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.
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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?
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