Blake Lively has just filed a formal claim for money, suing Justin Baldoni and others for mental pain and suffering, severe emotional distress and lost wages.
The lawsuit mirrors a complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Commission, but this lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.
In addition to Baldoni, Blake is suing Baldoni’s crisis managers, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, as well as Wayfarer Studios, which produced the film It Ends With Us.
The lawsuit alleges sexual harassment and alleged misconduct on set.
TMZ reports, according to the complaint presented previously In California, obtained by TMZ, Lively came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and what she claims is a concerted effort to destroy her reputation. Baldoni’s team called the allegations a bogus attempt to restore her reputation.
According to the complaint, things got so bad on set that an all-deck meeting was held to address what she claims was a hostile work environment. Ryan ReynoldsAmong those present was Blake’s husband.
The complaint lists demands that have been made… She says because of Baldoni’s behavior, they include no more showing Blake nude videos or images of women, no more mentioning Baldoni’s past “pornography addiction,” no more discussions of sexual advances in front of Blake and others. no more references to the cast and crew’s genitalia, no more questions about Blake’s weight, and no more mentions of Blake’s dead father.
The lawsuit claims the claims were accepted and approved by the studio, but there was a huge conflict over how it would be marketed. Blake wanted to be more optimistic about his character’s flexibility according to the marketing plan, while Baldoni wanted the focus on domestic violence and chose to go off script.
Lively alleges that Baldoni and the company then engaged in a campaign of “social manipulation” to “destroy” Lively’s reputation.The lawsuit includes texts from Baldoni’s publicist to a studio publicist saying Baldoni “wanted to feel that (Ms. Lively) can be buried, and “We cannot write, we will destroy him.”
The California complaint alleges the campaign has harmed Lively’s business and caused her family “severe emotional distress.”
Baldoni’s lawyer, Brian Friedmancriticized the complaint, saying it was designed to “correct his negative reputation”, adding that the claims were “false, outrageous and deliberately pathetic with the intention of publicly offending”.
We’ve reached out to Justin Baldoni’s reps…no word back yet.
