Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s feud has taken a pivotal turn. The actress has accused her ‘It Ends with Us’ director and co-star of sexual harassment. As per the legal complaint obtained by the New York Times, Lively has levelled serious accusations against Baldoni. She has accused him of orchestrating a ‘smear campaign’ against her which has caused serious emotional distress to her family. Following this, Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, slammed Lively’s complaint in a statement to Variety.
As per the complaint lodged with the California Civil Rights Department, a meeting took place during the production of ‘It Ends with Us.’ It was to address Lively’s claims and her demands for working on the film. Notably, Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, was reportedly present at the meeting. Some of the demands addressed allegedly included “No more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake. No more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others.” Additional demands were. “No further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia. No more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”
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Allegedly, Lively also demanded Baldoni not add any more “sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing” other than the ones approved by her before the filming. Reportedly, Sony Pictures, the film’s distributor approved Lively’s request. However, as per the complaint, it accuses Baldoni of “social manipulation” and launching a campaign to “destroy” Lively’s reputation.
Following the accusations, Justin Baldoni’s team rebuffed them in a statement to Variety. His attorney has dubbed the claims as false. He stated that the suit is a serious attempt to fix Lively’s negative reputation. “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives.” He called it, “Yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real-time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.”
The statement added, “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media. Wayfarer Studios made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film.” This was done to work alongside their own representative with Jonesworks, employed by Stephanie Jones. The decision was over the alleged multiple demands and threats Lively made during production. These allegedly included her threatening to not show up to set. The team also claims she threatened to not promote the film, ultimately causing its demise during release, if they didn’t meet her demands.
The statement claimed, “It was also discovered that Ms. Lively enlisted her own representative, Leslie Sloan with Vision PR, who also represents Mr. Reynolds, to plant negative and completely fabricated and false stories with media, even prior to any marketing had commenced for the film, which was another reason why Wayfarer Studios made the decision to hire a crisis professional to commence internal scenario planning in the case they needed to address.”
In conclusion, the statement states that the representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated. They only responded to incoming media inquiries. This was to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitor social activity. “What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence. There were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize. It is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals.”
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During the release of ‘It Ends with Us,’ the distorted relationship between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni made waves. Notably, the duo promoted the film separately. Rumours stirred that the two had a fallout. Moreover, Blake Lively attracted criticism for her responses to the questions about the theme of domestic violence. The topic is central to the film.
Meanwhile, the film is based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling eponymous novel. Upon release, the film was a roaring box office success. Created on a budget of $25 million, it racked up $351 million.
