Blake Lively has sued Justin Baldoni, the director of "It Ends With Us" in which she featured.
On Tuesday, the 37-year-old actress sued Baldoni, 40, in New York federal court for sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, mental anguish, invasion of privacy, and lost pay, according to Page Six.
In the lawsuit was found the identical charges as her California Civil Rights Department complaint from the week prior.
Lively claimed in her complaint that Baldoni sexually harassed her on their August film. After meeting to discuss his alleged activities, she stated he hired a crisis management firm to destroy her reputation.
With Baldoni, Lively sued his publicist, Jennifer Abel, and crisis manager, Melissa Nathan. Wayfarer Studios, is also being sued.
It has been reported from Ms. Lively's counsel that she filed a federal case against Wayfarer Studios and others in the Southern District of New York today.
"Ms. Lively previously sent her California Civil Rights Department complaint in response to the retaliatory campaign Wayfarer launched against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns," her attorneys said.
According to them, an unfortunate consequence of Ms. Lively's choice to speak up is that it has resulted in additional attacks and revenge. In accordance with the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively, Wayfarer and its employees have committed violations of both federal and state law in the state of California by taking retaliatory action against her for reporting sexual harassment and concerns over workplace safety. With this, the defendants will be held accountable in federal court for the actions that they have taken.
Her attorneys concluded, "Ms. Lively has brought this litigation in New York, where much of the relevant activities described in the complaint took place, but we reserve the right to pursue further action in other venues and jurisdictions as appropriate under the law."
In her complaint, Lively requested an "all-hands" session during the romance drama's shooting to examine Baldoni's alleged behavior on set.
It is said that during the meeting, he was instructed to refrain from displaying his co-star "nude videos or images of women," to make reference to his previous "porn addiction" and sexual exploits, and to bring up the "genitalia of the cast and crew," as stated in the lawsuit.
There are reports that imply that Baldoni was given the instruction to refrain from discussing Lively's weight and her father's passing, as well as to refrain from include any sexually graphic sequences that went beyond the pre-approved screenplay. According to the allegations made in Lively's complaint, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, was present during these chats about the incident.
The charges made by Lively were, according to Baldoni and Bryan Freedman, the attorney for Wayfarer Studios, deemed to be both inaccurate and detrimental. At the same time as Lively asserts that Baldoni engaged in "social manipulation" in order to damage her reputation, she also asserts that a digital campaign was constructed against her.
In addition, Baldoni and Wayfarer filed a lawsuit against the New York Times for libel and other accusations, claiming that Lively's activities were part of a smear campaign. The case was filed for a total of $250 million against the New York Times.
The New York Times said, "An independent news organization follows the facts."
According to the outlet, the story was accurately and thoroughly covered, as evidenced by the use of thousands of pages of genuine records, which included the text messages and emails that were quoted in the article. Neither Wayfarer Studios nor Mr. Baldoni, nor any of the other individuals who are the topic of the piece, nor any of their representatives have found any inaccuracies. A comprehensive statement was issued by the newspaper in response to the allegations that were made in the article.
In response to the case, they will reportedly forcefully defend themselves.
Business Times has reached out to Justin Baldoni for comments.
