Blake Lively Sues ‘It Ends With Us’ Star/Director Justin Baldoni Over Alleged Sexual Harassment
Blake Lively is taking legal action against Justin Baldoni. Per TMZ, Lively is suing Baldoni over alleged sexual harassment she experienced on the set of the movie they made together, It Ends With Us. She also claims she suffered “severe emotional distress” as a result of Baldoni and Sony’s press campaign attached to the film.
The lawsuit, which the outlet reviewed but did not publish in full, cites a series of demands Lively had to make during filming. TMZ reports there was a big meeting amidst production where parties had to agree about “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.” In terms of the movie’s script, there had to be an agreement that would be “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.”
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TMZ’s report does not detail any of the incidents that would have sparked such specific demands, only the meeting. Ryan Reynolds, Lively’s husband, was said to be among the witnesses of this meeting.
The lawsuit then goes on to discuss It Ends With Us’ marketing and press campaign, which stirred up public discourse. Lively notably wanted to focus on her character’s resilience while Baldoni wanted to focus on the movie’s take on domestic violence.
Many online disapproved of Lively’s perceived glossing over of the movie’s serious domestic violence themes in the press. But the actress says such a reaction was sparked by a coordinated campaign of “social manipulation,” with Baldoni and Sony wanting to “destroy” Lively’s reputation. An alleged text from an unnamed publicist for Baldoni claimed the actor/director wanted Lively to be “buried” in the press.
Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s legal representation, claims Lively’s claims are “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.” The lawyer also accused Lively of “threatening to not showing up to set” and “threatening to not promote the film” ahead of release.
It’s worth noting that TMZ’s report and the parties involved in the lawsuit try to paint the movie as a financial flop caused by marketing issues, though that is far from true. Deadline previously reported It Ends With Us cost $25 million before marketing. Even the loftiest marketing budget estimates could not keep the film in the red; The Numbers reports it made more than $349 million theatrically worldwide. (Sony Pictures’ revenue from digital/physical buys is not clear, as is Netflix’s fee for the first streaming rights.)
Ahead of opening weekend, Deadline described the movie’s lowest opening projections (around $23 million) alone as “amazing for a female-skewing pic, the marketplace and Lively as a leading lady.” The movie ended up opening to more than $50 million domestically on its way to more than $148 million total domestically.
