• Blake Lively has filed a legal complaint against her co-star and director of the film It Ends With Us, Justin Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment and a co-ordinated PR campaign to ruin her reputation.
• Numerous celebrities have taken to social media to voice their support for Lively, including actress Amber Heard and Lively’s Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants co-stars America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel.
• Baldoni has hired Johnny Depp’s crisis PR team, who supported him through his and Heard’s highly publicised defamation trial.

Stars have continued to rally in support of actress Blake Lively amidst her sexual harassment suit against It Ends With Us filmmaker Justin Baldoni, labelling the campaign against her as “horrifying”, “premeditated” and “vindictive”.

Actress Amber Heard, who was part of a highly publicised defamation trial against former husband Johnny Depp in 2022, told NBC News she had experienced a similar targeted online campaign and recognised the destructive power of social media.

“Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on’,” Heard said in a statement to the outlet. “I saw this first hand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”

Amber Heard, pictured during a 2022 interview with Today, expressed support for Lively in a statement she released to NBC News on Monday. Photo / NBC

Lively’s co-stars in the popular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants films have also taken to social media to support the star.

Voicing their upset, they described “the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety”.

It Ends with Us explores themes of domestic violence and emotional abuse.

“The hypocrisy is astounding,” a joint statement from America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel on Instagram reads.

“Throughout the filming of It Ends with Us, we saw [Lively] summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice."

It Ends with Us book author Colleen Hoover has also voiced her support for the actress, saying she had been “nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met”, and encouraging her to “never wilt”.

Baldoni, 40, has hired Depp’s crisis PR team, who worked with the Pirates of the Caribbean star through the defamation trial.

Lively’s complaint is also filed against key figures from production company Wayfarer Studios – the owners of It Ends With Us – a publicist, a crisis communication specialist and an independent contractor.

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. Photo / Getty Images

Spanning 80 pages, the complaint, which the New York Times published in full, stated the Gossip Girl actress was pushed to having an “all hands” meeting with Baldoni, film producer Jamey Heath and others, about their alleged “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour” after Wayfarer “rebuffed” her concerns, which she claimed she had raised months before the filming started.

The complaint said after demands from Lively to combat the harassment, parties employed “social manipulation” to “destroy” her reputation.

Allegedly, Wayfarer co-founder, co-chairman and leading financier Steve Sarowitz was “prepared to spend $100 million [$176.8m] to ruin the lives” of Lively and her family.

Colleen Hoover and Blake Lively Photo / Getty Images

In her complaint, Lively claimed the film was shot amid a “hostile work environment that nearly derailed production” and alleged a campaign against her was launched by Baldoni.

Baldoni has recently been dropped by his talent agency WME, with Deadline reporting company bosses had him depart “at least in part” due to the lawsuit.

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help:If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email [email protected]
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively, contact your local police station – click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it’s not your fault.