The legal saga surrounding the casting of It Ends With Us continues. A few days after Blake Lively’s complaint against Justin Baldoni for defamation and sexual harassment on the set of their film, the actor and director filed a complaint Tuesday against the New York Timeswhich revealed the actress’ accusations against him.
In this new legal action amounting to 250 million dollars (241 million euros), Blake Lively’s colleague in the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel accuses the star of Gossip Girl for trying to prevent him from attending the premiere of the film, which he also directed, when it was released last summer. “Lively initially refused to allow him to attend the premiere of the film,” reads the 87-page complaint seen by Variety.
“Separated from the main distribution”
“Only after much pressure did she reluctantly agree to allow Baldoni and the Wayfarer (production studio) team to attend, but under humiliating conditions.” The 40-year-old filmmaker and those close to him were reportedly “kept apart” from his colleagues while promoting the film: “The Wayfarer crew and their families, including Baldoni and (producer Jamie) Heath, were separated from the main cast, barred from the exclusive after-party and forced to host their own event at extra cost.”
However, during his participation in the preview of It Ends With UsJustin Baldoni and his relatives would also have been ostracized. “Baldoni’s red carpet appearance was cut short, and his family and friends were confined to a makeshift holding area in the basement before being escorted to a separate movie theater after Lively left,” they said. legal documents. “Not only did Lively steal the film, she also deprived Baldoni and his team of a real opportunity to celebrate their hard work.”
The actress’s lawyers told the New York Post that this new twist changed “in no way” the “claims made in the complaint from Ms. Lively’s California Department of Civil Rights, nor in her federal complaint” against the filmmaker. For their part, the teams of New York Times defended the integrity of their work and affirmed their desire to defend themselves “vigorously” against the complaint.
