Why Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment

The controversy surrounding “It Ends with Us” has only just begun.

It had all the hallmarks of a Hollywood hit. The star actress Blake Lively. Her co-star and director Justin Baldoni, the outspoken actor, is considered one of the industry’s fiercest advocates for women. The first film adaptation from Buzzy bestselling author Colleen Hoover.

When the film was released in early August, a dispute between Lively and Baldoni derailed the film’s press tour. Nevertheless, the film was a success for Sony Pictures and grossed $148 million at the box office.

The film’s captivating plot revolves around florist Lily Blossom Bloom (Lively), who falls head over heels in love with a seemingly perfect neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) and reconnects with her childhood sweetheart Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar). Beneath the surface, the film explores disturbing patterns of domestic violence.

“It ends with us”: The dramabetween Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni explained

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A complaint that surfaced Saturday sheds new light on their feud. Lively’s lawyers claim it was a choreographed attempt by Baldoni to “destroy” the “Gossip Girl” alum’s career and privately hide his own abuse.

Behind the scenes, fans speculated about an apparent rift between Lively and Baldoni, who avoided each other at press conferences and appeared separately on red carpets.

Among the bombshell claims laid out in Lively’s complaint are allegations that Baldoni previously ignored sexual consent and that his PR team wrote in submitted text messages that they could “bury anyone.”

USA TODAY reached out to Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman, the respected entertainment attorney, for comment.

Blake Lively’s allegationsUnwanted kisses, nude photos, smear tactics and more

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively avoided each other on the press tour

At the New York premiere of It Ends with Us on August 6, fans noticed that there were no photos with the entire cast.

Lively was pictured with fellow star and husband Ryan Reynolds, who attended the film’s press conference, Reynolds’ co-star and family friend Hugh Jackman, and co-stars Jenny Slate and Sklenar.

However, Baldoni raised eyebrows as he walked the red carpet without his co-stars alongside his wife Emily Baldoni and other friends and family.

According to People magazine, Baldoni also did not introduce the film before the screening with Lively and Hoover, even though he was the film’s director and star. Three days later, the film was released in theaters on August 9th.

Blake Lively’s complaint alleges that Justin Baldoni schemed with the PR team

Before the film’s release, Baldoni, along with producer Jamey Heath, hired a public relations team to counter Lively’s private harassment allegations through a public spearing campaign.

Lively alleges that Baldoni engaged in predatory behavior that was sexual in nature, writing in the complaint that she and other cast and crew members of “It Ends with Us” “experienced invasive, unwanted, unprofessional and sexually inappropriate behavior.”

Baldoni hired crisis public relations manager Melissa Nathan and her firm The Agency Group to protect Lively’s potential claims from becoming public, and worked with veteran publicist Jennifer Abel, who is named in the complaint. The Agency Group is owned by Hybe America, a partner of Scooter Braun, who has a long-standing feud with Lively’s best friend Taylor Swift.

During the film’s release, criticism and backlash towards Lively increased online, as content creators and other social media users criticized her behavior while promoting the film, arguing that she was focused on her personal brand instead to advocate for the prevention of domestic violence. However, Lively says this was concocted by a PR team hired by Baldoni.

“What the public did not know was that Mr. Baldoni and his team did this to explain why many of the film’s cast and crew members unfollowed Mr. Baldoni on social media and did not appear with him in public,” it said in the file states.

In the complaint, filed as a first step before a lawsuit with the California Department of Civil Rights, their lawyers say that Lively and Reynolds “unfollowed Baldoni’s social media accounts” nearly a year earlier.

What is Astroturfing? The complaint alleges that the PR team engaged in “astrotufing.”

The complaint alleges that Nathan planned to spread stories during the film’s promotion to turn public opinion against Lively.

The filing alleges that Nathan suggested the process of “astroturfing,” which the filing described as “the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the Internet, media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public.” , but actually come from a specific company or political group.”

The complaint includes several alleged instances in which Baldoni’s teams attempted to spread stories to “shift the narrative” in the actor’s favor. According to the files, Abel and Nathan were having a text exchange when Daily Mail published an article with the headline “Is Blake Lively CANCELED?” A series of “hard to watch” videos that have surfaced following a “tone-deaf” Q&A to promote It Ends With Us.

“You really outdid yourself with this piece,” Abel said. Nathan replied, “That’s why you hired me, right? I am the best.”

The lawsuit also accuses Abel of colluding with Melissa Nathan’s sister Sara Nathan, an executive editor at the New York Post, to spread negative stories, including one in the Post-owned tabloid Page Six with the headline: “Blake Lively Approved Final Cut of “ It Ends with Us is in the midst of a feud with co-star director Justin Baldoni.

The filing says Abel wrote, “He wants to feel like she can be buried,” to which Melissa Nathan responded with a text message of her own, “You know we can bury anyone.”

In another case on file, Baldoni Abel writes a social media post and thread in which he accuses Hailey Bieber of bullying behavior and writes, “This is what we would need.”

Justin Baldoni has long been a public advocate for women and marginalized communities

Baldoni is considered one of Hollywood’s most prominent men to advocate for violence against women and the pervasive forms of masculinity that plagued the entertainment industry at the height of the #MeToo movement nearly a decade ago.

He co-hosts the Webby Award-nominated podcast Man Enough with author Liz Plank, which describes itself as “a safe environment for a range of perspectives” to openly discuss masculinity.

His Instagram bio includes a note about domestic violence prevention: “If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Visit @nomoreorg for more information.”

The No More Foundation, a domestic and sexual violence prevention organization, was promoted by Baldoni during the film’s press tour.

Earlier this month, he accepted the 2024 Voices of Solidarity Award from Vital Voices, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that works to end sexual and domestic violence

In an Instagram post about the event, Baldoni wrote, “My hope is that we can teach our boys from a young age that vulnerability is strength, sensitivity is a superpower, and empathy is what makes them strong.”

“Being a boy and a man is great and there is no need to apologize for it. And appreciating all the beautiful and intricate parts of them that make them human,” Baldoni continued in his caption.

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Why Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment

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