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Several celebrities have shown their support for Blake Lively since the actress sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni for s*xual harassment. The suit, filed on December 20, alleged that Baldoni created a hostile work environment on set and launched a smear campaign against Lively during the movie's promotion run when she attempted to speak up about his alleged harassment.
Celebrities like Christina Ricci, Amber Heard, and many others have voiced their support for Blake Lively. On December 23, Ricci took to Instagram Story to talk about Lively's suit, writing:
Meanwhile, Amber Heard criticized social media for turning on Blake Lively during the movie's promotion in August. The It Ends With Us press run was filled with controversy after netizens bashed Lively for her seemingly careless attitude about the film's exploration of domestic violence, which was further escalated after rumors of a feud between Baldoni and Lively emerged.
In a statement to NBC News, Heard likened Lively's situation to hers, seemingly referencing her public divorce and 2022 defamation trial involving her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
"Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying, 'A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on. I saw this firsthand and up close. It's as horrifying as it is destructive," Heard said in her statement.
America Ferrera and Paul Feig support Blake Lively
America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel also came forward to support Blake Lively following the lawsuit. The four actresses had worked together in the 2005 film The Sisterhood of Travelling Pants.
Lively's co-stars released a joint statement on social media, expressing their solidarity with her and praising her for speaking out against the alleged abuse.
"As Blake's friends and sisters for over 20 years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation.
"Throughout the filming of 'It Ends with Us,' we saw her 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," the statement read.
Colleen Hoover, the author of It Ends With Us, came forward to support Lively, calling her an "honest, kind, supportive and patient" person and encouraging her to "never change." Actress and businesswoman Gwenyth Paltrow and comedian Amy Schumer also publicly supported Lively on social media, with the latter posting," I believe Blake," on her Instagram Story.
Paul Feig, the director of A Simple Favor and its sequel, which stars Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, also supported Lively. In his post on X, he called her "one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented and kind people" he's ever worked with and said she did not deserve the alleged smear campaign.
Blake Lively's half-sister, Robyn, and her husband also came forward to support their family member. Robyn, who starred in It Ends With Us, urged people to read the New York Times article highlighting Lively's lawsuit and other accusations, calling the alleged smear campaign "ruthless and nefarious."
Meanwhile, her husband Bart Johnson, who starred as Coach Bolton in Disney's High School Musical trilogy, also took to social media to support his sister-in-law.
“Her complained were filed during the filming. On record. Long before the public conflict. The cast unfollowed him for a reason. Read this article before spitting ignorance. His PR team was stellar. Gross and disgusting but highly effective. Read the article, their text message exchanges and his PR campaign strategy to bury her by any means necessary. No one is with out faults. But the public got played," he wrote.
Exploring Blake Lively's allegations against Justin Baldoni
On December 20, Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against her co-star Justin Baldoni for s*xual harassment and orchestrating an alleged smear campaign against her. According to the court documents, Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath created a "hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the film."
According to the lawsuit, Baldoni allegedly walked into Blake Lively's dressing room unannounced while she was undressing, "routinely degraded" and body shamed her after the actress gave birth to her fourth child and asked that she be nude for scenes that did not require nudity, among other allegations.
The suit claimed the alleged harassment got so bad that a meeting was called to discuss new stipulations to resume filming. The new rules included "no more showing nude videos or images of women, including the producer's wife" to Lively (who is mentioned as BL in the documents.)
Other rules included "no more mention of Mr. Baldoni or Mr. Heath's previous 'p*rnography addiction' or BL's lack of p*rnography consumption to BL or to other crew members."
Justin Baldoni has denied all allegations, which his attorney Bryan Freedman has dubbed "categorically false." He accused Blake Lively of trying to salvage her "negative reputation" with the lawsuit.
The case is ongoing at the time of this article, and new developments are emerging.
