Justin Baldoni’s sister in “It Ends With Us,” Jenny Slate, is defending their co-star Blake Lively after she filed a sexual harassment complaint against him.
“As Blake Lively’s castmate and friend, I voice my support as she takes action against those reported to have planned and carried out an attack on her reputation,” Slate, 42, told Today in a statement Tuesday.
“Blake is a leader, loyal friend and a trusted source of emotional support for me and so many who know and love her.”
Slate referred to “the attack on Blake” as “terribly dark, disturbing and wholly threatening.”
She concluded, “I commend my friend, I admire her bravery and I stand by her side.”
Lively, 37, claimed in her complaint that during the filming of “It Ends With Us,” there had to be an “all-hands” meeting about Baldoni’s alleged on-set behavior.
During the purported meeting, the movie’s star and director was allegedly told to stop showing the actress “nude videos or images of women,” mentioning his past “porn addiction” and sexual conquests and bringing up the “cast and crew’s genitalia,” according to the complaint.
Baldoni was also allegedly asked not to add more sexually charged scenes “outside the scope” of the pre-approved script.
Furthermore, he was allegedly told to stop inquiring about Lively’s “weight” and “dead father.”
According to the filing, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, was present for the discussion.
Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios’ attorney, Bryan Freedman, told Page Six in response to the complaint, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations.
“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Freedman claimed his client hired a crisis manager due to the “multiple demands and threats” Lively had allegedly made during production, including “threatening to not showing up to set [and] threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.”
Lively also alleged in her complaint that Baldoni was behind much of the avalanche of negative stories circulating about her shortly after he retained said fixer, accusing them of engaging in “social manipulation” to “destroy” her reputation.
The filing included an alleged text message from Baldoni’s publicist to a studio rep that stated he “wants to feel like [Lively] can be buried,” to which the other person replied, “You know we can bury anyone.”
Lively alleged in the complaint that the Baldoni-Wayfarer team “retained subcontractors … who weaponized a digital army around the country from New York to Los Angeles to create, seed and promote content that appeared to be authentic on social media platforms and internet chat forums.”
According to the complaint, they “would then feed pieces of this manufactured content to unwitting reporters, making content go viral in order to influence public opinion and thereby cause an organic pile-on.”
However, Freedman called Lively’s filing “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.”
He also accused her of using her publicist to plant negative stories about Baldoni, claiming his clients’ reps did not retaliate in response to those reports.
“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,” Freedman insisted.
Lively told the New York Times, who was first to report on her 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.”
She also denied that her team planted any negative stories about Baldoni or Wayfarer.
Baldoni has since been dropped by his talent agency, and his podcast co-host abruptly quit.
