"Blake was in pain" — Michele Morrone supports A Simple Favor 2 co-Star Blake Lively as she accuses Justin Baldoni of s*xual harassment

Italian actor Michele Morrone has spoken up in favor of Blake Lively amid her ongoing legal battle with her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni. On December 20, 2024, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni accusing him of s*xual harassment and creating a smear campaign to spoil her reputation.

Actor Michele Morrone is known for starring in films like 365 Days, Subservience, and Maserati: The Brothers. He is also a part of the upcoming black comedy crime drama A Simple Favor 2 alongside Blake Lively. Alongside Morrone and Blake Lively, the film will also cast actors like Elena Sofia Ricci, Elizabeth Perkins, Alex Newell, Taylor Ortega, and Lorenzo de Moor.

On Monday, December 23, Morrone took to his Instagram story to share a video message supporting his co-star.

"So it’s usually not my thing to make these types of videos, but I think it’s time to stand up for a person I really love and this person is Blake Lively," he started.

Talking about the experience of observing her 'pain' regularly during the shooting of A Simple Favor 2, Morrone said:

"I personally met Blake during A Simple Favor 2, we shot this incredible film together, and I felt something was wrong, and I felt the pain and then we had the opportunity to talk, me and her. Blake was in pain. And I’m really tired to see those kind of cruel and bad comments about her without knowing the situation."

The 34-year-old actor also linked a New York Times article that elaborated on Justin Baldoni's alleged social media campaign against Blake Lively. The article also contained leaked screenshots of private messages allegedly exchanged between Baldoni and his PR team.

"So that’s why I want to link right here the article [from] The New York Times so that you can understand before commenting, what happened. That’s all I ask. That’s what I want you to do. Blake, I love you so much,' he gushed. 'Keep it up and we’re going to see each other very, very soon. Love you," he concluded.

In addition to Morrone, many stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Amber Heard, Amy Schumer, America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn have spoken up in favor of Blake Lively. Even Colleen Hoover, the writer of the novel It Ends With Us, has supported the 37-year-old actress.

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Blake Lively has accused Justin Baldoni of 'astroturfing' using his social media campaigns

"It Ends With Us" Photocall - Source: Getty (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Sony Pictures)

In her lawsuit, Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni of using his PR team for astroturfing. According to dictionary.cambridge.org, astroturfing is defined as:

"The practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group, as a way to make it seem that a product, policy, opinion, etc. is very popular or has a lot of public support."

Blake Lively's lawsuit alleged that 'millions of people' became 'unwitting customers' of Baldoni's astroturfing campaign after they unintentionally came across his paid content on social media directed against the actress.

“That is precisely the goal of an astroturfing campaign. To light the fire and continue to stoke conversations secretly, blurring the line between authentic and manufactured content, and creating viral public takedowns,” the lawsuit clarified.

The clash between Blake Lively and Baldoni started earlier this year while working on the sets of It Ends With Us. The two reportedly clashed on set, dividing the crew into two factions—Team Justin and Team Blake. As per reports, hostilities between the two sides crept up to the extent that they stopped speaking to each other.

As per a report from the New York Post, an emergency meeting between the two stars was called in January, which was also attended by Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds demanded that there would be "no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake Lively, no more mention of Baldoni's alleged previous p*rnography addiction, and no more discussions about s*xual conquests in front of Lively."

Finally, Reynolds demanded that there would be no more addition of s*x scenes that were not already approved by Lively while signing the film.

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In the wake of Lively's lawsuit, Justin Baldoni's Voices of Solidarity award has been rescinded by the Vital Voices organization. Voices of Solidarity is a distinction awarded to men who have advocated for women's rights. Baldoni initially received the honor on December 9.