Getty ImagesJustine Baldoni was recently stripped of a Women’s Solidarity award after the actor was accused of sexually harassing her It Ends With You co-star Blake Lively and “ruining” her reputation. Accused of campaigning.
Baldoni was honored with the award earlier this month by Vital Voices, a global non-profit organization that focuses on empowering women.
The organization announced Monday evening that it had withdrawn the award following a legal complaint filed by the actor, his studio and a crisis public relations team against Lively’s alleged “disgusting behavior,” which it said It has been said that this is “against the values” of the non-profit organization. .
Baldoni’s legal team told the BBC the allegations were “blatantly false” and said they had hired a crisis manager because Lively had threatened to derail the film if their demands were not met. will be given.
In the romantic drama, Lively plays a woman who finds herself in a relationship with a charming but abusive boyfriend, played by Baldoni.
gave Voices of Solidarity Award Vital Voices said in a statement that Baldoni was presented with the award at a Dec. 9 ceremony in New York. The award was presented by comedian Hassan Minhaj and celebrated “remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating for women and girls”.
He posted about the award on his Instagram pagesaying he was “very honored and humbled” and noting the need for men to continue working to help future generations.
“My hope is that we can teach our boys, while they’re still young, that vulnerability is strength, sensitivity is a superpower, and compassion makes them powerful,” he says in the post.
In a statement Monday, Vital Voices explained that it had revoked the award and informed Baldoni of the decision.
Less than two weeks after the awards ceremony, Lively, best known for her role on the TV show Gossip Girl, filed the petition. Legal complaint accusing Baldoni and his team of attacking his public image. The assaults followed a meeting between Baldoni and one of the film’s producers to address “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior,” she says in the complaint.
According to filings with the California Department of Civil Rights, the meeting drew up a list of 30 demands related to the couple’s alleged misconduct to ensure they could continue production on the film. The list included requests such as “no further mention of Baldoni’s addiction to pornography”, no details of genitalia and intimate scenes that he had not approved when reading the script.
Lively also accused Baldoni and Waver Studios of leading a “multi-tiered plan” to destroy her reputation in the media and online, including hiring a crisis manager. who led and used a “sophisticated, coordinated, and well-financed revenge plan” against him. A “digital army” to post social media content that appears authentic.
Responding to the legal complaint, Baldoni’s attorney, Brian Friedman, said in a statement Saturday that the allegations are “plainly false.”
Friedman accused Lively of making numerous demands and threats, including “threats not to come on set, threats not to promote the film”, which would “ultimately lead to his death during release, if he The demands were not fulfilled”.
They alleged that Lively’s claims were “deliberately defamatory with the intent to publicly injure and reproduce a narrative in the media”.