Blake Lively has sued her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni and others, alleging sexual harassment and a campaign to discredit her after she spoke out over alleged misconduct during production.
The lawsuit filed in New York on Tuesday alleges sexual harassment and other inappropriate behaviour by Baldoni and one of the producers on the film, Jamey Heath, before and during production.
Lively further alleges Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, and others engaged in a plan to damage her reputation after she spoke out about the alleged misconduct.
The official lawsuit comes weeks after Lively filed a legal complaint. Baldoni has through his lawyer previously denied allegations of misconduct. According to reports, his lawyer had not yet commented on Lively’s lawsuit.
Tuesday’s filing came on the same day Baldoni and others sued The New York Times for defamation following an article last month in which it detailed an alleged smear campaign against Lively. The media organisation has said it stood by its reporting and will defend the case.
A little over one week ago Baldoni’s former publicist Stephanie Jones sued her former employee Jennifer Abel, crisis communications expert Melissa Nathan, and Wayfarer Studios, claiming they conspired to undermine her, devised a smear campaign against Lively behind Jones’s back which they attributed to Jones, and stole clients, including Baldoni.
Late summer release It Ends With Us has earned more than $350m at the global box office through Sony Pictures and follows a woman who ends her relationship following episodes of domestic violence.
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