Blake Lively's explosive civil rights lawsuit against Justin Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath is making headlines, unveiling shocking allegations from the set of "It Ends With Us." The 80-page lawsuit obtained by the NY Times details repeated harassment and disturbing behavior from Baldoni and Heath, leading to agreed-on protections that were allegedly ignored.
As the 2024 release of the film approached, Baldoni deviated from the marketing plan, using domestic violence survivor content to protect his image. Further, Baldoni and his team allegedly plotted to destroy Lively's reputation with social media manipulation. As this legal battle unfolds, it raises critical questions about accountability, harassment, and the power of social media in shaping public perception.
As the 2024 release of the film approached, Baldoni deviated from the marketing plan, using domestic violence survivor content to protect his image. Further, Baldoni and his team allegedly plotted to destroy Lively's reputation with social media manipulation. As this legal battle unfolds, it raises critical questions about accountability, harassment, and the power of social media in shaping public perception.
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00:00Blake Lively's explosive civil rights lawsuit against Justin Baldoni and producer Jamie Heath
00:04is making headlines, unveiling shocking allegations from the set of It Ends With Us.
00:10The 80-page lawsuit that was obtained by the New York Times claims that, during filming,
00:15Lively raised concerns about repeated harassment and disturbing behavior from both Baldoni and
00:20Heath. The complaint filed by Lively reveals that in November 2023, the Ends With Us team
00:25agreed to a set of protections in response to Lively's concerns about on-set behavior.
00:31They included prohibitions on inappropriate images, discussions of sexual experiences,
00:36and questions about her weight. On January 4, 2024, an all-hands meeting was held to finalize
00:42these protections. After discussing the issues, Wayfarer Studios agreed to implement the provisions,
00:48allowing production to safely resume the following day. The lawsuit also reveals
00:52that leading up to the 2024 release of It Ends With Us, Lively and other cast members
00:57were contractually obligated to follow a marketing plan created by the film's distributor, Sony.
01:03The plan directed them to focus on highlighting her character in the movie, Lily's, strength and
01:07resilience, rather than emphasizing the film's themes of domestic violence. The goal was to
01:13present the film as a story of hope, not sadness. However, the lawsuit claims that just before the
01:18film's release, Baldoni abruptly deviated from the marketing plan. Justin's deviation from the
01:24official marketing plan caused the public to become confused by Lively's tone-deaf promotion
01:30of the movie, with many fans accusing her of promoting her haircare line more than she
01:34promoted the movie correctly. The documents share that Baldoni and his team devised a social
01:39manipulation plan to destroy Lively's reputation, with the backing of Wayfarer's billionaire co-founder
01:45Steve Sarawitz, who allegedly offered $100 million for the effort. This retaliation was in response
01:52to Lively speaking out about their on-set misconduct. In July 2024, following advice
01:58from their publicist, Baldoni and Wayfarer hired crisis and communications specialist
02:03Melissa Nathan. Nathan proposed a plan that included manipulating social media, including
02:08website creation, social account takedowns, and creating fake fan engagement to shift public
02:14perception. The plan went as far as using astroturfing, the deceptive practice of creating
02:20a marketing or PR campaign that appears to be unsolicited opinions from the public,
02:25all designed to protect Baldoni's image and silence Lively. The plan suggested planting
02:31misleading stories to harm Lively's reputation, including portraying her as responsible for
02:36production delays and misusing feminism. In private text messages, the team expressed a desire to bury
02:43Lively, but acknowledged they couldn't put such intentions in writing for fear of it leaking.
02:49Lawsuit continues to share how on August 5th, 2024, Baldoni initiated the narrative for a social
02:55media campaign by sending a screenshot of a thread from X that accused another female celebrity,
03:01Hailey Bieber, of bullying women. Baldoni wrote, this is what we would need, prompting the actor
03:06and his publicist to discuss strategies for the campaign, focusing on platforms like Reddit,
03:11TikTok, and Instagram. Abel reassured Baldoni that the plan would ensure Lively's reputation
03:17would be, quote, destroyed and buried. And by August 10th, social media narratives had shifted
03:22in Baldoni's favor. The team bragged about suppressing negative stories, including HR
03:28complaints and harassment allegations. One of the publicists, Jennifer Abel, has since broken her
03:33silence in a private Facebook group that's currently being circulated, where she shares
03:37she's no longer with the company, and these plans were never actually executed on, just talked about.
03:44Actress Amber Heard, who has faced similar public scrutiny in the past, responded to this recent
03:50lawsuit. Speaking to NBC News, Heard reflected on the power of social media, saying, quote,
03:55social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying, a lie travels halfway around
04:01the world before the truth can get its boots on. I saw this firsthand and up close. It's as
04:06horrifying as it is destructive. Heard's comments come after her highly publicized defamation trial
04:12with ex-husband Johnny Depp, during which she endured significant backlash and criticism,
04:17particularly from the public and entertainment industry. When it comes to Blake Lively's lawsuit,
04:22no one has responded on Baldoni's team yet, but his agents at WME have reportedly dropped him.
04:28Stay tuned and follow us for more updates at What's Trending.