A lawyer representing Justin Baldoni, the director of “It Ends With Us,” has issued a response to the lawsuit filed by Blake Lively. Lively has accused her co-star of sexual harassment and attempting to damage her reputation.
Lively’s lawsuit outlines claims of behavior that allegedly caused her significant emotional distress during the filming of the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel, “It Ends With Us.”
The lawsuit, which was initially revealed by TMZ and subsequently covered by the New York Times, accuses Baldoni of sexual harassment as well as efforts to undermine Lively’s reputation.
According to the lawsuit, a meeting was convened to address the alleged inappropriate environment on set. Lively made specific requests, some relating to the filming itself, such as prohibiting additional sex scenes, oral sex, or on-camera climaxing beyond what was originally agreed upon in the script she approved.
Further requests included barring discussions of a sexual nature in her presence, avoiding mentions of genitalia, not discussing Lively’s weight, refraining from discussing Baldoni’s past ‘pornography addiction,’ and not showing Lively nude videos or images of women.
Reportedly, these requests were agreed upon, but the lawsuit also alleges that Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios subsequently attempted to tarnish her reputation through ‘social manipulation,’ causing her and her family substantial emotional distress.
Baldoni’s representation, along with Wayfarer Studios, has since responded to these allegations.
Bryan Freedman, the attorney for Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its representatives, told The Hollywood Reporter that the allegations are ‘categorically false.’
Freedman described it as ‘shameful’ for Lively and her team to make such serious accusations as an attempt to mend her negative reputation, which he claims resulted from her own statements and actions during the film’s campaign.
“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,” he added.
The statement dismisses the accusations as ‘completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.’
Additionally, the statement claims Lively made ‘multiple demands and threats during production.’
Freedman asserts that Lively threatened not to appear on set or promote the film unless her demands were satisfied, prompting Wayfarer Studios to hire a crisis manager to support the film’s marketing efforts alongside their representative, Stephanie Jones from Jonesworks.
The statement claims Lively’s alleged demands negatively impacted the film’s release.
The statement further accuses Lively of working with her representative, Leslie Sloan at Vision PR, who also represents Ryan Reynolds, to plant negative and false stories in the media before the film’s marketing began. This led Wayfarer Studios to hire a crisis professional to prepare for internal scenario planning.
“The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity.”
“What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals.”
Lively told The New York Times: “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.”