Justin Baldoni fires back at Blake Lively after claim of sexual harassment

Justin Baldoni has put out a scathing response to the sexual harassment lawsuit Blake Lively brought against him.

Baldoni starred in and directed It Ends With Us, which was based on Collen Hoover’s novel of the same name.

The Jane the Virgin star’s lawyer Bryan Freedman told Us Weekly that Lively’s filing is “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.”

He claimed that the Gossip Girl actress has filed the lawsuit to “fix her negative reputation” after she received serious backlash online due to diva-like behavior in past and new interviews.

He alleged that Lively’s tactics included “threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release.”

In her lawsuit, The Age of Adaline star alleged that she had to ask for crisis talks during the production of the movie to put an end to Baldoni’s behaviour.

Her demands from the studio included: “No more showing n*de videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘p*rnography 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.”

Per the lawsuit, Lively’s demands were approved but It Ends With Us couldn’t be saved from backlash due to disagreements about the marketing approach for the movie. Differences in Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively’s approaches while promoting the film were noticed by fans early on.

The duo also remained far apart during the premiere of the film, with most of the other cast members also siding with Blake. Rumors of a rift between the two clouded the film’s release in August. However, It Ends With Us has been released on Netflix now where it’s performing well.