Blake Lively’s A Simple Favor 2 costar Michele Morrone said she seemed in “pain” after her experience on the set of It Ends With Us.
The 34-year-old Italian actor and model took to his Instagram Stories on Monday, December 23, to show his support for Blake Lively, 37, amidst her legal battle involving sexual harassment allegations against director and costar Justin Baldoni from the movie It Ends With Us.
Expressing his solidarity, Morrone stated, “Although I don’t usually make these types of videos, I believe it’s important to stand by someone I deeply care about, and that person is Blake Lively.”
Coming from his experience working on A Simple Favor 2 alongside Lively, the 365 Days actor shared, “While filming together, I sensed something was amiss, felt her pain… We had a chance to have a conversation, and I could see that Blake was hurting.” (The filming of A Simple Favor 2 took place earlier this year, according to Deadline, while It Ends With Us commenced production in May 2023, resuming in January after the SAG-AFTRA strike.)
Morrone said he was “really tired” of seeing “cruel and bad comments” about Lively “without knowing the situation.” He linked to a New York Times article published Saturday, December 21, detailing Lively’s catalog of complaints against Baldoni, 40, on the set of It Ends With Us, which he asked fans to read “to make you understand, before commenting, what happened.”
“Blake, I love you so much. Keep it up and we’re going to see each other very soon. Love you,” the actor concluded.
Lively, 37, filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Complaints Department on Friday, December 20, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of their recent Colleen Hoover adaptation. She also claimed Baldoni was behind a digital smear campaign to tarnish her reputation.
The lawsuit, obtained by Us Weekly after it first reported by TMZ and The New York Times, stated that a meeting was held during the film’s production in January to address Lively’s claims against her costar that included, “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.”
Baldoni has vehemently denied the allegations against him. In a statement to Us, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman called Lively’s claims “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious,” alleging she filed the lawsuit to “fix her negative reputation” and “rehash a narrative” about the film’s production. He claimed Lively made “multiple demands and threats,” which included “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.”
Lively reprises her role in A Simple Favor 2, a sequel to her hit 2018 crime thriller costarring Anna Kendrick, which is due for release next year.
On Sunday, December 22, the film’s director, Paul Feig, also expressed his support for Lively.
“I’ve now made two movies with Blake and all I can say is she’s one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented and kind people I’ve ever worked with,” Feig shared via X.
Feig added, “She truly did not deserve any of this smear campaign against her. I think it’s awful she was put through this.”
Lively has also received support from Hoover, the author of the novel It Ends With Us is based on, and Sony Pictures, the studio that released the film.
