Hollywood star Blake Lively has filed a legal complaint against her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni, accusing him of “repeated sexual harassment” on set and of an intensive smear campaign against her after the movie’s release.
Lively filed the complaint, which precedes a lawsuit, on Friday with the California Civil Rights Department, according to reports by The Associated Press news agency. Baldoni, his publicists and senior executives of Wayfarer, Baldoni’s studio behind the 2024 movie, have all been named as defendants in the complaint.
“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,” Lively said in a statement to journalists.
Baldoni, who is known for speaking up about “toxic masculinity” and for supporting women, has not personally responded to the claims. His legal team, however, has called them “completely false”.
Here’s what we know about the dispute:
What was the film It Ends With Us about?
The August 2024 drama is based on author Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel of the same name. Set in Boston, Massachusetts, the film follows the tale of florist Lily Bloom, played by Lively. Lily was raised by an abusive father who often hit her mother and ends up falling for and marrying neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid, played by Baldoni.
When her first love, Atlas, played by Brandon Sklenar, re-enters her life, Lily begins to see Ryle’s abusive side. She eventually finds the courage to leave the marriage, strengthened by the need to protect her baby girl and promising that the cycle of violence would end with her.
Lively co-produced the film while Baldoni directed it. The movie was met with mixed reviews as some critics accused the makers of romanticising domestic violence. Still, it was a box office hit, raking in $351m worldwide while costing $25m to make. Other big Hollywood names in the movie include Jenny Slate and comedian Hasan Minhaj.
What happened on the film set?
During the film’s shoot from April 2023 to early 2024, Lively made complaints that Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath were violating physical boundaries and were directing sexual, inappropriate comments at her, according to the legal complaint, which was obtained by The New York Times.
According to the complaint, Lively expressed concerns about Baldoni before shooting began and said she objected to sex scenes he wanted to add and that she felt were unnecessary.
Later on, she said, Baldoni spoke to her about his sex life, pressured her about her religious beliefs and called her fitness trainer regarding her post-pregnancy weight behind her back. The actress gave birth to her fourth child in February 2023.
In November 2023, Lively approached Wayfarer, demanding safeguards be implemented on the film set.
During a meeting with Baldoni, Heath and other producers, she complained that Baldoni had improvised unwanted kissing on set and discussed his sex life, revealing details of encounters when he may not have received consent.
Heath, Lively alleged, showed her a video of his naked wife and watched the star in her trailer while she undressed. Both men, she added, entered her trailer unannounced while she was undressed, including while she was breastfeeding.
Wayfarer agreed that both men would not be allowed into Lively’s trailer and they would no longer show or talk to Lively about nude videos or images of women or sexual experiences, genitalia or pornography. Baldoni was barred from improvising sex scenes, asking about Lively’s weight, pressing her on her religious beliefs or mentioning her late father. The studio also brought on an intimacy coordinator to monitor Baldoni and Lively’s scenes.
According to The New York Times, Lively later told people whom she worked with that the men’s behaviour had changed.
Why does Lively say she was subject to a smear campaign?
However, Lively also alleged in Friday’s legal complaint that Baldoni and Wayfarer targeted her after the film’s release in a “sophisticated and well-fina