Blake Lively reportedly accused her “It Ends With Us” director and co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her in retaliation. According to the New York Times, the alleged “effort to tarnish Lively appears to have paid off.”
Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni on Friday. In the complaint, she accused Baldoni and the studio involved of embarking on a “multi-tiered plan” to damage her reputation following a meeting in which she and her husband Ryan Reynolds addressed “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni and a producer on the movie.
Within days of the film’s release, the negative media coverage and commentary became an unusually high percentage of her online presence, The New York Times reported while citing a forensic review she sought from a brand marketing consultant.
Lively experienced the “biggest reputational hit of her career”, the report added. She was branded tone-deaf, difficult to work with, a bully. The sales of her new hair-care line plummeted.
Meanwhile, Baldoni “emerged largely unscathed“. The NYT reported stated that this month, he was honored at a star-studded event celebrating men who “elevate women, combat gender-based violence and promote gender equality worldwide.”
On Saturday, however, after the NYT article was published, the talent agency William Morris Endeavor stopped representing Baldoni, said Ari Emanuel, chief executive of Endeavor, the agency’s parent company, was quoted as saying.
Lively’s complaint was filed against Baldoni; Heath (producer); Wayfarer [studio]; Steve Sarowitz, a co-founder of the studio; Wallace; crisis management expert Melissa Nathan, and Jennifer Abel, another public relations executive involved in the campaign.
She alleged sexual harassment and retaliation, among other claims.
In a statement, Lively was quoted by saying, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
