It Ends With Us studio Sony Pictures and SAG-AFTRA have released statements in support of Blake Lively amid her allegations accusing costar and director Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her.
“We have previously expressed our support for Blake in connection with her work on and for the film. We fully and firmly reiterate that support today,” a spokesperson for Sony told Variety in a Monday, December 23, statement. “Further, we strongly condemn any reputational attacks on her. Any such attacks have no place in our business or in a civil society.”
Hours earlier, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artist also spoke out against the “startling and troubling allegations” in a statement to Deadline, noting that they “applaud” Lively’s “courage in speaking out on issues of retaliation and harassment and for er request to have an intimacy coordinator for all scenes with nudity or sexual content.”
“This is an important step that helps ensure a safe set,” a guild spokesperson told the outlet on Monday. “Employees have every right to raise issues of concern or to file complaints. Retaliation for reporting misconduct or inappropriate behavior is illegal and wrong. We all have a right to be treated with dignity and respect on the job and to work in an environment free of harassment, discrimination and retaliation.”
Lively, 37, filed the complaint against Baldoni, 40, on Friday, December 20, claiming he created a “hostile work environment” on the It Ends With Us set and caused the Gossip Girl alum “severe emotional distress.” The lawsuit additionally claimed that Baldoni and his team had launched a “social manipulation” campaign against Lively to damage her reputation.
The documents, obtained by Us Weekly after it first reported by TMZ and The New York Times, stated that a meeting was held during the film’s production in January to address Lively’s claims against her costar that included “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous “pornography addiction” no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”
Baldoni, for his part, has vehemently denied the allegations against him. In a statement to Us, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman called Lively’s claims “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious,” alleging she filed the lawsuit to “fix her negative reputation” and “rehash a narrative” about the film’s production. He claimed Lively made “multiple demands and threats,” which included “threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.”
As for Lively’s smear campaign allegations — which included text messages from Baldoni and his team — Freedman told Us The Agency Group PR, which was hired by Baldoni and is one of several firms named in the lawsuit, “operated as any other crisis management firm would when hired by a client experiencing threats by two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources.”
Freedman also claimed that the texts were taken out of context. “The standard scenario planning TAG PR drafted proved unnecessary as audiences found Lively’s own actions, interviews and marketing during the promotional tour distasteful, and responded organically to that which the media themselves picked up on,” he continued. “It’s ironic that the New York Times, through their effort to ‘uncover’ an insidious PR effort, played directly into the hands of Lively’s own dubious PR tactics by publishing leaked personal text exchanges that lack critical context — the very same tactics she’s accusing the firm of implementing.”
Sony and SAG-AFTRA are just the latest to speak out in support of Lively. It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover took to social media on Saturday, December 21, to praise Lively for being nothing but being “honest, kind, supportive and patient from day one.”
Lively and Baldoni’s costar Brandon Sklenar also came to the Simple Favor star’s defense, sharing the NYT story about the allegations via his Instagram Story on Monday. “For the love of god read this,” he wrote with a link to the article, tagging Lively and adding a red heart emoji.
Baldoni, meanwhile, has been dropped by his agency WME, who also represent Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. His “Man Enough” podcast host, Liz Plank, also announced her exit on Monday along with women’s non-profit Vital Voices rescinding their Voices of Solidarity Award, which Baldoni was presented with just last week.
