Actor and director Justin Baldoni has landed himself squarely amid legal and professional whirlwind drama as his It Ends with Us co-star, Blake Lively, filed a complaint against him for sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign. The lawsuit, filed with the California Civil Rights Department, states that on set, Baldoni displayed distressing behavior and then further went to orchestrate actions that would tarnish the reputation of Lively.
According to the filing, Lively included details of unwarranted improvised kissing, improper discussions about personal matters, and the inclusion of sexual content in the film without her consent. She also pointed out Baldoni’s supposed retaliatory move in a concerted effort by publicists and crisis managers to smear her in public.
The backlash is huge. Baldoni lost his talent agency, WME, and has lost followers, including Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and author Colleen Hoover, who both have removed him from their social media. Lively’s sister, Robyn Lively, defended the actress, calling the legal moves a step towards justice.
Legal documents the replete with text messages and emails that indicate that the Baldoni team crafted plans to sabotage Lively through negative media narratives. Lively claims that such practices caused her immense emotional damage and negatively affected her professional life, including a claimed 78% loss in sales of her hair-care product line
According to attorney Bryan Freedman, Baldoni is “outrageous and intentionally salacious,” but “good-faith filings have made everyone a lot of fools, with public guessing at long-standing Hollywood industry problems on harassment and gender balance issues.
Fans and professionals eagerly await the next twists and turns of this contentious legal drama while awaiting the debate of Hollywood accountability fired up by this case.
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