• Colleen Hoover has supported Blake Lively after Lively filed a lawsuit against her co-star Justin Baldoni.

• The “It Ends With Us” author said Lively has been “nothing but honest” since their first meeting.

• Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment. Baldoni’s lawyer said the claims were “categorically false.”

Colleen Hoover, the bestselling author of It Ends with Us, has come out in support of Blake Lively after Lively sued her co-star Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment, retaliation and coordinating to harm her reputation.

In an Instagram Stories post, Hoover linked to a New York Times report about the situation and wrote, “@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met.”

“Thank you for being exactly the person you are. Never change. Never wither,” she added, possibly referring to Lively’s character Lily Bloom’s job as a florist.

In the lawsuit, obtained by Business Insider, Lively said she attended a meeting with Baldoni – who also directed the film adaptation of Hoover’s novel – and producer Jamey Heath during filming to address the “hostile work environment , which almost caused the film’s production to fail. .”

The meeting reportedly resulted in all parties agreeing to a number of stipulations, including “no more showing nude videos or images of women, including the producer’s wife” to Lively or her employees.

Additionally, “no further mention of Mr. Baldoni’s or Mr. Heath’s prior ‘pornography addiction’ or BL’s lack of pornography consumption is necessary to BL or other crew members,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit further accuses Baldoni and his team of conducting a smear campaign against Lively.

Lively faced backlash during the film’s promotional tour, with many social media users criticizing her light-hearted marketing approach. Baldoni, on the other hand, received praise for highlighting the serious issues addressed in the film.

Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios, said in a statement that the allegations made in the complaint were “categorically false” and “intentionally salacious with the intent to publicly offend and rehash a media narrative.”

“It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives are making such serious and categorically false allegations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and their representatives in another desperate attempt to ‘repair’ their negative reputation created by their own statements.” “ and actions during the campaign for the film; Interviews and press activities observed publicly, in real time and unedited, allowing the Internet to generate its own views and opinions,” the statement said.

Business Insider has reached out to Freedman and Wayfarer Studios for comment.

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