Justin Baldoni is facing the swift fallout of a lawsuit Blake Lively has filed against him.
Earlier this year, the release of “It Ends With Us” inspired whispers, rumors and online theories surrounding the co-stars’ puzzling behavior by never appearing together while doing promotion for the film or even on the red carpet for the premiere. Fast-forward to Friday, Dec. 20, Lively filed a lawsuit that alleges sexual misconduct on set and a Baldoni-led effort to destroy Lively’s reputation.
Directed by Baldoni, “It Ends With Us” is the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestseller that explores the blossoming relationship between a florist Lily (Lively) and a neurosurgeon Ryle (Baldoni) that slowly unravels into an abusive relationship. While shooting the movie, Lively’s complaint revealed a troubling portrait of Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath allegedly crossing the actress’ personal and professional boundaries on set. Baldoni’s legal camp has quickly fired back, claiming Lively’s allegations are “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.”
Following the complaint’s filing, a New York Times exposé illuminated an alleged public relations smear machine at work to elevate Baldoni and cut Lively down. Since then, Baldoni has experienced pushback for his alleged behavior with many distancing themselves from him.
First, talent agency WME dropped Baldoni the same day Lively’s lawsuit was filed, the Daily Beast reports. Lively is also a client of WME and continues to be represented by the agency.
Also, Vital Voices rescinded their Voices of Solidarity Award given to Baldoni on Dec. 9 to honor “remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls.”
On Monday, Dec. 23 the organization took to Instagram to address the controversy swirling around Baldoni. In a statement, Vital Voices said, “We learned through news reports about a lawsuit brought by Blake Lively against Mr. Baldoni, his publicists, and others that is disturbing and alleges abhorrent conduct.
“The communications among Mr. Baldoni and his publicists included in the lawsuit — and the PR effort they indicate — are, alone, contrary to the values of Vital Voices and the spirit of the Award. We have notified Mr. Baldoni that we have rescinded this award,” it read.
Meanwhile, Baldoni’s podcast “Man Enough,” co-hosted by Heath and Liz Plank also seems to be suffering from the fallout of the complaint. The podcast, produced by Wayfarer Studios, the company responsible for “It Ends With Us,” focuses on “what explores what it means to be a man today and how rigid gender roles have affected all people.”
Plank, a former journalist and author, has officially announced her departure from the podcast after co-hosting it for three years.
In a statement posted to her Instagram on Monday, she said, “I’m writing to you today to let you know that I have had my representatives inform Wayfarer that I will no longer be co-hosting ‘The Man Enough’ podcast.”
Plank concluded, “I will have more to share soon as I continue to process everything that has happened. In the meantime, I will continue to support everyone who calls out injustice and holds people standing in their way accountable.”
Baldoni is also facing another legal dispute with his former publicist, Steph Jones, who has sued Baldoni, his company and his publicity team including her former employee Jennifer Abel and publicist Melissa Nathan. Jones has accused Baldoni of breaching their contract, which requires him to pay $25,000 per month.
Only a few months into a yearlong contract, she claims that Baldoni dropped Jones’ firm in August following Abel’s departure from Joneswork. Baldoni then retained Nathan’s company, TAG PR. Jones is also alleging that Abel and Nathan orchestrated the smear campaign against Lively behind her back and attempted to pin that fallout on her, Variety reported Tuesday.
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