When the romance drama was released in August, fans noticed that Lively and Baldoni were not doing press together, leading to speculation about a potential feud.
On December 21, it was disclosed that Lively had filed a lawsuit, as reported by the New York Times, claiming sexual harassment and alleging that Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign against her. She asserts that this caused significant emotional distress to her and her family.
Baldoni’s attorney responded to these allegations, describing them as ‘categorically false’ and accusing Lively of spreading false stories in an effort to rehabilitate her ‘negative reputation’.
Lively has rejected claims that she or her team disseminated negative information about Baldoni or Wayfayer Studios. She told The New York Times, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
The New York Times has obtained a copy of the complaint, which includes alleged text messages.
In her lawsuit, Lively claims that before August 2, Baldoni employed a crisis management expert named Melissa Nathan and publicist Jennifer Abel.
According to the suit, they allegedly worked to execute Baldoni’s plans by manipulating the narrative on social media.
Lively’s lawsuit includes alleged texts from Baldoni to Abel showing his supposed inspiration.
It featured a screenshot of a Twitter thread regarding recent bullying allegations involving Bieber, with the message, “This is what we would need.”
In response, Abel stated that she had just “spoke to Melissa about this…about what we discussed last night for social and digital,” adding: “Focus on Reddit, TikTok, IG.”
The lawsuit claims that the team carried out a ‘sophisticated, coordinated, and well-financed retaliation plan’ by hiring subcontractors tasked with creating content that appeared authentic on social media platforms and online forums.
On August 2, Abel mentioned having ‘reckless thoughts of wanting to plant pieces this week about how horrible Blake is to work with,’ adding: “She’s putting us through hell.”
By August 10, a message from Nathan’s team suggested they were ‘starting to see a shift on social,’ with Nathan later noting that the ‘majority of the socials are so pro Justin and I don’t even agree with half of them.’
The complaint also alleges that Lively made certain requests following a meeting about the alleged environment on set, stating no additional sex scenes, oral sex, or on-camera climaxing by her outside the scope of the original script.
Other requests included: “No more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s deceased father.”