Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Scandal: Explained

MsMojo

Dive into the shocking Hollywood drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni! Uncover the explosive allegations, lawsuit, and behind-the-scenes tension surrounding their film "It Ends with Us" that has everyone talking.

Transcript

00:00Tonight, scandal rocking Hollywood, as the fallout begins from Blake Lively's explosive

00:05allegations against co-star Justin Baldoni.

00:09Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're detailing the feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni,

00:15explaining the shocking accusations the Hollywood stars have levied against one another.

00:19Justin Baldoni sues the New York Times for $250 million over the outlet's Blake Lively

00:25harassment story.

00:28A POSITIVE FRONT

00:29Following the success of Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us, filmmaker and actor Justin

00:34Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios secured the rights for a film adaptation of the best-selling

00:38novel.

00:39Blake Lively was later cast as the lead Lily, with Baldoni setting himself up to direct

00:44and star alongside the Gossip Girl alum.

00:46Hoover initially expressed excitement over the casting, calling Lively her quote, Dream

00:51Lily, and praised Baldoni as perfect for the character Ryle.

00:55While filming began in New Jersey in May 2023, it was temporarily halted due to the

01:00Hollywood writers' and actors' guilt strikes.

01:02But when the movie ultimately premiered in August of 2024, Baldoni lauded Lively's performance

01:08as a quote, strong, funny, and intelligent heroine.

01:12The beauty of what a flower is has been lost, right?

01:15It's, it's um, it's like we order them like takeout now, it's, it's, yes, right?

01:19You know, so it's what you're talking about, it's highlighting the pain and the, the tension

01:24and the, you know, the fact that it's fleeting and storytelling and, I don't know, that's

01:29actually what I find beautiful about it.

01:31The film, about a woman overcoming trauma and navigating complex love, became a box

01:36office hit, earning a whopping $351 million dollars worldwide.

01:42Are you happy?

01:45Um, are you okay?

01:50Yeah, I'm just, I'm just curious.

01:56I wasn't.

02:00Feud Rumors

02:02of a feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively began circulating on social media

02:07after the two oddly appeared to avoid each other during the film's promotional events.

02:10This was your first time starring and directing.

02:13Yeah, what was I thinking?

02:15Observant fans soon noted that the actors did not follow each other on social media,

02:20with much of the cast discovered to be following Lively, but not Baldoni.

02:24TMZ began reporting that the tension stemmed from alleged incidents of quote, fat shaming,

02:29inappropriate comments, and Baldoni's quote, prolonged kissing during scenes.

02:34Further speculation by outlets suggested the rift might have been caused by Lively and

02:38her husband, Ryan Reynolds, being overly involved in the film's production.

02:42Unknown at the time, Baldoni took it upon himself to enlist a crisis management and

02:47PR firm to help him overcome the bad publicity.

02:49They begged me to take that movie out, that song out of the movie.

02:53Why?

02:54I'm not supposed to be talking about this.

02:57Blake Lively's quote, tone-deaf marketing?

02:59Drama surrounding It Ends With Us has been all the talk lately and unfortunately with

03:03so much attention, Blake Lively has been put in the hot seat on social media.

03:08During the It Ends With Us promotional tour, Blake Lively faced public backlash for a perceived

03:12insensitive approach to endorsing the film.

03:15Some critics called out her focus on marketing her beauty line during press interviews and

03:20for not directly addressing the film's important themes of domestic violence.

03:24Blake is receiving backlash for responding to a serious question in reference to the

03:28theme of the movie, which is domestic violence with a joke.

03:32So if someone understands the themes of this movie, comes across you in public, and they

03:37want to really talk to you, what's the best way for them to be able to talk to you about

03:41this?

03:42How would you recommend they go about it?

03:43Like asking for like my address or my phone number or like my location share.

03:47I could just location share you and then we could.

03:52Lively's social account saw a torrent of comments accusing her of misjudging the film's serious

03:56subject matter.

03:57In response, Lively shared a statistic on Instagram about domestic violence, aiming

04:02to highlight the issue.

04:03Meanwhile, her co-star, Brandon Sclinard, defended her, calling the criticism disheartening.

04:08However, amid the controversy, Norwegian journalist Sasti Flø resurfaced a 2016 interview with

04:15Lively during the Cafe Society press tour, labeling it the experience that made her quote

04:19want to quit journalism.

04:22She continued telling the outlet quote, it made me feel like a complete failure.

04:25I kept going through the interview in my head afterwards, trying to figure out what I had

04:29said or done to make Blake and Parker behave like that.

04:32It made no sense to me.

04:34Blake Lively sues Justin Baldoni.

04:36I want a divorce.

04:39Hey, let's not.

04:42Hey, yes.

04:44In December 2024, a bombshell lawsuit from Blake Lively alleged that Justin Baldoni's

04:49behavior caused her quote severe emotional distress during their time working on It Ends

04:54With Us.

