Blake Lively says that Justin Baldoni complained to her that he felt her personal trainer on the set of It Ends with Us was functioning as a ‘damn spy’ on behalf of the actress.
The Los Angeles native, 37, said that actor-director Baldoni, 40, said he’d been dealing with lower back pain as a ruse to express his grievances on the issue to the film’s crew, Newsweek reported Monday after reviewing documents in the civil rights complaint, which was filed in California December 20.
Lively – who is mother to four kids with her husband, Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds, 48, – said in the 80-page legal complaint, ‘Mr. Baldoni referred to Ms. Lively’s trainer as “a damn spy” and sought to plant stories to portray his concerns as being motivated by his lower back pain.’
Lively, who played Lily Bloom opposite Baldoni’s Ryle Kincaid in the romantic drama, said that Baldoni raised his grievances with her trainer in a series of texts to production workers on the motion picture.
Lively, in her complaint to the California Civil Rights Department, did not specifically name the fitness professional, according to the outlet.
Dailymail.com has reached out to reps for both Lively and Baldoni for comment on the latest in the developing story.
Blake Lively, 37, says that Justin Baldoni, 40, complained to her that he felt her personal trainer on the set of It Ends with Us was functioning as a ‘damn spy.’ Pictured in London in August
In the filing, the Gossip Girl alum accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – during production of the motion picture.
Baldoni claimed the personal trainer told Lively that he wanted her to shed pounds for the film ‘less than four months after [she] had given birth to her fourth child,’ son Olin, Lively said in her legal filing.
Lively said in the filing she was ‘humiliated’ to learn that Baldoni – ‘without her knowledge or permission’ – convened a meeting with the trainer and ‘implied that he wanted her to lose weight in two weeks.’
In regards to the reference to back pain, Lively said Baldoni ‘told the trainer that he had asked because he was concerned about having to’ lift her up ‘ in a scene for the movie, but there was no such scene’ scripted.
Lively said in the complaint that Baldoni had been deceitful on multiple fronts in regards to issues linked to her physical appearance, as she said she ‘routinely’ felt shamed about her figure.
In one instance, she said that he had sent her to a weight loss specialist under the initial guise he was pointing her to an expert on probiotics after she had come down with strep throat, E! News reported after reviewing the complaint.
Lively’s legal team said in the complaint that Baldoni ‘routinely degraded [her] by finding back channel ways of criticizing her body and weight.’
Baldoni and select associates also worked in concert in instigating a negative publicly campaign with the intent to damage her public image, Lively said in the complaint.
In the filing, Lively accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – during production of the motion picture. Pictured in January in NYC
Lively accused Baldoni of using misleading methods to bring up the topic of her weight
Lively told The New York Times the day after she filed the complaint, ‘I hope that my 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.’
Baldoni has denied all of the claims against him in Lively’s legal filing.
Since the complaint was filed, Baldoni has faced a number of professional consequences, including a lawsuit from a former publicist; and being dropped by the agency WME, which also reps Lively and Reynolds.
It Ends with Us, which also starred Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, arrived in theaters August 9 and was a hit with audiences.
The film, adapted from the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel, earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally, according to Box Office Mojo.
