Blake Lively's reason for bringing Ryan Reynolds to 'sexual harassment meeting' with Justin Baldoni revealed
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Blake Lively's reason for bringing Ryan Reynolds to her supposed sexual harassment meeting with Justin Baldoni has been disclosed, in her bombshell new lawsuit.
She first sued on December 20, accusing Baldoni of sexually harassing her and fostering a toxic work environment on the set of their film It Ends With Us, in which he both directed her and acted with her. He has staunchly denied the allegations.
Lively then launched more formal complaint on New Year's Eve, doubling down on her claims from the previous legal action.
In the first filing, Lively alleged a meeting was held last January 4 'to address the hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the Film.'
The 'all hands' meeting is said to have included both Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the CEO of Baldoni's production company Wayfarer Studios and a producer on It Ends With Us. Lively accused both men of engaging in 'inappropriate conduct' on set.
According to her lawsuits, Lively brought Reynolds to the supposed meeting - and in this week's new filing, she shed light on why.
Her account of the January 4 meeting runs strikingly counter to the version presented by Baldoni, in his own $250M libel lawsuit against the New York Times for its report on Lively's initial legal action.
Blake Lively's reason for bringing Ryan Reynolds to her alleged sexual harassment meeting with Justin Baldoni has been disclosed in her new suit; Lively and Reynolds are pictured
'Ms. Lively also had the agreed upon right to have a representative present,' the New Year's Eve lawsuit maintains.
'She chose her husband, given that the meeting was about repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior by Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath.'
Married for over a decade, Reynolds and Lively have emerged as one of Hollywood's foremost power couples and share four children - James, 10, Inez, eight, Betty, five, and Olin, one.
Baldoni provided a notably different recollection of the January 4 meeting in his own lawsuit, which was also filed New Year's Eve.
In Baldoni's version of events, Lively and Reynolds are accused of 'bullying' him during a fraught confrontation at the couple's New York penthouse.
According to Baldoni, Reynolds 'berated' him at the meeting and 'aggressively' accused him of a litany of affronts against Lively such as 'fat shaming' her.
In his lawsuit, Baldonisays he was invited to the couple's penthouse on the evening of January 4 along with a Sony representative and other producers of It Ends With Us.
'They arrived eager to discuss plans for the next day's filming, prepared with their production materials. Instead, they were blindsided by Lively and Reynolds, who presented a list of grievances that were both unanticipated and troubling,' Baldoni's legal filing claims.
Her account of the January 4 meeting runs strikingly counter to the version presented by Baldoni (pictured), in his own $250M libel lawsuit against the New York Times
'Reynolds launched into a tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a "traumatic" encounter, stating he had "never been spoken to like that in his life."'
Reynolds, a major Hollywood A-lister who starred in last summer's box office juggernaut Deadpool & Wolverine, demanded that Baldoni apologize to Lively 'for actions that were mischaracterized and demonstrably false,' per Baldoni's lawsuit.
'When Baldoni resisted apologizing for what he had not done, Reynolds became further enraged. Everyone, including the producer Lively had asked production to engage and a representative of Sony that was in attendance, left that "meeting" in shock. The producer offered that in his 40-year career he had never seen anyone speak to someone like that.'
Baldoni alleges that that Lively and Reynolds then used their 'power and influence' against him, in an attempt at 'destroying Baldoni's career and personal life.'
In her initial complaint, Lively claimed Baldoni strove to tarnish her reputation with a team including his publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis PR Melissa Nathan, who previously worked with Johnny Depp. Abel has denied waging a 'smear campaign.'
The actress submitted her December 20 complaint to the California Civil Rights Commission, but is now also suing Baldoni in federal court in New York.
She filed the New York suit on New Year's Eve - the same day Baldoni initiated a $250M libel action against the New York Times for its report on her first complaint.
Lively's second lawsuit targets Baldoni, Abel and Nathan as defendants, as well as Baldoni's production company Wayfarer Studios.
In the run-up to the movie's August 9 release, rumors began swirling of a rift between Lively and Baldoni, who are pictured in the movie
Since news of Lively's first lawsuit broke, Baldoni's career has imploded, as he was dropped by his agency William Morris Endeavor; he and Lively are pictured in the film
In her latest legal filing, Lively is demanding both 'punitive' and 'compensatory' damages and a jury trial, accusing the defendants of causing her 'mental pain and anguish,' as well as 'severe and serious emotional distress' and 'lost wages.'
Lively's attorneys gave a statement to DailyMail.com on Tuesday alleging their client has been subject to 'further retaliation and attacks' since she made the 'decision to speak out' about her allegations against Baldoni.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Nathan, Abel and Wayfarer Studios, as well as representatives for Baldoni for comment.
In her new lawsuit, Lively demands 'punitive damages' as well as 'a money judgement representing compensatory damages, lost wages, earning, and all other sums of money,' plus 'interest' on the above 'in an amount to be proven at trial.'
