Blake Lively has accused Justin Baldoni of inappropriate behavior on the set of It Ends with Us and sued him for sexual harassment and a subsequent smear campaign.
Months after rumors of a feud between the costars swirled online, Lively, 37, alleges in a newly filed complaint that Baldoni, 40 — who also directed the film — exhibited “disturbing" and “unprofessional” behavior on set and, after filming wrapped, deployed an extensive retaliatory smear campaign against her.
The complaint was filed against not only Baldoni but also the film’s lead producer, Jamey Heath, as well as Baldoni's production company, Wayfarer Studios, and its co-founder Steve Sarowitz. It was also filed against Jed Wallace, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, each of whom are named in the alleged effort to tarnish Lively’s reputation earlier this year.
Bryan Freedman, Baldoni's lawyer, told PEOPLE in a statement that Lively's complaint was to "fix her negative reputation." He also said that her allegations are "false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt."
Freedman also alleged that Lively caused issues during the filming of the movie, including "threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release."
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Baldoni added 'gratuitous sexual content' after Lively signed onto the film, the complaint alleges
Lively’s allegations date back to before the adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel began filming — and before a meeting was held to put safeguards in place where Baldoni and Heath were concerned. Among her claims are that prior to shooting, Baldoni “inserted improvised gratuitous sexual content and/or scenes involving nudity into the film (including for an underage character) in highly unsettling ways.”
These changes and additions — which included “a scene in which Ms. Lively was to orgasm on-camera” and a “detailed scene” of the younger version of Lively’s character, Lily Bloom, losing her virginity that was not in the novel — were added without the actress’ consent after she signed on to the film, according to the complaint.
When Lively “objected to these additions, Mr. Baldoni insisted he had added them because he was making the film ‘through the female gaze,’ ” the complaint alleges.
Though he ultimately agreed to remove the scenes, the director allegedly tried to keep one in which Lily and Baldoni's character, Ryle Kincaid, orgasm on their wedding night, which he said was “important to him because he and his partner climax simultaneously during intercourse.”
He also “intrusively asked” Lively whether she and her husband (the actress is married to Ryan Reynolds) also “climax simultaneously during intercourse,” a matter Lively found “invasive” and declined to discuss with him, according to the complaint.