WME dumps Justin Baldoni after Blake Lively sexual harassment complaint

Justin Baldoni has been dropped by his talent agency, WME. On Saturday morning, company bosses had him depart “at least in part” due to the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively, who is also represented by the firm, Deadline reports.

The decision came hours after Lively submitted her 10-claim complaint with the California Civil Rights Department late last Friday, in which she accused Baldoni, 40, his production company Wayfarer Studios and others involved with making the movie of sexual harassment and a “co-ordinated effort to destroy her reputation”.

The 37-year-old star claimed the film was shot amid a “hostile work environment that nearly derailed production” and alleged a campaign against her was launched by the actor, who also directed the movie, and his company after its release.

Reports are that Lively had presented a list of 30 demands to resume production following the actors’ strike, among them “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”.

According to the lawsuit, Sony Pictures, the company responsible for distributing the film, approved her requests, but the actress has alleged that Baldoni subsequently engaged in a “social manipulation” campaign in a bid to “destroy” her reputation.

“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,” Lively said in a statement to The New York Times.

ALLEGATIONS

The complaint mentions the scene during which Lively’s character gives birth, noting that “Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath suddenly pressured Ms. Lively to simulate full nudity, despite no mention of nudity for this scene in the script, her contract, or in previous creative discussions”. The complaint also noted that Baldoni insisted that “women give birth naked, and that his wife had ‘ripped her clothes off’ during labour”. Lively said that she “felt forced into a compromise that she would be naked from below the chest down”.

Elaborating on the filming of the birth scene, the set was described as “chaotic, crowded and utterly lacking in standard industry protections for filming nude scenes”.

The suit added that Heath and Baldoni “failed to close the set” and named a number of “non-essential crew” who passed through “while Ms. Lively was mostly nude with her legs spread wide in stirrups and only a small piece of fabric covering her genitalia”.

Lively, the suit stated, “became even more alarmed when Mr. Baldoni introduced his ‘best friend’ to play the role of the OBGYN, when ordinarily, a small role of this nature would be filled by a local actor. Ms. Lively felt that the selection of Mr. Baldoni’s friend for this intimate role, in which the actor’s face and hands were in close proximity to her nearly nude genitalia for a birth scene, was invasive and humiliating”.

Baldoni has denied the allegations and accused her of making an attempts to “fix” her own “negative reputation”.

It Ends With Us was released in August and made an impressive $50 million début, however, there has been much speculation over an unknown disagreement between the lead actors, Lively and Baldoni.