The battle lines between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively’s camps are being drawn amid their ongoing feud as the talent agency that represents both It Ends With Us stars has dropped Baldoni in favour of Blake.
WME, a Californian-based company, dropped Baldoni, 40, on Saturday after the Gossip Girl star, 37, filed a legal complaint against him on Friday accusing him of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment on the set of It Ends With Us.
The decision was made by WME bosses early on Saturday morning after Blake’s complaints came to light, with the organisation choosing to stand by the mother-of-two during the ongoing feud.
Elsewhere, Colleen Hoover, 45, who wrote the romantic drama about Lily Bloom, played by Blake, who finds herself in a relationship with a charming but abusive boyfriend, played by Mr Baldoni.
Colleen immediately shared her support for Blake, 37, despite having worked closely with both stars on the movie.
The author wrote on Instagram the same day Ms Lively’s complaints surfaced: ‘Blake you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met.
The battle lines between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively ‘s camps are being drawn amid their ongoing feud as the talent agency that represents both It Ends With Us stars has dropped Baldoni in favour of Blake
WME, a Californian-based company, dropped Baldoni, 40, on Saturday after the Gossip Girl star, 37, filed a legal complaint against him on Friday accusing him of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment on the set of It Ends With Us.
‘Thank you for being exactly the human that you are.
‘Never change. Never wilt.’
Blake found fame on the hit coming-of-age film, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, alongside the Barbie star, America Ferrera, Gilmore Girls actress, Alexis Bladel, and Amber Tambyln.
Her three co-stars, who have known Blake since she was 18 years old, issued a joint statement on Sunday night.
They called out Baldoni’s hypocrisy and wrote: ‘As Blake’s friends and sisters for over 20 years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation.
‘Throughout the filming of ‘It Ends with Us,’ we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice.
‘Most upsetting is the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety. The hypocrisy is astounding.
‘We are struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment,’ the statement continues.
![The decision was made by WME bosses early on Saturday morning after Blake's complaints came to light, with the organisation choosing to stand by the mother-of-two during the ongoing feud [Blake and Justin are seen on the set of It Ends with Us]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/12/93424899-14221335-image-a-37_1734958536296.jpg "Justin Baldoni is dropped by talent agency who represents both him and Blake Lively as actress files sexual harassment lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star 3")
The decision was made by WME bosses early on Saturday morning after Blake’s complaints came to light, with the organisation choosing to stand by the mother-of-two during the ongoing feud [Blake and Justin are seen on the set of It Ends with Us]
Blake claimed Baldoni hired a crisis team to ‘destroy’ her reputation after she and her husband Ryan Reynolds , 48, complained of ‘repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour’, on set
‘We are inspired by our sister’s courage to stand up for herself and others.’
Meanwhile, no A-lister is yet to speak out in support of Baldoni but his lawyer has said the allegations are ‘categorically false’ and said they hired a crisis manager because Ms Lively had threatened to derail the film unless her demands were met.
It comes as Blake’s sister has broken her silence after the actress filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni.
Robyn Lively, 52, shared a message on Instagram as she weighed in on the explosive court battle which has stunned Hollywood.
The younger Lively claimed Baldoni hired a crisis team to ‘destroy’ her reputation after she and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, complained of ‘repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour’, on set.
Lively has also accused Baldoni of making sexual comments about the cast and crew, showing her explicit photos and videos of women, and discussing his alleged porn addiction.
Standing in solidarity with her younger sister, Robyn shared screenshots from a New York Times article that laid bare the astonishing details of the lawsuit.
‘FINALLY justice for my sister @BlakeLively,’ she wrote, highlighting specific sentences from the article such as ‘Ms Lively had expressed concerns about Mr Baldoni from the beginning’.
It comes as Blake Lively’s sister Robyn has broken her silence after the actress filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin Baldoni
Breaking her silence: Robyn Lively jumped to the defense of her little sister on Instagram
She also encouraged her followers to click on and read the article and wrote ‘Blake Lively’ with a heart drawn around the name.
Meanwhile, Blake’s brother-in-law Bart Johnson joined his longtime spouse in defending the actress.
The Los Angeles-born actor, 54, who’s been married to the A-lister’s sister Robyn Lively, 52, for more than 25 years, left a series of comments on a social media post on The New York Times’ Instagram account Saturday.
In reaction to the story – titled Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and a Smear Campaign After It Ends With Us – Johnson simultaneously slammed and praised the PR personnel employed Baldoni, 40, amid his public row with Blake, 37.
Lively in her complaint said that Baldoni this summer hired crisis management expert Melissa Nathan, who previously worked for Johnny Depp amid his long-running legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.
‘The public got played,’ said Johnson, who appeared on episodes of the respective shows Landman and Yellowstone this past year. ‘His PR team was stellar. Gross and disgusting but highly effective.’
Johnson, who’s been seen in multiple High School Musical films, noted in the comment section that Blake’s ‘complaints were filed during the filming … on record … long before the public conflict.
‘The cast unfollowed him for a reason. Read this article before spiting ignorance. Read the article, their text message exchanges and his PR campaign strategy to bury her by any means necessary.’
