Sony breaks silence on Blake Lively’s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni
It all ends with us Sony Pictures and SAG-AFTRA have issued statements of support Blake Lively Among her accusations against Costa Rica and the director Justin Baldoni sexually harassed and orchestrated a smear campaign against her.
“We have previously expressed our support for Blake’s work on this film. We fully and firmly reiterate that support today. type in a statement on Monday, December 23. “Furthermore, we strongly condemn any attacks on her reputation. Any such attacks have no place in our business or civil society.
Hours earlier, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists also spoke out in a statement against these “shocking and disturbing allegations.” deadlinenoted that they “praised” Lively for “having the courage to speak out on issues of retaliation and harassment and requested that an intimacy coordinator be provided for all scenes containing nudity or sexual content.”
“This is an important step to help ensure safety,” a spokesman for the association told the media on Monday. “Employees have every right to raise concerns or file complaints. Retaliation for reporting misconduct or misconduct is illegal and wrong. We all have the right to be treated with dignity and respect at work and to work without harassment, discrimination and working in a retaliatory environment.
Lively, 37, filed the lawsuit against Baldoni, 40, on Friday, December 20, claiming he created a “hostile work environment” at the company. It all ends with us set and cause gossip Girl alum “severe emotional distress.” The lawsuit also claims that Baldoni and his team launched a campaign of “social manipulation” against Lively to damage her reputation.
Obtained documents us weekly after first reporting TMZ and new york timessaid a meeting was held during production on the film in January to address Lively’s accusations against her co-stars, which included “no longer showing Blake nude videos or images of women and no longer mentioning Baldoni’s previous alleged “Porn Addicted,” no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no more references to cast and crew members’ genitals, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no more references to Blake’s late Father.
Baldoni strongly denies the charges against him. in a statement usBardoni’s lawyer Brian Friedman called Lively’s claims “completely false, outrageous and intentionally obscene” and claimed she filed the lawsuit to “repair her negative reputation” and “retell the story” about the film’s production. He claimed Lively made “multiple demands and threats,” including “threats not to appear on the set and promote the film if her demands were not met, ultimately causing the film to die during its release.”
As for Lively’s smear campaign allegations — which include text messages from Baldoni and his team — Friedman told us Agency Group PR, hired by Baldoni, one of several firms named in the lawsuit, “operates like any other crisis management firm when a client is threatened by two extremely powerful men with unlimited resources.” .
Friedman also claimed the texts were taken out of context. “The standard scenario planning drafted by TAG PR proved unnecessary as audiences found Lively’s behavior, interviews and marketing during the promotional tour objectionable and responded organically to the coverage in the media itself,” he continued. “Ironically, new york times,” through their efforts to “expose” an insidious PR campaign that directly exploited Lively’s own questionable PR tactics by publishing leaked personal text exchanges that lacked critical context—the very thing she accuses the company of carrying out strategy.
Sony and SAG-AFTRA are the latest companies to publicly support Lively. It all ends with us author Colleen Hoover He took to social media on Saturday, December 21, to praise Lively for being “honest, kind, supportive and patient from day one.”
Lively and Bardoni’s partnership Brandon Sklennar Also came simple favor star defense, shared new york times He addressed the allegations via Instagram Story on Monday. “For the love of God please read this article,” he wrote, along with a link to the article, tagging “lively” and adding a red heart emoji.
Meanwhile, Baldoni was fired from his agency, WME, which also represents Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. Host of his “Man Enough” podcast, Liz PlankIt also announced its withdrawal on Monday, joining the women’s nonprofit Voices for Life in rescinding the Voice of Solidarity Award Baldoni had just received last week.
