Justin Baldoni allegedly asked Blake Lively an intimate question about her relationship with her husband, Ryan Reynolds, as per a filed legal complaint.
Earlier this year, Baldoni, 40, starred alongside and directed Gossip Girl alumna Lively, 37, in the screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, It Ends With Us.
Shortly after the flick’s release, speculation surrounding the actors’ alleged ‘feud’ arose online, with insiders claiming the pair had ‘fought’ over the movie’s final cut.
Lively, who played protagonist Lily Bloom in the 2024 movie, has since filed a lawsuit against the Jane the Virgin actor, accusing him of trying to ‘destroy’ her reputation as well as ‘other behaviors that were shocking and emotionally distressing’, as per the complaint.
The suit, filed with the California Civil Rights Department last Friday (December 20), also claims Baldoni ‘personally added graphic content’ to It Ends With Us after she’d already signed on to the production without her consent.
One of these alleged additions was a ‘scene in which Ms. Lively was to orgasm on camera’, the legal file reads, as per The Daily Mail.
.jpg "Justin Baldoni allegedly asked Blake Lively inappropriate question about her sex life with Ryan Reynolds 2")
The lawsuit claims that the filmmaker initially agreed to remove the scenes, but made a ‘last-ditch attempt to keep one in which the couple orgasm together on their wedding night’.
It’s alleged that Baldoni said the scene was ‘important to him because he and his partner climax simultaneously during intercourse.’
“Mr. Baldoni then intrusively asked Ms. Lively whether she and her husband [Ryan Reynolds] climax simultaneously during intercourse, which Ms. Lively found invasive and refused to discuss,’ the suit alleges.
Lively has also accused her co-star of sexual harassment; a claim that Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman has since denied.
In a statement he said: “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.”
He added that he believed the filed complaint was ‘completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media’.
.jpg "Justin Baldoni allegedly asked Blake Lively inappropriate question about her sex life with Ryan Reynolds 3")
In the wake of the suit released by the New York Times, Baldoni has reportedly been dropped by his talent agency WME.
Deadline reports the agency, which also represents the Green Lantern actress, took action on Saturday (December 21) due in part to the filed lawsuit.
Lively’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars America Fererra, 40, Amber Tamblyn, 41, and Alexis Bledel, 43, have since released a joint statement, pledging their support to the mother-of-four.
“As Blake’s friends and sisters for over 20 years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation,” the cast of the 2005 comedy-drama stated via Instagram.
“Throughout the filming of It Ends With Us, we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice.
“Most upsetting is the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety. The hypocrisy is astounding.”
The statement claimed that the trio were ‘struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment’.
“We are inspired by our sister’s courage to stand up for herself and others,” they added before signing with their names.
UNILAD has previously contacted representatives for Justin Baldoni for comment.
