On December 21, it emerged that Blake Lively had initiated a lawsuit, as reported by the New York Times, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni’s legal representative has dismissed these allegations, labeling them as ‘categorically false’ and describing them as ‘a desperate attempt to fix her negative reputation.’
The legal filing, however, contains several intriguing exchanges purportedly involving Baldoni and his team.
Lively expressed to 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 acquired a copy of the complaint, which includes text messages allegedly exchanged between Baldoni, his PR consultant, and his crisis management expert.
One message purportedly reveals Baldoni seeking to draw inspiration from a negative news piece about Hailey Bieber to tarnish Lively’s image, but the revelations do not end there.
Lively has now alleged that Baldoni’s team contemplated leveraging her close friend, pop star Taylor Swift, to alter public perceptions about her.
Documentation within the complaint allegedly features Melissa Nathan, his crisis management consultant, suggesting in an email dated August 6: “Our team can also explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people like Taylor Swift have been accused of utilizing these tactics to ‘bully’ into getting what they want.”
US Weekly reports that the email further states: “We have seen the most innocuous issues turn giant due to socials or the hugest crises have no effect on social whatsoever.
“You just cannot tell at this stage. But, BL does have some of the same TS fanbase so we will be taking it extremely seriously.”
The complaint further claims that during the film production, Lively made several requests following a meeting concerning an alleged environment on set. She requested that “no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex, or on-camera climaxing by BL outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project” be included.
Additional requests are said to have 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 dead father.”