On Saturday, Blake Lively accused her ‘It Ends with Us’ director and co-star, Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment. The actress claimed that Justin created a hostile environment on the sets which made it difficult for her to work. Following the allegations, Colleen Hoover, the author of the eponymous book has reacted to the news.
Taking to Instagram, Hoover extended her support to Lively. She wrote, “@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met. Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.” She also included a link to a New York Times article titled, ‘We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.’ The article details Blake Lively’s allegations against Justin Baldoni. Moreover, Justin has been dropped by his agency, WME, following the sexual harassment accusations.
Blake Lively 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.” The complaint also accuses Justin of launching a smear campaign to damage Lively’s reputation.
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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 was 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.”
During the release of ‘It Ends with Us,’ the tense relationship between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni made waves. Notably, the duo promoted the film separately. Rumours stirred that the two had a fallout.