Blake Vigorous Sues Justin Baldoni For Sexual Harassment—Lawsuit Particulars

What began as whispers of on-set stress has exploded right into a full-blown authorized battle with Blake Vigorous suing Justin Baldoni, her co-star and director of It Ends with Us. In her lawsuit, the actress alleges that Baldoni sexually harassed her and coordinated a smear marketing campaign to destroy her repute.

Associated: What Actually Occurred With Blake Vigorous & Justin Baldoni’s It Ends With Us Drama

The lawsuit, first reported by TMZ, reveals stunning particulars about what allegedly transpired behind the scenes of the hit movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel. Vigorous, 37, claims the work surroundings below Baldoni, 40, grew to become so hostile that it triggered an emergency assembly with Sony Footage executives, which her husband Ryan Reynolds additionally attended.

Through the disaster assembly, Vigorous’s group introduced a startling listing of calls for that make clear the alleged poisonous surroundings. These included stopping the show of nude movies and pictures to Vigorous, ceasing discussions about Baldoni’s reported “pornography dependancy” and sexual conquests, and ending feedback about forged and crew members’ genitalia. The lawsuit additionally states that Baldoni was instructed to cease making inquiries about Vigorous’s weight and to chorus from mentioning her deceased father.

The actress, who additionally served as producer on the movie, additional demanded there be “no extra including of intercourse scenes, oral intercourse or on digital camera climaxing” past what was outlined in her initially authorized script. Whereas Sony Footage reportedly authorized these requests, the scenario solely went downhill from there.

The lawsuit claims Baldoni and his group then launched what Vigorous describes as a “social manipulation” marketing campaign to “destroy” her repute. As proof, the authorized paperwork embrace explosive textual content messages from Baldoni’s publicist to a studio publicist stating the actor “desires to really feel like [Ms. Lively] will be buried” and “We are able to’t write we’ll destroy her.”

The stress grew to become fairly unimaginable to disregard throughout the movie’s promotional tour, the place Baldoni carried out solo interviews whereas Vigorous appeared with different forged members. On the New York premiere, Baldoni notably averted posing for photos with the forged. In the meantime, eagle-eyed followers on social media seen that Vigorous, Hoover, and co-star Jenny Slate don’t observe him on Instagram.

Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has come out swinging towards the allegations. “It’s shameful that Ms. Vigorous and her representatives would make such severe and categorically false accusations towards Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives,” Freedman advised Selection, calling it “yet one more determined try and ‘repair’ her damaging repute which was garnered from her personal remarks and actions throughout the marketing campaign for the movie.”

Vigorous’s lawsuit additionally alleges that artistic variations between the actor/director and actress/producer “ultimately ballooned right into a full-scale feud.” In August 2024, Rolling Stone reported that crew members not often noticed them collectively except completely mandatory. One supply revealed to the outlet that “the principal forged and Colleen Hoover may have nothing to do with [Baldoni].”

In August 2024, co-star Brandon Sklenar grew to become the primary forged member to publicly deal with the controversy, defending Vigorous and the opposite girls concerned within the mission. “Colleen and the ladies of this forged stand for hope, perseverance, and for ladies selecting a greater life for themselves,” he wrote on Instagram. “Vilifying the ladies who put a lot of their coronary heart and soul into making this movie as a result of they consider so strongly in its message appears counterproductive and detracts from what this movie is about.”

Sarcastically, the behind-the-scenes drama might have contributed to the movie’s success. Regardless of—or maybe due to—the controversy, It Ends with Us grew to become a box-office sensation, grossing greater than $350 million worldwide. The movie follows Lily (Vigorous), a girl who falls in love with Ryle (Baldoni), solely to face the devastating actuality of home abuse when their relationship turns violent. The movie is now streaming on Netflix.