Blake Lively is filing a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, her co-star and director on It Ends With Us, claiming that Baldoni sexually harassed her on set and that he engaged in a coordinated campaign to ruin her reputation.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Baldoni’s team fired back, saying that the lawsuit was “shameful” and that it contained “serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its representatives.”
Things apparently got so bad during the filming of the movie that a meeting was held in which Lively made a series of demands in order for her to continue with the project. Among the demands were that Baldoni not show videos of images of nude women to Lively or discuss his “porn addiction” with her. Additionally, Lively demanded an end to discussions about her weight, the genitalia of members of the cast and crew, and public discussions of sexual experiences.
Lively also demanded changes to what was happening on camera, including, “No more adding of sex scenes, oral sex, or on-camera climaxing by BL outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project.”
In addition to the claims of harassment, Lively also claims that Baldoni engaged a PR firm in a coordinated attack on her reputation. The filing includes 22 pages of texts between Baldoni and TAG’s Melissa Nathan, who runs a crisis PR firm, in which they discuss efforts to “bury” Lively.
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.”
Since the lawsuit was filed, Baldoni has been dropped by the WME talent agency.
