By Andrew Court and Eileen Reslen | New York Post
They starred in “Ends With Us,” but their legal battle is only just beginning.
Blake Lively has filed a bombshell lawsuit against co-star Justin Baldoni alleging he sexually harassed her on the set of their hit film, TMZ reports.
According to the legal docs, the actress further accuses Baldoni — who also served as the director of the film — of “a coordinated effort to destroy her reputation” following the movie’s release.
She says the smear campaign caused harm to her business and led to her family experiencing “severe emotional distress.”
“It Ends With Us,” a domestic violence drama based on the bestselling book by Colleen Hoover, was released in theaters this past summer.
At the time, rumors swirled of a feud between Lively and Baldoni, who refused to appear together to promote the flick.
Lively also suffered a barrage of bad publicity upon the movie’s release, dubbed a “mean girl” after a journalist claimed an uncomfortable interview with the star led her to quit her job.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has lashed out at Lively’s new lawsuit, telling The Post: “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation.”
He added that she was a “nightmare” on set.
However, according to the legal docs, Lively alleges it was Baldoni who made things untenable while filming the drama.
She alleges “things got so bad during filming, there was an all-hands-on-deck meeting to address what she claims was a hostile work environment.”
Her superstar husband, Ryan Reynolds, attended that meeting.
As part of the tense sit-down, Lively and Reynolds demanded there would be “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Lively, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ and no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Lively.”
They further stipulated that Baldoni “should not make inquiries about Lively’s weight” and make “no further mention of her dead father.”
Lively also demanded there be “no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing” outside the scope of the script she approved when signing onto the project.
According to the lawsuit, the claims the demands were approved by the studio that produced the film.
However, Lively and Baldoni later clashed over how the movie would be marketed.
TMZ reports that Lively “wanted a more upbeat pitch about her character’s resilience, whereas Baldoni wanted the focus to be on domestic violence.”
Lively subsequently claims Baldoni and his allies “engaged in a ‘social manipulation’ campaign to ‘destroy’ her reputation.”
As evidence, she includes texts from Baldoni’s publicist to a studio publicist saying the actor “wants to feel like [Ms. Lively] can be buried.”
Ironically the Lively/Baldoni feud rumors fueled interest in the film, which opened in the US in August.
Reports of their disdain for one another ultimately helped garner publicity for the movie, which went on to become a box-office smash, grossing more than $350 million worldwide.
Baldoni’s lawyer provided The Post and Page Six with a lengthy statement, hitting out at Lively and the lawsuit.
It reads: “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.
“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media,” Freedman added.
Freedman claimed his client previously hired a crisis manager due to “multiple demands and threats” Lively allegedly made, including “threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.”
