Blake Lively sues Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment after It Ends with Us allegations

Blake Lively is suing her It Ends with Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment. Baldoni has responded by branding the move a 'shameful' attempt to save her own reputation following their movie which was plagued by claims of behind the scenes discord

Blake Lively is suing her former It Ends with Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment.

The actress, 37, worked with Justin, 40, on the movie adaption of Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel. The movie divided critics and was plagued by reports of backstage drama. Following months of rumours about a fallout between the leading stars, Blake has now accused her co-star and director of a co-ordinated effort to destroy her reputation, in legal papers seen by US outlet TMZ.

Baldoni's team have responded by branding Blake 'shameful' and accusing her of a 'false attempt' to rehab her own reputation. Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, lashed out at the lawsuit, slamming Blake's claims "false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt."

News of the legal war comes after months of rumours about a behind-the-scenes about a feud between Blake and her co-star as they filmed the adaptation of Hoover's hugely popular novel. The book tells the story of Lily Bloom (Lively) as she falls in love with Ryle Kincaid (played by Justin Baldoni).

Months after the release, Blake claims Baldoni's alleged behaviour caused her 'severe emotional distress'. According to TMZ, the lawsuit states a meeting was held to address Lively's claims and her demands for working on the film. It was attended by various figures working on the movie, including Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds. Earlier this year it was revealed that Reynolds had written a pivotal scene for the film that made it into the final cut, with Baldoni only finding out after Blake revealed it in a red carpet interview.

According to Blake's lawsuit, cited by TMZ, some of the demands that were addressed in the It Ends with Us meeting included "no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni's alleged previous 'pornography addiction,' no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew's genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake's weight, and no further mention of Blake's dead father.

"No more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing by BL outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project," were other demands mentioned in the lawsuit, according to TMZ. The suit claims the demands were approved by the studio.

The lawsuit also claims the film's success was harmed by a huge conflict over how it would be marketed. Blake wanted a positive spin on her character's resilience, which was at odds with Baldoni who allegedly wanted the focus to be on the issue of domestic violence at its core.

While promoting the film on social media, a clip of Blake when viral as she told fans "Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it" - with some saying her statement was at odds with the dark subject matter of the movie.

In a statement given to the Mirror, from the attorney of Justin Baldoni, Bryan Freedman, described Blake's allegations are described as 'shameful.'

The statement reads: "It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.

"These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media. Wayfarer Studios made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film, to work alongside their own representative with Jonesworks employed by Stephanie Jones, due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production which included her threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.

"It was also discovered that Ms. Lively enlisted her own representative, Leslie Sloan with Vision PR, who also represents Mr. Reynolds, to plant negative and completely fabricated and false stories with media, even prior to any marketing had commenced for the film, which was another reason why Wayfarer Studios made the decision to hire a crisis professional to commence internal scenario planning in the case they needed to address.

"The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity. What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals.”