A women’s solidarity award recently presented to actor Justin Baldoni has been rescinded after Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against him containing allegations of sexual harassment and a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni had been presented with the Voices of Solidarity Award earlier this month by Vital Voices, a global non-profit organisation that focuses on empowering women. It celebrates “remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls”.
The organisation confirmed yesterday (December 23) that it had revoked the award over Baldoni’s alleged behaviour towards Lively on the set of It Ends With Us, which they said was “contrary to [its] values”.
Baldoni presented the podcast Man Enough for the last three years, which “explores what it means to be a man today and how rigid gender roles have affected all people.” It was co-hosted by author and journalist Liz Plank and Jamey Heath, CEO of Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios. Plank has since quit the podcast in the wake of the allegations.
At the weekend, Lively sued Baldoni for allegedly causing her “emotional distress” on the set of the recent film, adapted from the book of the same name by Colleen Hoover. Reports of a rift between the two actors emerged in August, with suggestions that creative differences lay behind the fallout, but now Lively has claimed Baldoni’s behaviour towards her went beyond a mere clash of personalities.
The undated complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department also accused Baldoni of creating a hostile working environment on set, and claimed he had been trying to tarnish Lively’s reputation with a targeted social media campaign.
In addition, the suit claims Baldoni sexually harassed Lively on the set of the film. She states that a meeting was held between the two parties and their lawyers, as well as Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, to address the problems.
It is said that the meeting included a number of demands made by Lively, including “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”
It added that she demanded “no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing by BL outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project”, as reported by TMZ.
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freeman told TMZ that he believed the suit had been filed to “fix” Lively’s “negative reputation”, describing her allegations as “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt”.
On Saturday (December 22), Baldoni was reportedly dropped by his talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME). The agency, which also represents Lively, felt action was required swiftly due to the seriousness of Lively’s allegations, per Variety. WME has not commented.
Numerous people and organisations have voiced their support for Lively. Sony Pictures, the studio behind It Ends With Us, responded by saying (per Variety): “We have previously expressed our support for Blake in connection with her work on and for the film. We fully and firmly reiterate that support today,.
“Further, we strongly condemn any reputational attacks on her. Any such attacks have no place in our business or in a civil society.”
SAG-AFTRA, the American labour union representing actors, alongside other media professionals, have also issued a statement, saying: “These are startling and troubling allegations. Employees have every right to raise issues of concern or to file complaints. Retaliation for reporting misconduct or inappropriate behaviour is illegal and wrong.
“We applaud Blake Lively’s courage in speaking out on issues of retaliation and harassment and for her request to have an intimacy coordinator for all scenes with nudity or sexual content,” they continued. “This is an important step that helps ensure a safe set.”
Meanwhile, Lively’s The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars have publicly defended her.
America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel, who she co-starred with in the 2005 film and its 2008 sequel, have released a statement via Instagram in support of her.
As NBC reports, the lawsuit alleges that Nathan delivered Baldoni a plan consisting of “social media mitigation,” including “proactive fan posting” and “social manipulations” to “help change narrative” during the film’s promotion.
Bryan Freedman, representing Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and all its representatives, called Lively’s claims “categorically” false. Freedman said that a crisis PR management team was hired because Lively allegedly threatened to not promote the film or show up to set.
Freedman said to NBC: “TAG PR must be the most powerful group of publicists the world has ever seen for it to be able to completely change the perception of both Amber Heard and Blake Lively.”
He continued to say the only similarity between Lively’s case and Heard’s case is “every move they have made has been out there for everyone to see, widely filmed and documented for the public to make up their own minds — which they did, organically.”
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
The post Justin Baldoni’s women’s solidarity award rescinded over Blake Lively allegations appeared first on NME.
Justin Baldoni’s women’s solidarity award rescinded over Blake Lively allegations
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