Justin Baldoni’s prestigious award for women’s advocacy stripped days after Blake Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit

Justin Baldoni lost the award

On 9 December, the actor-director received the Voice of Solidarity Award from Vital Voices. The award “honors remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls.” However, following a lawsuit by Blake Lively against him and his company, Wayfarer Studios, the organization decided to rescind the award, citing Baldoni’s “disturbing” and “disgusting conduct”.

“The communications between Mr. Baldoni and his publicists involved in the lawsuit – and the PR efforts indicated by them – alone, are contrary to Vital Voices’ values ​​and the spirit of the award. “We have informed Mr. Baldoni that we have revoked this award,” Vital Voices wrote in a statement posted on its official Instagram account on Monday.

Blake Lively’s lacesuit

Blake Lively has accused Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and a smear campaign to damage her reputation. The two worked together on It End’s With Us, but their professional relationship was strained to say the least. The new lawsuit includes text messages between Baldoni and his publicists, in which the actor-filmmaker appears to instruct them to ‘bury’ Blake.

Ever since her lawsuit became public, Blake Lively has received widespread support from members of the film fraternity. Sony Pictures, which distributes It End’s With Us, said hollywood reporter“We have already expressed our support regarding Blake’s work on and for the film. We reiterate that support today fully and strongly. Furthermore, we strongly condemn any reputational attack on him. Any such attacks have no place in our business or civil society. The actor’s organization SAG-AFTRA has also lent its support to Blake. Meanwhile, Baldoni has been dropped from agency WME.