04:55The lawsuit states that Blake had a meeting to go over demands for her continued participation

04:59in the film.

05:00She asked that Baldoni stop discussing his alleged adult entertainment addiction and

05:05making comments about past quote sexual conquests.

05:28Blake also asked that he discontinue questioning her weight and mentioning her late father.

05:33It also called for no additional sex scenes or explicit content beyond what was in the

05:37approved script.

05:38It said that Sony Pictures, the film's distributor, agreed to these terms.

05:42However, Lively claims Baldoni retaliated by launching a quote smear campaign to damage

05:47her reputation.

05:48This really reveals a new playbook.

05:51This raises questions about who else is sort of being targeted.

05:54I mean, to use their own language, they use the terms social manipulation.

05:59Baldoni's lawyer Brian Freeman denies the allegations, calling them quote false, outrageous

06:04and intentionally salacious.

06:11He also accused Lively of creating issues on set, including threats to skip filming

06:15and promotional events, which he says contributed to the film's challenges upon release.

06:23The allegations first made public in a New York Times investigation by Megan Toohey,

06:27whose reporting on sex abuse in Hollywood helped trigger the Me Too movement.

06:31Through obtaining private messages, an investigation by the New York Times suggests there was an

06:35alleged attempt to bury Blake Lively by Justin Baldoni.

06:39The report indicates that Justin Baldoni expressed dissatisfaction with managing the film's

06:43narrative during its press campaign.

06:45It's really a story that raises questions about the integrity and authenticity of the

06:52online narratives that exist today and to what extent they're being manipulated by people

06:58for hire.

06:59It's said that his crisis PR representative, Melissa Nathan, allegedly reassured him, stating

07:04quote, you know, we can bury anyone.

07:07According to the Times report, Baldoni referenced a viral social media threat accusing another

07:11celebrity of bullying, suggesting this is what we would need.

07:16Nathan allegedly proposed hiring contractors to dominate social media by initiating quote

07:21full social account takedowns, creating threads of theories and working to quote change the

07:27narrative.

07:28She reportedly emphasized that these actions would be, quote, most importantly, untraceable.

07:33Fallout and reactions.

07:35The fallout from these allegations against Justin Baldoni have led to many damning setbacks

07:40for the filmmaker and actor.

07:41His talent agency, WME, quickly parted ways with him following Blake Lively's lawsuit.

07:47And agency giant WME telling The New York Times it dropped Baldoni from its roster just

07:53one day after Lively filed a legal complaint accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation.

07:58Lively, however, remains represented by the agency alongside her husband, Ryan Reynolds.

08:03Furthermore, Vital Voices, an organization that had previously honored Baldoni for quote

08:08elevating women and helping to end domestic violence, rescinded his award in the aftermath

08:13of the suit.

08:14Support for Lively has poured in from notable figures, including It Ends With Us author

08:18Colleen Hoover, fellow actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, America Ferreira, Amy Schumer, and director

08:24Paul Feig, to name just a few.

08:26Blake's sister, Robin Lively, also voiced her support, writing on social media,

08:31Finally, justice for my sister, Blake Lively.

08:34Meanwhile, Baldoni's lawyer said that the public backlash against Lively stemmed from

08:38her distasteful actions and marketing during the film's promotion, not from Justin.

08:43He defended the crisis PR firm, asserting that they acted as any crisis management company

08:48would under the circumstances.

08:50Multiple demands and threats by Ms. Lively, which included her threatening to not show

08:54up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during

08:59release if her demands were not met.

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09:18Justin Baldoni Sues The New York Times

09:21Justin Baldoni is suing The New York Times for $250 million, alleging defamation over

09:27its December 2024 expose.

09:30Baldoni is among 10 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, with others including the film's producers

09:34and publicists Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan.

09:37The actor, among a group of 10 plaintiffs as seen in court documents published by Variety,

09:42has filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for their published report

09:47centered around Lively's sexual harassment allegations.

09:51The 87-page lawsuit argues the newspaper used, quote, cherry-picked and altered communication

09:56stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead.

10:01It also accuses the publication of relying heavily on Lively's, quote, unverified and

10:05self-serving narrative, while ignoring evidence that could refute her claims.

10:10According to the lawsuit, quote, the Times had been quietly working in concert with Lively's

10:15team for weeks or months.

10:16By using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute

10:22their chosen PR narrative.

10:24Meanwhile, The New York Times has said it will, quote, vigorously defend against the

10:28lawsuit.

10:29Baldoni has since accused Ryan Reynolds of giving him, quote, an inappropriate and humiliating

10:33berating in front of their celebrity friends.

10:36Have you been following the public feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni?

10:40Share your own takes in the comments below.

10:42Now the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court.

10:46Do you agree with our picks?

10:48Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.

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