Actress Blake Lively attacked ‘It Ends With Us’ director Justin Baldoni and several others associated with the romantic drama on Tuesday for criticizing her reputation for bullying and treatment on set. sued, alleging an organized campaign to do so.
The federal lawsuit was filed in New York just hours after Baldoni and many other defendants in Lively’s lawsuit sued The New York Times for defamation. Lively said the newspaper and the Star waged an organized smear campaign.
The lawsuit is a major development in the story from the surprise hit film, which has already made waves in Hollywood and led to discussions about the treatment of female actors both on set and in the media.
Lively’s lawsuit alleges that the film’s production company, Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and others engaged in a “carefully designed, coordinated and well-resourced retaliation scheme to prevent her and others from speaking out.” He said he did.
She accused Baldoni and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, of embarking on a “pyramid scheme” to damage her reputation following a meeting in which she cited “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni and producer Jamey. Heath is named in both lawsuits.
The plan included proposals to plant theories on online message boards, design social media campaigns and post news articles critical of Lively, according to the lawsuit.
Allegations of abuse on set included Baldoni’s comments about the bodies of Lively and other women on set. And the suit says Baldoni and Heath “discussed their personal sexual experiences and previous pornography addictions and pressured Lively to reveal details about her intimate life.”
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lively’s lawsuit. But he previously called the same claims “completely false, outrageous and intentionally obscene.”
Lively’s lawsuit came on the same day as a defamation lawsuit filed by Baldoni and others in Los Angeles Superior Court against The New York Times, seeking at least $250 million. The Times said it stood by its reporting and planned to “vigorously defend” the lawsuit.
Defendants in Lively’s suit and plaintiffs in the defamation suit include Wayfarer and crisis communications expert Melissa Nathan. His text message was quoted in the headline of a December 21 Times article. machine.”
The story, written by Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire and Julie Tate, was published shortly after Lively filed a legal complaint with the California Department of Civil Rights, a predecessor to the new lawsuit.
In the defamation suit, the newspaper “relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified, self-serving story and told it almost verbatim, ignoring the wealth of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motivations.” But the Times didn’t care.”
“Our story was reported sensitively and responsibly,” Times spokesman Daniel Rhodes said in a statement.
“It is the result of our review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails, which we quote accurately and at length in the article. “To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article, and their representatives have not pointed out a single error,” the statement said.
But Baldoni’s lawsuit states, “If The Times had truly reviewed the thousands of private communications it claims to have obtained, its reporters would have seen irrefutable evidence that it was Lively, and not the plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign.” He says.
Lively is not a defendant in the defamation suit. “This lawsuit changes nothing about the allegations made in the California Department of Civil Rights complaint or the federal complaint that Mr. Lively filed this morning,” Lively’s lawyers said in a statement.
“It Ends With Us,” a romantic drama adapted from Colin Hoover’s best-selling 2016 novel, surpassed box office expectations with a $50 million debut when it was released in August. However, the film’s release was overshadowed by speculation about a feud between Lively and Baldoni. Baldoni took a backseat in promoting the film, while Lively took center stage alongside Reynolds, who was a former ‘Deadpool’ press tour correspondent. & At the same time as “Wolverine.”
Lively rose to fame in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants,” and solidified her stardom with the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012. Afterwards, she appeared in films such as ‘The Town’ and ‘The Shallows.’ ”
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity. Responding to concerns that “It Ends With Us” romanticized domestic violence, he told the Associated Press at the time that critics were “absolutely entitled to that opinion.”
He was fired from his agency, WME, shortly after Lively filed her complaint and the Times reported the story. The agency represents both Lively and Reynolds.
“The New York Times has bowed to the demands and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites,” Friedman, Baldoni’s attorney, said in a statement about the defamation suit.
“In doing so, they predetermined the outcome of their story and aided and abetted their own destructive public relations smear campaign designed to revitalize Lively’s self-induced crumbling public image and counter the organically mounting criticism among the online public. .” he added. .”Rich in irony.”
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Associated Press writer Ryan Pearson contributed to this article.
