In a lawsuit, Blake Lively accused her co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment, fostering a hostile work environment on the It Ends With Us set, and attempting to damage her reputation after she voiced her concerns.
An all-hands meeting was held on January 4th to discuss concerns that had almost caused the film’s production to fail, according to the undated complaint submitted to the California Civil Rights Department. The meeting was attended by Lively, Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment executives, as well as Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Numerous concerns were brought up during the meeting, ranging from improper conversations to claimed retaliatory or abusive actions, according to the complaint, which NBC News was able to receive on Saturday.
TMZ was the first to reveal the complaint, which is a prelude to a lawsuit.
The claims are blatantly untrue, according to Bryan Freedman, who is defending Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and all of its agents.
He claimed in a statement that these charges are wholly untrue, ludicrous, and purposefully offensive in order to cause public harm and repeat a story in the media.
Freedman claimed that her complaint was just another last-ditch effort to repair the bad reputation she had earned from her own comments and actions during the movie’s promotion, including press appearances and interviews that were seen by the public, in real time, and without editing, allowing the internet to produce its own opinions.
Baldoni, who is also the film’s director, is accused in Lively’s accusation of showing her naked films or pictures of women and improvising physical contact that had not been planned or agreed beforehand. According to the complaint, Baldoni improvised multiple kisses during a scene in one of the alleged incidents.
It claims that Mr. Baldoni insisted on repeatedly filming the entire sequence without prior warning or agreement, going much beyond what would have been necessary on a typical set.
Baldoni is accused of acting out of character during the filming of a slow dance scene that didn’t need sound in another instance.
“It smells so good,” he remarked, leaning closer and softly dragging his lips from her ear down her neck. The complaint further states that Mr. Baldoni was using his mouth to caress Ms. Lively in a manner unrelated to their roles, and that none of this was even vaguely in character or based on any line in the script. Nothing needed to be said because, once more, there was no sound. Mr. Baldoni said, “I’m not even attracted to you,” when Ms. Lively later voiced her disapproval of this behavior.
The complaint also claims that during a scene when she was giving birth, Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath coerced her into simulating complete nudity. According to the allegation, nudity was not previously addressed with Lively and was not referenced in the screenplay.
It claims that because Baldoni and Heath neglected to close the set during filming, non-essential workers were able to enter when Ms. Lively was largely nude. Additionally, according to the complaint, Baldoni had his best buddy impersonate Lively’s doctor when a local actor would normally perform the position.
Baldoni allegedly told Lively he could talk to her deceased father, attempted to enter her trailer while she was naked, and implied to Lively’s personal trainer that he wanted her to lose weight, among other occurrences detailed in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, Lively shot the film soon after giving birth to her fourth kid.
Additionally, Baldoni and Heath are charged with talking about their purported addiction to pornography and personal sexual experiences.
On Saturday, Sony Pictures Entertainment was not immediately available for comment. The distributor of the movie, Sony, is not listed as a defendant.
The case claims that in order to damage Lively’s reputation, Baldoni engaged a crisis communications company to start a retaliatory social manipulation campaign against her during the movie’s promotion.
Fans who suspected behind-the-scenes drama started dissecting cast interviews and interactions on the red carpet, which caused the movie to make headlines during the summer. Numerous admirers focused on the fact that Baldoni was working on publicity projects apart from his co-stars and that Lively and Jenny Slate, among others, did not follow him on Instagram.
The film, which is based on the best-selling book by Colleen Hoover, centers on Lively’s character Lily Bloom and her violent relationship with Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon played by Baldoni.
Slate portrays Ryle’s sister, Allysa Kincaid.
According to Lively’s complaint, a marketing plan for the movie said that instead of focusing on domestic violence, the cast would tell a story of hope. However, Baldoni suddenly changed course to explain why the cast and crew had unfollowed him on social media and to ruin Lively’s reputation for speaking out against his alleged misconduct on set.
According to Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, Wayfarer employed a crisis communications team after Lively allegedly threatened to stop promoting the movie and to not show up on site while it was being filmed.
According to him, the Wayfarer Studios personnel just replied to incoming media inquiries to guarantee fair and accurate reporting and kept an eye on social media activity. They did not take any proactive or retaliatory action.
According to Lively, she hopes that her legal action will help expose these nefarious retaliatory practices that target those who speak out about wrongdoing and safeguard others who might be singled out.
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