Blake Lively has alleged that Justin Baldoni "cried for hours in her dressing room" over her appearance while on the set of their movie It Ends With Us.
Following the controversy surrounding the release of It Ends With Us this past summer, the 37-year-old actress has taken legal action against her 40-year-old co-star, alleging sexual harassment and a coordinated effort to damage her reputation.
The adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel follows Lily Bloom (Lively), a woman who moves to a new city and falls in love with a man named Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) - who becomes abusive.
Bloom's life then takes an unexpected turn when her first love, Atlas Corrigan, re-enters her life, forcing her to confront her tumultuous relationship with Ryle and make a difficult choice.
Filming for the movie began in May 2023 - just a few months after the Gossip Girl star welcomed her fourth child, a son named Olin, with husband Ryan Reynolds.
According to the bombshell lawsuit filed by Lively, which was obtained by TMZ, Baldoni made critical comments about the Age of Adaline actress' appearance.
One incident that was included in the complaint states that the Jane The Virgin star "cried" in his dressing room on the second day of filming after social media users allegedly said "Lively looked old and unattractive based on paparazzi photos from the set," cited by Too Fab.
"[Lively] tried to reassure [Baldoni] that she should look authentic in the scenes depicted in the photos, which were just after her character had been abused by her fictional husband, rather than 'hot,'" the complaint noted.
However, the actress claimed that Baldoni - who was also the director - "appeared focused" on her "sexual appeal above all else," with the filing alleging that her co-star's "lengthy outburst caused a delay in shooting, forcing an emotional scene to be shot haphazardly".
Another accusation made in the explosive filing was that Baldoni “routinely degraded” Lively by “finding back-channel ways of criticizing her body and weight,” such as discreetly contacting her personal trainer less than four months after she gave birth.
It's also been reported that the Cloud actor asked his on-set trainer how much Lively weighed and how could he train to protect himself from a back injury before filming a scene that required him to pick her up. However, per the lawsuit "no such scene" wasn't included in the film.
Baldoni's alleged pattern of body-shaming didn't end there as according to Lively, he further humiliated her by referring her to a weight-loss specialist under the guise of providing medical support for strep throat.
"When Ms. Lively went to fill out the privacy forms, she saw the expert was not what Mr. Baldoni had represented her to be, but was instead a weight-loss specialist," the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, a meeting was held to address Lively's concerns regarding her involvement in the film. Her husband, Ryan Reynolds, was among those in attendance.
The mom-of-four's had some demands, which were: "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 [Blake Lively] outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project," were other demands mentioned in the complaint.
Sony Pictures, who distributed the movie, approved of the actress' requests. However, Lively alleged in the lawsuit that Baldoni took part in what was described as a "social manipulation" campaign launched to "destroy" her reputation.
This was documented through emails and text messages - reportedly obtained via subpoena - allegedly between the actor, his publicist, and his crisis management team.
In a statement shared with The New York Times, Lively said she hopes her legal action "helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted".
Per PEOPLE, Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, fired back at the filing, calling all of the claims "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt".
Freedman said Wayfarer Studios "did nothing proactive nor retaliated" against the actress, blasting the lawsuit as "another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation".
.jpg_hwEwRD?tr=h-40)
