Candace Owens wants Justin Baldoni to "have his day in court before stripping him of awards"

American political influencer Candace Owens recently shared her take on Justin Baldoni's legal battle with Blake Lively. Owens believed that Baldoni should go through the required trial procedures before "stripping him of awards."

On December 24, 2024, Candace Owens took to X to quote a post by the popular account, Pop Crave. The post claimed that Justin Baldoni has been stripped of his Voice of Solidarity Award, which honored men for advocating for women. Quoting the post, Owens wrote:

"Hear me out... What if rather than believing women or men we waited for more facts and allowed Justin Baldoni to have his day in court before stripping him of awards?"

The Voice of Solidarity Award was presented to Baldoni on December 9, 2024, by Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international nonprofit organization focusing on women empowerment. On December 23, the organization rescinded the award, citing Baldoni’s alleged “abhorrent conduct” mentioned in his co-star Blake Lively's recent complaint against him.

In their statement, the organization claimed Lively's complaints against Baldoni are “contrary to the values of Vital Voices and the spirit of the Award." Blake Lively filed a complaint against him accusing him of alleged s*xual harassment and engaging in an alleged PR campaign to tarnish her reputation.

Baldoni and Lively worked together in the 2024 romantic drama film, It Ends With Us, based on Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name. Baldoni also directed the film.

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Blake Lively's lawsuit against co-star Justin Baldoni explored

"It Ends With Us" UK Gala Screening - VIP Arrivals - Source: Getty

In a complaint dated December 21, 2024, popular actress Blake Lively filed a lawsuit with the California Civil Rights Department against her It Ends With Us director and co-star, Justin Baldoni. In her complaint, Lively accused Baldoni of s*xual harassment, creating a hostile workplace environment, and starting a campaign to tarnish her reputation.

According to Lively, Justin Baldoni was involved in a "social manipulation campaign" to tarnish her name while she was promoting their film, It Ends With Us, this summer. During the film's promotions, an internet campaign allegedly spread against Blake Lively, claiming she engaged in "mean girl behavior" and was insensitive on sets. The actress claimed in her complaint that the campaign was orchestrated by Baldoni and his team to destroy her name.

Further, Lively's complaint alleged that Justin Baldoni, alongside the CEO of Wayfarer Studios, Jamey Heath indulged in "inappropriate misconduct" with Lively and other members of the cast during the filming and production of It Ends With Us.

The documents further detail that on January 4, Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, met with Baldoni and Heath “to address the hostile work environment” that nearly stopped the production of the film.

The list allegedly included demands for Baldoni and Heath to stop engaging in inappropriate s*xual conversations with Blake Lively and other members of the set. The demands also included certain restrictions for filming intimate scenes in the film. All members of the set reportedly agreed to follow these guidelines.

However, the complaint adds that during the film's promotions, Justin Baldoni and Jamey Heath allegedly hired a PR expert to go on an offensive against Lively. The former Gossip Girl actress included messages in her complaint that showed Baldoni and Heath engaging in campaigns to promote negative stories about Lively on social media.

According to The New York Times, Baldoni and Heath's alleged PR campaign was successful as Lively was "branded tone-deaf, difficult to work with, and a bully."

In an official statement to the New York Times, Justin Baldoni's attorneys denied all of Lively's allegations, claiming they “are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media”.

It is worth noting that Baldoni has previously called himself an ally of the #MeToo movement, which focused on women coming out with their stories of s*xual abuse, assault, and harassment. He has also published a book, titled Boys Will Be Human, which he explained challenged traditional notions of masculinity.

Since Blake Lively's complaints against him, Baldoni's talent agency, WME, has stopped representing him. Moreover, multiple big names in the industry have come out in support of Lively, including Colleen Hoover, the author of It Ends With Us novel.