SAG-AFTRA has spoken up about Blake Lively's lawsuit against It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni.
Lively has filed a lawsuit, obtained by the New York Times, alleging that her co-star and director tried to mount a smear campaign against her and claimed that it resulted in 'severe emotional distress' while filming the 2024 romantic drama.
The drama started to unfold when fans of the movie realised that the stars were not doing much press together, though all the reasons behind the decision has now allegedly been revealed by Lively and her legal team.
The legal complaint claims Baldoni led a 'social manipulation' campaign and that he sexually harassed her.
Texts were also revealed, with one reading that Baldoni ‘wants to feel like [Lively] can be buried’.
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Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has since claimed to Variety that the suit contains ‘categorically false accusations’.
The complaint from Lively alleges that a meeting was held during productions to outline Lively's claims to continue working on the film, with husband Ryan Reynolds also attending, with all 30 demands highlighted to the team.
Some of these included 'No more showing nude videos or images of women, including producer’s wife, to Blake Lively and/or her employees' and 'No more descriptions of their own genitalia to Blake Lively.'
Other topics off the table included Baldoni's sexual conquests, mentions of Lively's weight, or her dead father.
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Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the union that represents about 160,000 actors in Hollywood, has now spoken up on the topic.
They said in a statement: “These are startling and troubling allegations. Employees have every right to raise issues of concern or to file complaints. Retaliation for reporting misconduct or inappropriate behaviour is illegal and wrong,”
“We applaud Blake Lively’s courage in speaking out on issues of retaliation and harassment and for her 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."
According to the complaint, Baldoni tried to add more 'sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing' to the film, though Lively would later demand that this stopped if she were to continue filming.
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Speaking to The New York Times in a statement, the mother-of-four stated: “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.”
A number of high-profile names were also mentioned in the suit, many of which Baldoni and his team allegedly brought up to prepare and use against Lively, should she mention his name in a negative light on the press tour.
Others, such as Hailey Bieber, were claimed to be used as an example on how to take a celebrity down using social media.
Topics: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Celebrity, Entertainment
Joshua Nair