Johnson conceded that while ‘no one is with out faults’ and ‘yes of COURSE mistakes were made,’ he felt Blake was in the right in regard to the professional conflict.
Meanwhile, Blake’s brother-in-law Bart Johnson joined his longtime spouse in defending the actress
Bart Johnson posed between daughter Kate Johnson, 19, and wife Robyn Lively, 52, at a Landman screening in LA last month
Johnson described Blake, who’s wed to Ryan Reynolds, 48, as ‘a stay at home mom raising 4 kids, married to the busiest man in Hollywood and at the same time being a girl boss running multiple companies while writing, producing, running non profits and working 16+ hour days from home so [she] can be with [her] kids.’
Johnson in a subsequent comment said Blake was ‘attacked by a VERY expensive PR smear campaign because [she] filed a sexual harassment claim for the very film [she] have to go out and promote with just the right tone or [she’d] get cooked’ by Baldoni’s team.
He said he viewed Blake as ‘a “girl boss”‘ who has proven ‘every bit as capable and qualified if not more so’ than men in her industry, adding, ‘She’s my hero as is any woman charging it like this.’
In reference to a 2016 Blake interview that has circulated amid her clash with Baldoni, Johnson said, ‘I mean, she’s been rude in these interviews that magically played on repeat. I saw it. None of us have ever been wrong or mean.
‘Never. We should discount decades of good for those few bad moments. Glad the microscope isn’t on me every day of my life.’
He said of his sister-in-law: ‘Looks like she’s doing a hell of a job to me and trying to do good things for the right reasons. But yeah let’s post from our couch how much we hate her for making mistakes. That makes sense.’
Hollywood is coming out in support of Blake as she accuses her When It Ends With Us costar Justin of orchestrating a smear campaign against her with a PR representative who boasted ‘we can bury anyone’.
When It Ends With Us was released in August this year, this is the string of negative incidents involving the actress that started to be discussed online – from being testy and sarcastic in interviews to marrying her husband Ryan Reynolds at a plantation property in South Carolina.
There were also complaints from fans about her promo interviews for It Ends With Us in which she plugged her haircare brand instead of addressing the movie’s domestic violence storyline, and it seemed that these ‘tone deaf’ comments were what was fuelling an organic online backlash.
However, her legal team now claim the film’s director and Blake’s co-star Justin allegedly launched a smear campaign against her to ‘destroy’ her reputation.
Hollywood is coming out in support of Blake as she accuses her When It Ends With Us costar Justin of orchestrating a smear campaign against her with a PR representative who boasted ‘we can bury anyone’
When It Ends With Us was released in August this year, this is the string of negative incidents involving the actress that started to be discussed online
This was orchestrated by crisis management expert Melissa Nathan, whose previous clients have included Jonny Depp, and his PR team, which also included publicist Jennifer Abel.
Allegedly, Ms Nathan planted and advanced negative stories about Ms Lively online and engaged in a tactic known as ‘astroturfing’: when comments are posted online to appear as if they from the public, when in fact they are posted by an organisation.
Ultimately, Lively’s legal team believe Baldoni tried to retaliate against her harassment complaints by ‘battering her image, harming her businesses, and causing her and her family severe emotional harm’.
In text messages in court documents seen by the Mail, Ms Nathan assured a member of Baldoni’s team: ‘We can bury anyone.’
Rumors of a rift between the film’s leads began to swirl amid its press run, after eagle-eyed fans noted a frostiness between the pair on the red carpet.
But Lively was wary of Baldoni even prior to filming, according to her legal complaint, and claimed they clashed over him trying to add ‘gratuitous’ nudity and sex scenes to the movie.
The message was in response to Abel’s text, which said Baldoni, ‘wants to feel like she [Lively] can be buried’.
‘Of course – but you know when we send over documents we can’t send over the work we will or could do because that could get us in a lot of trouble,’ Nathan responded, adding, ‘We can’t write we will destroy her’.
She followed up the message with another which read: ‘Imagine if a document saying all the things that he wants ends up in the wrong hands. You know we can bury anyone but I can’t write that to him. I will be very tough.’
Now, Justin and his PR team are accused of ‘astroturfing’ the actress – a term used to define a deceptive practice of publishing comments that appear to come from the public but actually come from a particular group.
Elsewhere, Amber Heard has spoken out in support of Blake in the wake of her explosive allegations against Justin saying she too knows how it feels to be on the receiving end of a smear campaign.
Amber Heard has spoken out about Blake’s allegations her co-star Justin Baldoni launched a smear campaign against her
Heard said she has experienced a smear campaign ‘firsthand’ during a defamation trial where she was sued for defamation by her ex-husband Johnny Depp
Lively’s lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star alleges that he embarked on an elaborate effort to tank her reputation once filming had wrapped.
The movie production was marred with stories about their tense relationship, and the promotional tour that followed was disastrous. Lively was branded out of touch for failing to address domestic violence, and clips resurfaced in which she was seen being rude to journalists.
Heard has long claimed that she was the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by her famous ex, Johnny Depp, during their infamous court battle over domestic violence.
In a statement to NBC News of Lively’s claims, she said: ‘Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying “A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.”
‘I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.’
