The actress denounces the toxic behavior of the director of her latest film and accuses him of having organized a smear campaign against her.
Blake Lively accuses Justin Baldoni, the director of her latest film, of sexual harassment Never again. In a complaint filed this week, the actress assures that the director organized a smear campaign against her and that her behavior on the set caused her “immense emotional harm”.
Blake Lively accuses Justin Baldoni in particular of having commented on her weight inappropriately but also of having asked her a series of indiscreet questions about her religious beliefs and her sex life. The actress also fought so that the director did not add unnecessary sex scenes to the script.
The actress also denounces the behavior of the film's producer Jamey Heath. The latter allegedly showed him a photo of his naked wife giving birth. She also assures that Baldoni and Heath entered her dressing room without her permission – “notably at a time when she was breastfeeding her child”.
Attempt to manipulate
Baldoni and Heath allegedly created a toxic work environment by discussing “their past sexual adventures” and “their ex-porn addiction” with the actress. Blake Lively was also moved by an “attempt to manipulate” Baldoni, who allegedly assured her that he could communicate with her father, Ernie Lively, who died in 2021.
“It was disturbing and very intrusive for Mr. Baldoni to claim to have a personal connection with his father who had just died,” Blake Lively's complaint states. In this same document, Blake Lively specifies that she “was concerned not only for herself, but also for the other women working on the film – who denounced these behaviors.”
Bryan Freedman, Justin Baldoni's lawyer, reacted by calling the complaint “shameful”, specifying that it was riddled with “completely false accusations”. “This is a desperate attempt to repair his bad reputation which is linked to his statements and his actions during the promotional campaign for the film,” denounces the lawyer.
“I hope that this complaint will help to lift a corner of the veil on these sinister methods of hurting those who dare to speak publicly to denounce bad behavior,” replied Blake Lively in a press release sent to the New York Times.
Rumors of tension
Blake Lively had already started to denounce the behavior of Justin Baldoni, who also plays the main role of Never againduring a meeting in January 2024, specifies his complaint.
Rumors of tension on the set also circulated last August at the time of the release of Never again. The tabloid TMZ had then notably reported that Justin Baldoni had shown fatphobia by commenting on the weight of the actress who had just given birth to her fourth child.
Other sources had also assured TMZ that the actress would have had a bad experience with a kiss scene with Justin Baldoni. “Blake had the impression that his kiss lasted much longer than it should have,” we could read in the columns of the always very well informed tabloid.
Adapted from the novel Never Again by Colleen Hoover, this drama about domestic violence grossed more than $350 million at the box office. Colleen Hoover has written a sequel to her novel, but according to Variety, it is unlikely to be adapted into a film because “Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni can no longer work together.”
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