Four months after the release of It Ends With Us, Blake Lively has taken legal action against her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment.
Speculation about a feud between the 37-year-old Gossip Girl star and the 40-year-old Jane The Virgin actor arose during the film’s promotion, fueled by their absence in joint event photos and rumors of disagreements during filming.
Drama further arose when resurfaced interviews of the actress being ‘rude’ to reporters went viral on social media.
Lively’s lawsuit alleges that Baldoni fostered a hostile work environment, subjected her to inappropriate content, such as nude images and videos, and discussed her purported past struggles with pornography – all of which have been refuted by Justin’s legal representatives, according to TMZ.
Amid the news of the lawsuit, resurfaced photos taken in August showed how Blake’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and BFF Taylor Swift rallied behind her at the height of the drama.
Lively visited the Grammy winner’s $17 million Rhode Island mansion, at the time, to celebrate her birthday after ‘fearing’ for her career.
Blake Lively, 37, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, 40 – four months after the film premiered in theaters; seen in November in L.A.
Amid the news of the lawsuit, resurfaced photos taken in August showed how Blake’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and BFF Taylor Swift rallied behind her at the height of the drama
In the images, the actress could be seen keeping a low profile as she embraced the Deadpool actor outside of the abode.
The couple – who tied the knot in 2012 – also shared a sweet kiss ahead of her quiet birthday festivities at Swift’s vacation home.
The Bad Blood songstress has often shared pictures of the house in the past during her Fourth of July bashes.
Other guests that were visiting Taylor at her mansion included the performer’s boyfriend Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, his wife Brittany Mahomes, Bradley Cooper and his daughter Lea.
Not long after her birthday, Variety reportedly confirmed that, ‘the bad blood between’ Blake and Justin ‘is very real.’
And a source told People that, ‘She initially felt very vulnerable and upset. During the promotion of the movie, not one day went by when she was not in the news in an unfavorable light. She’s just not used to this kind of drama.’
The insider added she was ‘pretty surprised at the backlash and drama’ and that the overall situation, ‘felt out of control to her.’
In August, It Ends With Us released in theaters and despite the drama, the movie was a box office success raking in around $351 million on a budget of $25 million.
Lively visited the Grammy winner’s $17 million Rhode Island mansion at the time to celebrate her birthday after ‘fearing’ for her career; Swift seen with Lively last year
In the images, the actress could be seen keeping a low profile as she embraced the Deadpool actor outside of the abode
Not long after her birthday, Variety reportedly confirmed that, ‘the bad blood between’ Blake and Justin ‘is very real’
At the time, Blake was pictured arriving at Taylor’s mansion towards the end of August following backlash for plugging her alcohol brand Betty Booze during the promotion of the movie – which focuses on domestic violence.
She further received backlash after awkward interviews during press for the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel.
In one interview, Lively had been asked how she would respond to someone coming up to her to discuss the themes in the film.
She had quipped in response, ‘Ask for my address or my phone number. Or I could just share my location with you and then we could…’
Past interviews were also resurfaced, such as one from 2016 when a reporter had congratulated Blake – who was pregnant at the time – on her baby bump.
Lively shared the same comment to the reporter who was not pregnant, and could not conceive children of her own.
But drama also surrounded the actress and her co-star Justin Baldoni when fans spotted that the pair seemingly avoided each other at press and red carpet events.
He was also unfollowed by Lively on social media, as well as other cast members and Hoover.
The insider added she was ‘pretty surprised at the backlash and drama’ and that the overall situation, ‘felt out of control to her’; seen in August in London
But drama also surrounded the actress and her co-star Justin Baldoni when fans spotted that the pair seemingly avoided each other at press and red carpet events
Both Blake and Justin – who did not do any interviews together – were also rumored to have had differences while filming on set of It Ends With Us.
In August, one source told People in regards to Baldoni that, ‘All is not what it seems. There is much more to this story. The principal cast and Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him.’
The insider added that Lively ‘wants to direct the next movie, sidelining him and securing the rights from Colleen.’
A separate source told Us Weekly that the drama was due to creative differences amid production.
Lively previously claimed in August that she felt ‘fat-shamed’ by Baldoni and claimed she felt uncomfortable when a kissing scene ‘lingered’ for longer than needed.
And in the lawsuit, Blake also claimed Baldoni made inappropriate inquiries about her weight, comments about her dead father and sexual remarks about the cast and crew.
The situation became so unworkable that she and husband Ryan Reynolds demanded crisis talks during filming to put a stop to the behavior, according to the lawsuit.
Lively also requested: ‘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,’ per the filings.
The demands were allegedly accepted by the studio, but the movie’s release was still hampered by a dispute between Lively and Baldoni about how it should be marketed, according to the lawsuit.
And in the lawsuit, Blake also claimed Baldoni made inappropriate inquiries about her weight, comments about her dead father and sexual remarks about the cast and crew; seen earlier this month in NYC
Lively claims that Baldoni’s team then engaged in a ‘social manipulation’ campaign to tarnish her reputation.
The lawsuit includes text messages from the director’s publicist to the studio which allegedly say Baldoni, ‘wants to feel like [Lively] can be buried, and ‘We can’t write we will destroy her.’
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman hit back at the lawsuit as, ‘false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.’
He insisted the legal action is an attempt by Lively to ‘fix her negative reputation’ after rumors emerged of diva-like behavior on set.
This included, ‘threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release,’ according to Freedman.
The romantic drama follows Lily Bloom played by Blake Lively as she becomes embroiled in an abusive relationship with Justin Baldoni’s Ryle Kincaid.
One alleged point of contention was how the movie should be marketed, with Lively reportedly wanting to make the tale more upbeat in contrast to Baldoni, who felt it should be more focused on the abuse aspect.
Insiders revealed the concerning truth about the on-set tensions, telling DailyMail.com that Blake and Justin clashed over his ‘dismissive’ attitude to her ‘input’ while they were filming scenes that involved abuse.
Fans have since reacted to the actress’s sexual harassment lawsuit, with some siding with Lively and others coming to Baldoni’s defense.
Lively claims that Baldoni’s team then engaged in a ‘social manipulation’ campaign to tarnish her reputation; seen earlier this month in L.A.
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman hit back at the lawsuit as, ‘false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt’
On X, one penned, ‘Blake Lively trying to accuse Justin Baldoni and his team of inciting a smear campaign when this was her behavior. Why not take accountability?’
‘I don’t buy this Blake Lively is suddenly a victim lawsuit. Even the wording of the suit is very slippery and odd. I don’t really see anything worth suing over – she’s just trying to do damage control,’ one shared.
However, other fans on X came to her defense, with one expressing, ‘Every cast member of that movie unfollowed Justin Baldoni. It should’ve been enough for at least side eye him no matter how much u hate Blake Lively.’
Another insisted, ‘Please read the article, guys. This is serious and I understand why she sued. Sexual harassment at work does not look like what you think. Blake Lively is perfectly justified.’
