Blake Lively has accused her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni of a smear campaign.

Blake Lively has filed a legal complaint against It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment and a campaign to “destroy” her reputation.

According to legal filings, she accused Mr. Baldoni and his team of attacking her public image after she brought her actor husband, Ryan Reynolds, to a meeting to address “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Mr. Baldoni and the producer. . To the movies.

Baldoni’s legal team told the BBC that the claims were “completely false” and that a crisis manager was hired because Lively threatened to derail the film if her demands were not met.

In this romantic drama, Lively plays a woman who becomes involved with her attractive but violent boyfriend (played by Baldoni).

The meeting between Mr. Lively, Mr. Baldoni and others involved in the film’s production took place on January 4 of this year, with the aim of addressing a “hostile work environment” on set, legal documents say.

According to the lawsuit, Lively’s husband, Deadpool star Reynolds, who did not appear in “It Ends With Us,” participated in a confrontation with her prior to the lawsuit.

Mr. Baldoni, 40, attended the meeting as co-chairman and co-founder of Wayfarer Studios, which produced the film. He was also the director of the film.

In the complaint, Lively’s lawyers claim Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamie Heath engaged in “inappropriate and unwelcome behavior toward Lively and others on the set of ‘It Ends With Us.'”

In documents filed with the California Department of Civil Rights, the meeting made 30 demands related to the pair’s misconduct in order to allow them to continue making movies.

Among them, Lively, 37, asked Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath to make no further comments to Mr. Lively or other crew members about their previous ‘pornography addiction’, and asked Mr. Lively not to further describe their genitals. I did it. “Adding sex scenes, oral sex or on-camera climaxes by BL (Blake Lively) outside the scope of the script approved by BL when signing on to the project,” the complaint said.

Mr. Lively also asked Mr. Baldoni not to tell him he could talk to his dead father.

Ms Lively’s legal team further accused Mr Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios of leading a “pyramid scheme” to destroy her reputation.

She claims this was “the intended result of a carefully designed, coordinated and well-resourced retaliatory plan to prevent herself and others from speaking out about the hostile environment created by Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath.”

Responding to the legal complaint, Mr Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said on Saturday: “It is shameful that Ms Lively and her representatives have made such serious and patently false accusations against Mr Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and their representatives. “

Mr. Friedman accused Ms. Lively of making numerous demands and threats, including “threatening not to show up on set, threatening not to promote the film,” which ultimately led to “the film’s demise during its release if her demands were not met.” “It is,” he said. .

He claimed that Lively’s claims were “intentionally obscene with the intention of publicly hurting and rehashing them in the media.”

In a statement to the BBC through her lawyers, Lively said: “I hope my legal action will help put a stop to the vicious retaliatory tactics that harm those who speak out about misconduct and help protect others who may be targeted. “he said.

She also denied that she or any of her representatives planted or spread negative information about Mr. Baldoni or Wayfarer.

The film was a box office success, but some critics said it romanticized domestic violence.

Shortly after the August release date, another co-star, Brandon Sklenar, hinted at rumors of a feud between Lively and Baldoni in an Instagram post.

Rumors of their elimination only grew when the two did not appear together on the red carpet.

It Ends With Us tells the story of Boston florist Lily Bloom (Ms Lively) as she navigates a love triangle between her attractive but abusive boyfriend Lyle Kincaid (Mr Baldoni) and her compassionate first love Atlas Corrigan (Ms Baldoni). Mr. Sclenar.

It is based on Colin Hoover’s best-selling novel. The 45-year-old author previously said she was inspired by the domestic abuse her mother suffered.

In an interview with the BBC at the time of the film’s release last August, Ms. Lively said she felt “a responsibility to provide a service to people who are very interested in the source material.”

The actress said, “I feel like I’ve told a story that’s emotional and funny, but also funny, painful, scary, tragic and inspiring. That’s life. It has all the colors.”

Lively, who is also a producer, told the BBC that she felt the film was made “with a lot of empathy.”

“Lily is a survivor and a victim. Even though they are a big label, that is not who she is,” Lively said. “She defines herself, and I think it’s very empowering to know that no one else can define you.”