Blake Lively has sued her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment and orchestrating a campaign to smear her. The lawsuit comes weeks after Lively made Baldoni’s behaviour public.
Lively, in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in New York federal court, accused Baldoni and his public relations team of orchestrating a sophisticated, multi-tiered plan to undermine her reputation in retaliation for speaking up about sexual misconduct on the set of the film.
Baldoni, his film studio, Wayfarer and the public relations representatives, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel are all named in the lawsuit.
In a statement, Lively’s attorneys said she was subjected to “further retaliation and attacks” after she went public with misconduct allegations against Baldoni and his public relations team in a New York Times report.
“Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns,” she added. “Now, the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court. Ms Lively has brought this litigation in New York, where much of the relevant activities described in the Complaint took place, but we reserve the right to pursue further action in other venues and jurisdictions as appropriate under the law.”
The lawsuit reportedly states that Lively had expressed concerns before It Ends With Us filming began regarding Baldoni allegedly improvising “physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed, or discussed” with her with no intimacy coordinator involved.
Lively also claims that Baldoni tried to add in a graphic sex scene without her consent which saw her character orgasm on-camera. According to the suit, he defended the scene, saying, it wanted the characters “to orgasm together on their wedding night, which he said was important to him because he and his partner climax simultaneously during intercourse.”
The actress also claims that the director asked for personal details about her relationship with her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Lively further accused Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath of pressuring her to perform certain acts for scenes that weren’t originally in the script. For example, Lively alleges that on the day of filming the birth scene, they pressured her to simulate full nudity “despite no mention of nudity for this scene in the script, her contract, or in previous creative discussions.”
Baldoni defended his reasoning, saying it’s “not normal” for women to keep their hospital gowns on while giving birth, Lively claims.
Lively also recalled Heath just coming up to her and showing her and her assistant a video of his fully nude wife giving birth.
Lively’s suit claims there were multiple inappropriate interactions she had with Baldoni and Heath, including Baldoni suggesting to her during a car ride that he had previously engaged in sexual act without consent. Lively states that on the first day of filming, Baldoni and Heath also described their past sexual relationships to her, as well as discussed their “previous porn addictions.”
Baldoni often referred to women on set as “sexy,” including Lively. The complaint states that another cast member also filed a sexual harassment complaint in May 2023 about Baldoni’s “gross” and “unwanted comments” towards her and others.
“Mr Baldoni and Mr Heath were also constantly hugging and touching cast and crew,” the complaint reads. “When Ms Lively or others avoided this touching, Mr Baldoni and Mr Heath would retaliate by becoming irritated, cold, and uncollaborative. The result was an unwelcoming and mercurial environment for Ms Lively, her employees, and others on set.” (Agencies)
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