She also wants 'an award of money judgment for mental pain and anguish and severe and serious emotional distress, in an amount to be proven at trial.'
Her lawyers provided a statement to DailyMail.com Tuesday, saying: 'Earlier today, Ms. Lively filed a federal complaint against Wayfarer Studios and others in the Southern District of New York.
'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. Unfortunately, Ms. Lively’s decision to speak out has resulted in further retaliation and attacks.'
Lively's attorneys continued: 'As alleged in Ms. Lively’s federal Complaint, Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns. Now, the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court.'
She has accused him of sexually harassing her and fostering a toxic work environment on the set of It Ends With Us, claims he denies; they are pictured on the set in January
They added: '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.'
On New Year’s Eve, the day Lively filed her second lawsuit against Baldoni, he initiated a $250 million libel action against the New York Times, which broke the news of Lively’s first complaint earlier this month.
In a statement, the New York Times stood by its reporting and denied the allegations. It said it plans to 'vigorously defend against the lawsuit'.
Since news of Lively's first lawsuit broke, Baldoni's career has imploded, as he was dropped by his agency William Morris Endeavor.
Liz Plank, one of the co-hosts of Baldoni's Man Enough podcast that billed itself as a space for 'positive masculinity,' announced she was quitting the show.
Lively, who is close friends with pop superstar Taylor Swift, has seen former colleagues rally around her amid her high-profile legal battle.
Her It Ends With Us co-stars Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate have spoken out to support her, as has Colleen Hoover, author of the novel on which the film is based.
Lively's first lawsuit contained a raft of accusations against Baldoni, whom she says showed her nude images and videos of other women, 'improvised physical intimacy' during a scene without prior discussion, entered her trailer while she was 'nude' and allowed his 'friends' to watch her filming sex scenes.
Married for over a decade, Reynolds and Lively have emerged as one of Hollywood's foremost power couples and share four children - James, 10, Inez, eight, Betty, five, and Olin, one
In legal documents from the first complaint, Lively's team claimed an 'all hands' meeting was held on January 4 of this year, purportedly 'to address the hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the Film.'
The meeting is said to have included both Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the CEO of Wayfarer Studios and a producer on It Ends With Us.
Attendees allegedly discussed supposed 'inappropriate conduct' by Baldoni and Heath, and at the end of the meeting, 'all parties present agreed that the outlined conduct would cease,' per Lively's first lawsuit.
In the run-up to the movie's August 9 release, rumors began swirling of a rift between Lively and Baldoni - and Lively now claims that around this time, Nathan and Abel worked for Baldoni on a targeted strategy to vilify her.
During the run-up to the release of It Ends With Us, Lively repeatedly went viral as social media users slammed her 'mean girl' behavior in interviews - a trend she now insists was the result of an 'astroturfing' campaign waged by Baldoni's PR team.
Lively's first complaint included purported screen-grabs of text messages, many of them between Nathan and Abel, allegedly showing the PR takedown being planned.
One exchange, obtained by subpoena, showed Abel allegedly saying that Baldoni 'wants to feel like she [Lively] can be buried.'
Nathan supposedly replied: 'Of course - but you know when we send over documents we can't send over the work we will or could do because that could get us in a lot of trouble,' adding, 'We can't write we will destroy her.'
Lively first sued on December 20, accusing Baldoni of sexually harassing her and fostering a toxic work environment on the set of their film It Ends With Us
She allegedly also texted Abel: 'Imagine if a document saying all the things that he wants ends up in the wrong hands. You know we can bury anyone but I can't write that to him. I will be very tough.'
In Lively's first suit, she also submitted an alleged text that Baldoni purportedly sent Abel - a screenshot of an X thread about bullying allegations against Hailey Bieber, along with the message: 'This is what we would need.'
There is no suggestion that Bieber was in any way involved or associated with the alleged smear campaign against Lively.
In her new lawsuit filed New Year's Eve, Lively doubles down on her claims about the all-hands meeting and the subsequent alleged smear campaign.
Along with her claims of sexual harassment, Lively's first complaint accused Baldoni of 'other behaviors that were shocking and emotionally distressing.'
One example was her allegation that he insisted he could speak to the dead and had communicated with her late father Ernie Lively.
'It was off putting and violative for Ms. Baldoni [sic] to claim a personal relationship with her recently deceased father,' that lawsuit stated.
Ernie Lively, an actor and acting coach, died of cardiac complications aged 74 in June 2021, less than two years before principal photography began on It Ends With Us.
Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman responded to Lively's first lawsuit by calling her claims 'false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt'.
He argued that Lively's suit was a gambit to 'fix her negative reputation' after rumors spread that she had been difficult to work with during the making of the film.
This included her allegedly 'threatening to not show up to set [and] threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release,' Freedman asserted.
