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WME, Blake Lively’s agency that dropped Justin Baldoni hours after he accused him of sexual harassment, has gone public online. And it ends with us A legal battle is weighing heavily behind the actress ahead of the trial scheduled to begin next month.
“In an industry that often asks women to absorb the hurt and stay quiet, Blake Lively chose to stand up for herself, her colleagues, and those who don’t have the power to fight back,” the agency said in a statement on Friday. “You have faced this moment with extraordinary courage, moral clarity and determination.”
The announcement of support represents a notable shift in a high-profile conflict that has forced some in Hollywood to take sides. The trial will pit the conflicting accounts presented by Lively and Baldoni against each other, with little room to maneuver between them. One tells the story of an A-list actress who, with the help of some of the world’s biggest celebrities including husband Ryan Reynolds and girlfriend Taylor Swift, plots to take control of the director’s passion project. The other is a story of sexual harassment and revenge by a female filmmaker backed by a billionaire who finances an unscrupulous network of PR professionals who plotted to destroy her career.
The turning point came Thursday when the court dismissed claims of sexual harassment, defamation and conspiracy, among others, significantly narrowing the scope of Lively’s case. However, the court noted that public relations maneuvers by Baldoni’s camp in the wake of these accusations may be problematic.
“It can at least be said that certain conduct crossed the line,” U.S. District Judge Louis Lehman wrote. He added: “There are limits to the response an accused can make in response to allegations of harassment. There comes a point where the accused simply stops defending himself and begins taking actions that a reasonable jury could view as retaliation for the fact that the accused had the audacity to press charges.”
WME stressed in its statement that Lively “helped expose the devastating harm caused by covert digital takedown campaigns designed to intimidate, discredit and drown out the truth.”
Some of the central allegations in Lively’s lawsuit revolve around Baldoni orchestrating a campaign of retaliation in the press and on social media after she published allegations of sexual harassment on the film set.
According to court documents, Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group, Baldoni’s crisis communications specialist, said she could not send certain documents that “could get us into a lot of trouble” because of concerns they would end up “in the wrong hands.” “You know we can bury anyone,” she added. Wayfarer founder Steve Sarewitz similarly stated, “There’s going to be two dead bodies when I’m done.”
Wayfarer, Baldoni’s production company, has maintained that any actions it took were intended to defend itself and that it never ended up taking many of the offensive measures the company contemplated.
In his lawsuit, the director alleged that Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, reached out to his agent, WME, at the premiere of his film. Deadpool Wolverine The agency demanded that Baldoni be dropped. “The exercise of power and influence has become undeniable,” the complaint stated. “Baldoni and Wayfarer grew increasingly fearful of what Lively and Reynolds were capable of doing, as their actions appeared intended to destroy Baldoni’s professional and personal life.”
WME denied the allegations, saying that neither Lively nor Reynolds were involved in her decision to no longer represent Baldoni.
“In Baldoni’s file there is an allegation that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s agent in… Deadpool Wolverine Premiere. “This is not true,” the agency said at the time. Baldoni’s former representative was not present Deadpool Wolverine premiere and at no point was there any pressure from Reynolds or Lively to drop Baldoni as a client.
