New Delhi:
Blake Lively is not your everyday damsel in distress. For one, she’s a Hollywood A-lister. He has the money and power to fight the battle. It doesn’t really matter that the man she’s going up against is a director, an actor, and has the kind of good looks that men often get away with. Justin Baldoni. The man who wanted to “bury” Blake.
Lively dragged him to court.
80-page complaint filed by Blake Lively against Justin Baldoni, her co-star and director of this year’s breakout success it ends with usHas thrilled the whole of Hollywood. Lively has accused Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, and its CEO Jamie Heath of misconduct ranging from blatant smear campaigns to sexual harassment and astroturfing.
Astroturfing is “the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the Internet, media, etc., that appear to come from general members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group.”
Here’s a summary 80 page complaint:
- There are disturbing details of Baldoni “crying” in Blake’s vanity van “about his weight.”
- Even after the cameras were turned off, Baldoni remained on Blake’s lips for a long time.
- Allegations are that Baldoni added sex scenes without Lively’s consent, had no intimacy coordinator on set, and improvised kissing scenes.
- Baldoni and Heath made lewd, sexual comments and showed live nude photos of other women, including Heath’s wife.
- She moved into Blake’s trailer while Baldoni was breastfeeding.
- Baldoni and Jamie Heath discuss pornography and Baldoni’s past addiction.
- Baldoni claimed he could communicate with Lively’s recently deceased father.
When Lively complained that men on the set were “repeatedly violating personal boundaries and making sexual and other inappropriate comments to her”, the studio agreed to hire an intimacy coordinator.
But for the men, Baldoni and CEO Heath, it was the beginning of a long and calculated smear campaign against the actress, Lively’s complaint claims.
Baldoni reportedly hired crisis management agency TAG to manage the crisis with Baldoni at the center. Baldoni’s crisis manager Melissa Nathan’s former clients include Drake, Travis Scott and Johnny Depp. It wasn’t going to be all rosy.
During promotion for the film, internet sleuths noticed something was wrong. Baldoni was nowhere to be seen. Blake Lively was in the promotion without Baldoni.
at the New York premiere of It ends with us, Blake was accompanied by her husband Ryan Reynolds and co-star Brandon Sklenar. Baldoni was missing again.
It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to realize something was wrong. Rumors of a feud between the lead actors started the conversation in Hollywood and TikTok.
Brandon Sklenar, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds at the New York premiere of It End’s With Us. Image Courtesy: Getty
press tour of it ends with us there was a little bit Close For a film about domestic violence. There was a lot of focus on flowers, pink carpets and pep talks for ‘survivors’ of domestic violence. He was tone-deaf.
Lively was criticized for her choice of words: “Grab your friends, wear your flowers and come out to see this.” There were questions of ‘why’ all around. Lively was criticized for promoting the film as a “Barbie sequel”. The abundance of pink was not missed by anyone.
The only time Baldoni spoke about Lively was during his week-long press tour. Todaywhere he called her a “dynamic creative” who “had her hand in every part of this production, and created everything she touched”. [it] better.”
On the other hand, the media was asked by Blake Lively’s team to refrain from asking questions about Justin Baldoni.
While all this was going on publicly behind closed doors on the set, the story was a little different. The irony is that if you do. A film about domestic violence; On whose sets a different kind of violence was going on.
Justin Baldoni was trying to “shift the narrative against Blake Lively”.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni on the set of It End’s With Us. Image Courtesy: Getty
A crisis manager was hired. Nathan begins micro-dosing the media about how Blake is “weaponizing feminism”. Blake went from being a victim to a perpetrator of all that was wrong in Baldoniland.
Baldoni knew he had to change the story, and do it very, very fast.
In a world of one-click decisions, after all, famous people’s reputations are ruined in a split second.
Lively had to turn off comments on her personal Instagram page after ‘crisis management’ by TAG led to a large number of burner accounts attacking her brands.
TAG, the crisis management agency appointed by Baldoni, sent a “scenario planning document” as a ‘recommendation’ for moving forward in the narrative.
The document, which is part of an exhibit to Blake Lively’s complaint against Baldoni, includes suggestions of misleading messaging:
1. “ [p]Production members lost their jobs due to [Ms Lively’s] Emphasis on acquisition and participation”;
2. Ms. Lively involved her husband in making it [i]imbalance of power between him and [Mr Baldoni],
3. Ms. Lively has a “less than favorable reputation in the industry”;
4. Ms. Lively “had a clear, probable motive … to intimidate into buying the rights.” it starts with us” – sequel to it ends with us Currently owned by Baldoni’s production house, Wayfarer Productions.
The scenario planning document did not meet the standards Baldoni was expecting. His message after reading the document read, “I’m not sure I feel the same security that I felt on the call.”
TAG’s replies were cautious but promised to take care of Baldoni: “You know we can bury anybody. We can’t write to him that [Baldoni]Imagine if the document that says everything he wants gets into the wrong hands.”
When the astroturfing campaign was launched against Lively, Nathan wrote in an email, “Most socialites are supportive of Justin and I don’t agree with half of them.”
Over the years, Justine Baldoni has carefully built her image as an ally, not just a supporter, of feminism. His podcast, That’s enough, friend! It was on the same lines. His presence in public was the same.
L’affair it ends with us Shows us that maybe it was all a sham. A showdown that ends with Blake Lively.
