Blake Lively is suing Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment. The 37-year-old actress starred alongside Baldoni, 40, in the romantic drama film "It Ends with Us" earlier this year, and she has now launched a lawsuit against her former co-star, who also directed the movie.
In the lawsuit, which was obtained by PEOPLE, Blake alleges that Justin's behavior caused her "severe emotional distress". The lawsuit claims that Lively, who played Baldoni's on-screen love interest, attended a meeting to address her allegations and demands related to her work on the movie.
This meeting included various people involved in the project, as well as Ryan Reynolds, Lively's husband. Among the demands mentioned in the lawsuit was a request for "no more adding of sex scenes outside the scope of the script Blake approved when signing onto the project."
Additionally, Lively requested "no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no mention of Baldoni's alleged previous 'pornography addiction,' no discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew's genitalia, no inquiries about Blake's weight, and no further mention of Blake's deceased father."
According to the lawsuit, Sony Pictures, the company responsible for distributing the film, approved Blake's requests. However, she alleges that Lively subsequently engaged in a "social manipulation" campaign aimed at "destroying" her reputation.
In a statement to the "New York Times", 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 lawyer has accused Lively of making "categorically false accusations" against his client. Bryan Freedman, representing Lively and his Wayfarer Studios production company, told "Variety".
"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, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation, which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film.
These were observed publicly, in real-time and unedited, which allowed the internet to generate its own views and opinions. "Freedman accused Blake of making "multiple demands and threats" during the production process.
He stated, "These claims are completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with the 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 to work alongside their representative, with Jones works employed by Stephanie Jones, due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production.
This included her threatening to not show up to set and threatening not to promote the film, ultimately leading to its poor release performance if her demands were not met."
Baldoni has since been dropped by his talent agency. The 40-year-old actor, previously represented by WME, departed the agency on Saturday (December 21, 2024), in part due to the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by his "It Ends with Us" co-star Lively, who is also represented by the firm, according to "Deadline".