Lively has accused her It Ends With Us costar of sexual harassment and retaliation
After months of rumored behind-the-scenes drama, Blake Lively has accused her It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation in a civil-rights complaint, alleging that he and his team designed a “plan” to “destroy” her reputation.
According to the legal complaint—filed with the California Civil Rights Department on Friday and obtained by The New York Times—Lively claims that while filming It Ends With Us, she raised concerns about “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior by Mr. Baldoni,” as well as a producer for the film, Jamey Heath.
View this post on Instagram
But how did we get here? Both men, who positioned themselves as feminist allies in the #MeToo era (and beyond), expressed fears that Lively’s allegations would become public and taint their reputations, per her legal complaint. Subsequently, the filing claims, Baldoni and Heath decided to harm Lively’s reputation instead.
Her lawsuit is supported by thousands of pages of text messages and emails, which she obtained through a subpoena (and were later reviewed by the Times).
Read on for everything we know about Lively and Baldoni’s “intentionally salacious” legal battle, the “hostile work environment” that nearly derailed It Ends With Us, and a rumored press-tour feud.
What does the lawsuit state?
The filing states that there was a meeting held to address “a hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production” and that both parties “discussed in detail the inappropriate conduct that Ms. Lively, her employees, and other cast and crew experienced at the hands of Mr. Baldoni” and a producer for the film, Jamey Heath. Lively claims that the pair’s alleged actions caused her “severe emotional distress.”
Among Lively’s complaints were that Baldoni and Heath showed her nude videos and images of women against her will, discussed Baldoni and Heath’s alleged pornography addictions, discussed her dead father, and made inquiries about her weight.
Following Lively’s complaint and call for safety boundaries on set, all parties agreed that Baldoni and Heath would stop doing those things and would make “no more descriptions of their own genitalia” to Lively or the rest of the people on the set.
In the meeting—where Lively’s husband, the actor and producer Ryan Reynolds, served as her chosen representative, per the filing—all parties also agreed that an intimacy coordinator would be present at all times when Lively was on set for scenes involving nudity or simulated sex with Baldoni. The lawsuit also requested that there be “no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex, or on camera climaxing by BL [Blake Lively] outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project.”
Wayfarer, the studio behind It Ends With Us, approved Lively’s requests, according to an investigation by The New York Times. Still, she further claims that Baldoni—who also served as the film’s director—then took part in a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” her reputation, citing texts from Baldoni’s publicist to the studio’s publicist as evidence.
Cindy Ord
Have Blake or Justin spoken publicly about the filing?
An attorney for Wayfarer told the Times that the studio, its executives, and public-relations representatives “did nothing proactive nor retaliated” against Lively and accused the Gossip Girl star of “another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation.” The lawyer, Bryan Freedman, wrote: “These claims are completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Sony Pictures
Freedman further alleged that Lively made “multiple demands and threats” while filming It Ends With Us, such as “threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.” When reached for comment, a representative for Lively told the 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.”
What happened on the press tour?
Rumors of a feud between Lively and Baldoni first started this summer, when the official press tour for the film kicked off. Fans noticed that Lively promoted the movie with her costars (with the exception of Baldoni) during joint interviews and on the red carpet. Similarly, Baldoni did his press solo and didn’t pose for photos alongside the rest of the cast at the film’s New York premiere in August.
Gotham / Getty Images
During the tour, Lively was accused by some of being insensitive about the topic of domestic violence or refusing to discuss it (a central topic in the film), but according to the Times, the film’s official promotion plan instructed the cast to focus more on the uplifting aspects of the movie than on abuse and to embrace a floral theme. (Lively’s character, Lily Bloom, has a flower shop.)
Gotham
What has Justin said?
Baldoni has continuously denied the claims Lively has made against him, and on December 31 he filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times over their reporting of Lively’s legal complaint against him.
The director-actor’a lawyer Bryan Freedman claims the Times “cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites,” meaning Lively and Reynolds. According to Freedman, the Times report used “doctored and manipulated texts.”
The Times has defended their reporting. The publication responded to Baldoni’s lawsuit, saying, “Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.”
In his complaint, Baldoni claimed that Reynolds berated him during a meeting in Reynolds and Lively’s New York City apartment in January 2024, the day before filming was set to resume after a pause due to industry strikes.
There, the complaint states, “Reynolds launched into a tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a ‘traumatic’ encounter, stating he had ‘never been spoken to like that in his life.’ ”
The argument allegedly took place because Reynolds accused Baldoni of fat-shaming Lively during filming (Baldoni says he only asked about Lively’s weight ahead of a scene in which he was meant to carry her, because he has back problems, not because he was fat-shaming her). Baldoni claims Reynolds “demanded” an apology for Lively, and when he “resisted apologizing for what he had not done, Reynolds became further enraged.”
Now, Hollywood is rallying around Blake
Lively’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costars—America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn—shared a joint statement on Instagram supporting her amid her lawsuit against Baldoni.
“As Blake’s friends and sisters for over twenty years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation,” they wrote. “Throughout the filming of It Ends With Us, we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice.”
They added that the most upsetting part of the issue is “the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety. The hypocrisy is astounding.”
The actors said they are “struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment.”
View this post on Instagram
Others, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Schumer, director Shawn Levy, and Colleen Hoover—the author of It Ends With Us, the book the film was based on—have also publicly voiced their support of Lively.
This article originally appeared in harpersbazaar.com
