards, doctor a social media smear campaign, and plant stories that criticised Blake via “full social account take downs”, and initiating “threads of theories” which would be “untraceable.”
Justin Baldoni’s lawyer responds to Blake Lively’s allegations
Justin’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has dismissed Blake’s allegations as completely “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media,” in a statement given to People magazine. He stated that the studio hired a crisis manager due to the multiple “demands and threats” made by Blake while the film was in production.
Meanwhile, Blake’s costars from her 2005 film Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera, and Alexis Bledel have together come out in support of her. In a statement posted on their Instagram page, they mentioned that they stand in solidarity with with her “as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation.” Check out their statement here:
