Justin Baldoni is DROPPED from WME agency amid Blake Lively’s 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual harassment lawsuit

Justin Baldoni has been dropped from the entertainment agency, WME, following Blake Lively’s 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual harassment lawsuit filed against the actor.

The director, 40, was dropped by WME on Saturday, Deadline reported – while the Gossip Girl alum, 37, is still being represented by the same company.

It comes as the actress claimed in documents obtained by TMZ that Justin created a toxic work environment, showed her nude images and videos of women, and talked to her about his alleged previous porn addiction.

Baldoni’s legal team have since denied the allegations – and claimed the lawsuit was an attempt to salvage her reputation which suffered during press for their movie It Ends With Us.

The two stars both took on leading roles on the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, but rumors of a rift between the pair ignited when they were not pictured on the red carpet and also didn’t do any interviews together.

The height of the drama took place in August shortly before the film was released in theaters.

Along with Blake and Justin keeping their distance from each other, they were also rumored to have had creative differences on set.

He was also unfollowed by the actress on social media, as well as other cast members and Hoover.

Lively was also wary of Baldoni even prior to filming according to her legal complaint and claims they clashed over him trying to add ‘gratuitous’ nudity and 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scenes to the movie.

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.

Drama further arose when resurfaced interviews of the actress being ‘rude’ to reporters went viral on social media.

Bombshell text messages have since come to light amid the lawsuit to show how his crisis management team allegedly launched a smear campaign against her.

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.

Many of the messages in the lawsuit, obtained by a subpoena, are between the women, including one exchange in which Nathan states that she can ‘bury anyone.’

The message was sent in reply to Abel’s text which says that Baldoni, ‘wants to feel like she [Lively] can be buried.’

‘Of course – but you know when we send over documents we can’t send over the work we will or could do because that could get us in a lot of trouble,’ Nathan responds, adding, ‘We can’t write we will destroy her.’

She followed up the message with another which reads, ‘Imagine if a document saying all the things that he wants ends up in the wrong hands. You know we can bury anyone but I can’t write that to him. I will be very tough.’

Another back and forth on August 2 appears to show Nathan joking about murdering Lively.

‘I also sent you a present. Don’t worry, I didn’t 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 her and send her in a box to your house. It’s a congratulations present,’ the message from Nathan reads, to which Abel responds: ‘D***IT’.

Later that same day, Abel wrote that she is, ‘having reckless thoughts of wanting to plant pieces this week about how horrible Blake is to work with.’

Meanwhile, Baldoni appears to have suggested that it would be beneficial if they could orchestrate a targeted social media campaign.

He sent a message showing a screenshot of a Twitter thread about allegations of bullying against Hailey Bieber with the caption: ‘This is what we would need.’

Baldoni wanted to market the movie by spotlighting the domestic abuse which forms the heart of the story, while Lively felt it should be more hopeful and uplifting.

Lively was subsequently criticized for the ‘tone deaf’ way she promoted the film after she failed to mention domestic abuse in several interviews.

It is unclear if this reaction was engineered, but Baldoni’s messages appear to show he was at least ready to capitalize on the negative press.

‘What is the TikTok strategy?’ Baldoni writes in one message. ‘I’d like you guys to start posting me ONLY talking about domestic violence and clips and why this movie is so important.’

In August, It Ends With Us released in theaters and despite the drama, the movie was a box office success raking in around $351 million on a budget of $25 million.

At the time, Blake was pictured arriving at Taylor’s mansion towards the end of August following backlash for plugging her alcohol brand Betty Booze during the promotion of the movie – which focuses on domestic violence.

She further received backlash after awkward interviews during press for the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel.

Past interviews were also resurfaced, such as one from 2016 when a reporter had congratulated Blake – who was pregnant at the time – on her 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 bump.

Lively shared the same comment to the reporter who was not pregnant, and could not conceive 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren of her own.

In August, one source told People in regards to Baldoni that, ‘All is not what it seems. There is much more to this story. The principal cast and Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him.’

The insider added that Lively ‘wants to direct the next movie, sidelining him and securing the rights from Colleen.’

In the lawsuit, Blake also claimed Baldoni made inappropriate inquiries about her weight, comments about her dead father and 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual remarks about the cast and crew.

The situation became so unworkable that she and husband Ryan Reynolds demanded crisis talks during filming to put a stop to the behavior, according to the lawsuit.

Lively also requested: ‘No more adding of 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scenes, oral 𝓈ℯ𝓍 or on camera climaxing by BL [Blake Lively] outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project,’ per the filings.

The demands were allegedly accepted by the studio, but the movie’s release was still hampered by a dispute between Lively and Baldoni about how it should be marketed, according to the lawsuit.

Lively claims that Baldoni’s team then engaged in a ‘social manipulation’ campaign to tarnish her reputation.

The lawsuit includes text messages from the director’s publicist to the studio which allegedly say Baldoni, ‘wants to feel like [Lively] can be buried, and ‘We can’t write we will destroy her.’

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman hit back at the lawsuit as, ‘false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.’

He insisted the legal action is an attempt by Lively to ‘fix her negative reputation’ after rumors emerged of diva-like behavior on set.

This included, ‘threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release,’ according to Freedman.

The romantic drama follows Lily Bloom played by Blake Lively as she becomes embroiled in an abusive relationship with Justin Baldoni’s Ryle Kincaid.

One alleged point of contention was how the movie should be marketed, with Lively reportedly wanting to make the tale more upbeat in contrast to Baldoni, who felt it should be more focused on the abuse aspect.

Insiders revealed the concerning truth about the on-set tensions, telling DailyMail.com that Blake and Justin clashed over his ‘dismissive’ attitude to her ‘input’ while they were filming scenes that involved abuse.

Fans have since reacted to the actress’s 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual harassment lawsuit, with some siding with Lively and others coming to Baldoni’s defense.

Related Posts

The heartbreaking reason Tyson Fury decided to cut contact from his family for three months ahead of rematch with Oleksandr Usyk – as wife Paris says ‘I can’t lie it’s been difficult’

After suffering his first career defeat when he battled the Ukrainian over 12 rounds in May, Tyson Fury has embarked on a period of familial seclusion in order to prepare for the rematch. The boxer, 36, claimed earlier this week he had not spoken to his wife Paris for three months as he locked himself away for his training camp this time round in order to stay focused and win. Paris is in Riyadh for the fight, which will take place on Saturday night, seven months on from their first bout, which saw the Ukrainian inflict the Gypsy King’s first defeat of his professional career.

Tulisa reveals the secret health battle that ‘forced her to flee from I’m A Celebrity aftermath’ as she details the moment she almost quit the show

Tulisa Contostavlos has revealed the secret health battle that forced her to flee the aftermath of her stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! The N-Dubz singer, 36, made a swift exit from Australia within days of being voted out of the Jungle, having deleted all traces of her appearance on the ITV show from her Instagram. She later took to her Instagram to address the speculation about her sudden departure to say she had become ‘overwhelmed’ by the whole thing.

Revealed: Liam Payne’s ‘love song for his ex Naomi Campbell’ recorded just weeks before his death – which he died believing would be his next hit

Liam Payne wrote and recorded his final song as a tribute to his love for supermodel Naomi Campbell, the Mail on Sunday can reveal. The former One Direction star dated Ms Campbell for several months in 2019 and began composing the song ‘Closer to You’ shortly after their break-up. But he abandoned work on the love song – which opens with a reference to smelling her perfume lingering in the air – until earlier this year when he finally recorded it.

Davina McCall shows off her scar after brain tumour surgery as her hair stylist partner Michael Douglas lovingly gives her a hair cut

Davina McCall’s hairdresser partner Michael Douglas gave the star a haircut during an Instagram Livestream on Saturday evening. The TV presenter, 57, told fans it was her first hair cut in just over a month and the first since she was forced to have surgery after doctors discovered a benign tumour on her brain that affects just three in a million people. But the star seemed to be recovering well and was more than happy to join her partner of five years to film a video.

Meet the nicest guys in Hollywood: From Tom Hardy paying the wages of an entire TV crew to Keanu Reeves gifting Harley Davidson motorcycles

Some Hollywood actors may get accused of being unapproachable, but that’s not every celebrity. And Tom Hardy is up there with one of the nicest guys in showbiz, along with Keanu Reeves and Hugh Jackman. Tom recently offered to pay the wages of an entire TV set crew on the new Guy Ritchie series after a construction company went into liquidation.

Justin Baldoni accused of entering ‘nude’ Blake Lively’s trailer and letting ‘friends’ watch her film 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scenes in bombshell lawsuit

Justin Baldoni has been accused of entering Blake Lively’s trailer while she was ‘nude,’ and of letting his ‘friends’ watch her film 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scenes, in her bombshell lawsuit. Lively has taken legal action against Baldoni, accusing him of 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual harassment and creating a toxic work environment on the set of their movie It Ends With Us, in which he both directed her and starred with her. He has furiously denied the allegations. In legal documents, Lively’s team claim that an ‘all hands’ meeting was held on January 4 of this year, purportedly ‘to address the hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the Film.’

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *