After the movie’s release in August, rumors emerged suggesting alleged ‘friction’ between Lively and Baldoni.
As tensions rose, fans began to take sides, and Lively faced backlash for her comments during the movie’s press tour interviews.
The situation escalated when Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, as first reported by TMZ and later covered by the New York Times.
Now, Deadline reports that Baldoni has been dropped by WME, the agency representing both him and Lively.
According to Deadline, the dismissal occurred on Saturday, December 21, partly due to Lively’s complaint filed the preceding Friday.
The lawsuit alleges that Baldoni sexually harassed Lively, creating a hostile work environment that prompted her to call a meeting to outline her demands.
Reportedly, she requested that no additional sex scenes, oral sex, or on-camera climaxes involving her be added beyond what was approved in the script she signed.
She also demanded that there be no sexual discussions or references to genitalia around her, no comments about her weight, no mention of Baldoni’s alleged past ‘pornography addiction,’ and no nude videos or images shown to her.
Lively claims that following her requests, Wayfarer Studios and Baldoni attempted to tarnish her reputation through ‘social manipulation,’ causing her ‘severe emotional distress.’
In a statement to The New York Times, Lively expressed: “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.”
Baldoni’s attorney and Wayfarer Studios representative, Bryan Freedman, told The Hollywood Reporter that the allegations are ‘categorically false’.
Freedman criticized Lively and her team, calling the accusations ‘shameful’ and suggesting that they were a desperate effort to ‘fix’ her negative reputation stemming from her own conduct during the film’s promotion.
He noted: “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.”
The legal team further stated that the lawsuit’s claims are ‘completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious’ with the aim of damaging Baldoni’s reputation and perpetuating a media-driven narrative.
Freedman alleged that Lively threatened to not participate in filming or promotional activities unless her demands were met, which led Wayfarer Studios to hire a crisis manager to work alongside their representative from Jonesworks, led by Stephanie Jones.
The statement added that it was discovered that Lively had a PR representative, Leslie Sloan from Vision PR, who also represents Ryan Reynolds, to spread negative and allegedly false stories to the media even before the film’s marketing began, prompting Wayfarer Studios to bring in a crisis management professional for potential scenario planning.
“The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity.
“What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals.”