An update into Justin Baldoni’s $400m lawsuit against Blake Lively.
If you have been on social media within the past six months, you’ll likely be aware of Justin Baldoni’s film adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel, ‘It Ends with Us’ and the controversy which accompanied its press tour.
The story depicts a woman, Lily Bloom (Lively) who enters a relationship with a man called Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni). The relationship takes a toxic turn and Lily struggles to leave with her young daughter and break the cycle of abuse, as she encountered in her childhood. The novel and its film adaptation have received mixed reviews from audiences regarding how they handle the sensitive topic.
Initially, during the film’s press tour, it was Lively who received criticism from audiences because she appeared to be promoting the film as a lighthearted romantic comedy and seemingly ignoring its darker subject matter whereas Baldoni spoke about domestic violence and the prevention of it; “You have two very different characters. Both of them in Atlas and Ryle have had past trauma. One handles it very different than the other, and my other hope is the men who have not done the work, who have not done the work to heal, if they see bits of themselves in Ryle, have a chance to step back and say, ‘You know what, I don’t want to blow up my life. I don’t want to hurt the person I love the most.’” Baldoni was in separate locations from his other castmates during much of the press tour. Also, according to Glamour magazine, Lively failed to mention Baldoni when discussing the pivotal scene of their characters’ meeting, claiming that her husband Ryan Reynolds wrote it. Lively also claimed that the film is a story that “covers domestic violence but isn’t about domestic violence”
Four months after the film’s press tour and release, allegations of sexual harassment against Justin Baldoni on Blake Lively’s behalf have since arisen. According to the BBC, Lively accused Baldoni and Jamey Heath, CEO of Wayfarer, the movie’s production company, of “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour”. Baldoni ignored a list of requirements, such as making inappropriate descriptions and no “friends” of crewmembers being on set during intimate or nude scenes. Blake Lively also accused Justin Baldoni of attempting to ruin her reputation in the eyes of the press and the public. Baldoni has since retaliated against Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloane, filing a lawsuit a month after Lively’s allegations. Baldoni claims that Lively attempted to push for more creative power in the film’s production. According to ‘Us Weekly’; “The complaint alleges that little by little, Lively leveraged her star power to push for creative input beyond what is usually granted to an actor, including by taking over wardrobe decisions, rewriting scenes, creating her own cut of the film and eventually demanding that Baldoni be excluded from promotional materials and events”.
The legal battle between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively is ongoing, there has been no verdict thus far. Therefore, it is unknown whether it will end with here or will it end her.