Featured Image Credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images/Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
Topics: Blake Lively, Celebrity, Film and TV, Justin Baldoni
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Blake Lively, Celebrity, Film and TV, Justin Baldoni
An attorney for It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni has responded to Blake Lively's lawsuit accusing her co-star of sexual harassment and 'trying to destroy her reputation'.
Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni accusing him of engaging in behaviors which caused her 'severe emotional distress' during the filming of the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel It Ends With Us.
In the lawsuit - first seen by TMZ and shared online by the New York Times - Lively accuses Baldoni of sexual harassment alongside an alleged attempt to 'destroy' her reputation.
The lawsuit claims during filming, a meeting had to be called as a result of the alleged environment being fostered on set and Lively listed certain requests, some relating to the film itself - allegedly including 'no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing by BL outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project'.
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Other requests are reported as no discussions of a sexual nature were allowed to happen in front of Lively, no mentions of cast and crew's genitalia, no more discussion about Lively's weight, no mention of Baldoni's alleged previous 'pornography addiction' and no nude videos or images of women being shown to Lively.
The requests were reportedly agreed to however the lawsuit also claims Baldoni and his company - Wayfarer Studios - allegedly then tried to 'destroy' her reputation through 'social manipulation' and has overall caused her and her family 'severe emotional distress'.
And a representative for Baldoni, alongside Wayfarer Studios, has since responded to the allegations.
Attorney for Baldoni as well as Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, Bryan Freedman, told The Hollywood Reporter the accusations are 'categorically false'.
Freedman branded it 'shameful' Lively and her representatives would 'make such serious' accusations '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," he added.
The statement slams the claims as 'completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media'.
The statement further alleges Lively made 'multiple demands and threats during production'.
Freedman alleges Lively threatened 'to not show up on set [and] threatened to not promote the film' unless her 'demands were met' - which led to Wayfarer Studios making the call 'to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film, to work alongside their own representative with Jonesworks employed by Stephanie Jones'.
It also states Lively's alleged demands 'ultimately lead to [the film's] demise during release'.
The statement continued: "It was also discovered that Ms. Lively enlisted her own representative, Leslie Sloan with Vision PR, who also represents Mr. Reynolds, to plant negative and completely fabricated and false stories with media, even prior to any marketing had commenced for the film, which was another reason why Wayfarer Studios made the decision to hire a crisis professional to commence internal scenario planning in the case they needed to address.
"The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity.
"What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals."
Lively told The New York Times in a statement: "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."
UNILAD has contacted representatives for Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively and Sony Pictures for comment.