Blake Lively’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, posted a message on her Instagram story last night as she weighed in on the explosive court battle which has stunned Hollywood.
Gossip Girl star Lively claims Baldoni hired a crisis PR team to engage in a ‘multi-tiered’ plan to ‘destroy’ her reputation after she and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, complained of ‘repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour’, on set.
The film was mired in controversy even before the lawsuit after fans noticed tensions between Lively, 37, and Baldoni, 40, when they were promoting the movie before its release.
Lively has accused Baldoni, who also directed the film, of making sexual comments about the cast and crew, showing her explicit videos and images of women and discussing his previous 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’.
She also encouraged her followers to click on and read the article and wrote ‘Blake Lively’ with a heart drawn around the name.
Blake Lively’s sister Robyn (pictured together) has broken her silence after the actress filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni
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
Blake Lively accused co-star and director Justin Baldoni (pictured) of sexual harassment while filming It Ends With Us
Colleen Hoover, the author of the It Ends With Us book, has also rushed to show her support for Lively.
‘@blakelively you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive, and patient since the day we met,’ the author wrote on Saturday. ‘Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.’
The film, based on Hoover’s novel, is about a woman’s pursuit of a loving and healthy relationship, with Lively playing the lead character Lily Bloom and Baldoni as her love interest Ryle Kincaid.
In the film, Lily falls in love with Ryle before reconnecting with her first love (Brandon Sklenar) – amid a backdrop of domestic violence.
After suing Baldoni, Lively said: ‘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.’
Lively has garnered the further support as it emerged last night that she had made 30 demands of Baldoni and others on set.
In a complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department on Friday, Lively made several claims regarding her Baldon who she is suing for sexual harassment and allegedly launching a smear campaign against her.
The production of It Ends With Us was delayed in 2023 due to a writers strike. A day before filming resumed, a meeting was held to address the set’s ‘hostile work environment.’
At the January 4 meeting, Lively stated the issues she had with Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the Chief Executive Officer of Wayfarer and producer of the movie, according to the filing.
The film, based on Hoover’s novel, is about a woman’s pursuit of a loving and healthy relationship, with Lively playing the lead character Lily Bloom and Baldoni (pictured) as her love interest Ryle Kincaid
Gossip Girl star Lively (pictured with husband Ryan Reynolds), 37, claims Baldoni, 40, hired a crisis PR team to engage in a ‘multi-tiered’ plan to destroy her reputation
It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover (pictured with Lively in August) has also spoken out in support of the actress
Accompanying the post was a photo of Hoover and Lively sharing a warm embrace in what appeared to be a movie theater, likely during a screening of the film, as the audience applauded
Lively has garnered the further support as it emerged last night that she had made 30 demands of Baldoni and others on set
Reynolds, who did not appear in the film, joined her at the showdown meeting, according to the legal filing.
Everyone in attendance reportedly agreed to the 30 conditions the actress demanded in order to prevent further discomfort on set. Most of the points Lively brought up were sex-related.
The first request was ‘no more showing of nude videos or images of women, including the producer’s wife’ to Lively or her employees, according to the filing released by the New York Times.
Another jaw-dropping requirement was that people on set stop discussing Baldoni and Heath’s previous ‘pornography addiction’ and Lively’s ‘lack of pornography consumption.
Lively also asserted that no one should be talking about their sex lives, their genitalia or ‘personal times that physical consent was not given in sexual acts, as either the abuser or the abused.’
The complaint revealed that Lively said no one was to bring up any previous HR complaints made against WayFarer Studios, which Baldoni is co-founder of. She also forbid anyone from asking her or her trainer about her weight.
Further complaints refer to Lively’s deceased father and religion. Lively reportedly declared that there should be no more mention of Baldoni ‘speaking to’ her late father.
She also asked that Baldoni stop inquiring her about her religious beliefs and imposing his on her – she also wanted him to stop ‘pressing’ to sage her employees.
Health matters were also discussed, with Lively outlining that if her or her infant are exposed to COVID ‘again,’ she must be notified immediately.
Lively also set clear boundaries when it came to filming the movie’s sex and intimacy scenes.
She demanded an intimacy coordinator be preset at all times in every scene involving Lively and Baldoni, adding that there should be no more ‘improvising’ kissing.
‘No biting or sucking of lip without [Lively’s] consent,’ the document reads.
A later demand said that all sex scenes need coordinator present, as well as a ‘monitor’ pre-approved by Lively to oversee them.
Lively demanded that an intimacy coordinator be present for all the scenes she shot with Baldoni
Baldoni and Jamey Heath were asked to stop making comments about their alleged ‘porn addiction’
Regarding scenes depicting rape or violence, Lively said that her character, Lily Bloom, must be played by a stunt double. She would only do close-up or pre-discussed scenes of this nature.
No additional sexual scenes outside of what Lively originally signed up for would be permitted, according to the filing.
‘No more asking or pressuring [Lively] to cross physical picket lines,’ another point summarized.
Lively also stated that no more touching or sexual comments from Baldoni or Heath would ‘be tolerated’ by her or any other women on set. All sex scenes would also have to be monitored by a representative of the actress.
Everyone working on these intimate scenes had to be hired professionals that Lively pre-approved, not ‘friends’ of the producer or director.
She also said that she would not film any more nude scenes without a SAG-compliant nudity rider – a document outlining the scene’s specifics – in place. Any scenes shot without one, Lively said, should not be used without her legal team’s consent.
Lively insinuated that Baldoni and Heath were barging into her trailer while she was nude and asked for ‘no more entering, attempting to entire, interrupting, pressuring or asking’ Lively to come inside for any reason while she is not dressed.
She also said she would no longer tolerate ‘multi hour’ unmonitored meetings with Baldoni crying in her trailer.
The Gossip Girl star claimed Baldoni fostered a toxic workplace environment during filming
Lively claimed Baldoni showed her nude images and videos of women, talked about an alleged previous porn addiction and made sexual comments about the cast and crew
Lively accused Baldoni of coming into her trailer for ‘multi hour’ crying sessions and asked for this behavior to stop, according to the complaint
Producer Alex Saks was mandated ‘to be given standard rights, inclusion, and authority per her job description’ and Sony was to have a more ‘active role’ in the film’s production.
For cast safety, an ‘experienced’ producer was asked to oversee the set.
It was agreed that Lively would not receive any ‘abusive’ or ‘retaliatory’ reactions to wanting to put these safeguard in place.
The final request was for an in-person meeting before production was resumed to go over these stipulations and ensure they would ‘be adhered to for the physical and emotional safety’ of Lively, her staff and the rest of the people on set.
Rumors of a rift between the movie’s leads began to swirl amid its press run, after eagle-eyed fans noted a frostiness between the pair on the red carpet.
Relations soured even further during filming, and culminated in a HR meeting where various conditions were agreed to by Baldoni and his Wayfarer studio before Lively would consider resuming filming after the writers’ strike, the filings state.
Then sometime before August 2, Baldoni hired crisis management expert Melissa Nathan, whose previous clients have included Jonny Depp, as part of his PR team which also included publicist Jennifer Abel.
Bryan Freedman, a lawyer representing Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, said: ‘These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.’
He added that the studio ‘made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film’.
He continued: ‘There were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario-planning and private correspondence to strategise, which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals.’
Baldoni is also known for his role as Rafael Solano in the telenovela Jane The Virgin and wrote a book called Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity about pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity.
Lively has four children Reynolds, the Deadpool actor who is a co-owner of Wrexham AFC football team.
She has starred in films including The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants, The Age Of Adaline, and A Simple Favour, and played Serena van der Woodsen in the hit teen drama series Gossip Girl.
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