Blake Lively is defended by director Paul Feig amid allegations of a smear campaign by Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively has received support from a director who praised her work ethic in a social media post following her sexual harassment complaint against Justin Baldoni.
Lively, 37, has accused the It Ends With Us director and star of creating a “hostile work environment” while working on the film and hiring a crisis management team to “take out” the actress afterward.
Paul Feig, 62, who worked with Lively on the psychological thriller A Simple Favor and its sequel, A Simple Favor 2, took to X/Twitter on Sunday to defend her.
“I have now made two films with Blake and all I can say is that she is one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented and kind people I have ever worked with,” said the Directors Guild of America Award.
‘She really didn’t deserve this smear campaign against her. I feel terrible that she had to go through this.”
Feig added the link to an article in The New York Times detailing alleged attempts to make the veteran star look bad during promotion of the domestic violence drama after rumors of a disagreement between her and 40-year-old Baldoni emerged came.
Director Paul Feig, 62, has offered his support to embattled actress Blake Lively, 37 amid her sexual harassment complaint against It Ends With Us director and star Justin Baldoni, alleging a hostile work environment on set and launched a smear campaign against her
The legal complaintfiled Friday, contained subpoenaed communications, including texts, between Baldoni and the public relations crisis team he hired.
“You know we can bury anyone, but I can’t write that to him (Baldoni)” Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group wrote in a text message to Jennifer Abel of RWA Communications.
Nathan reportedly represented Johnny Depp during his 2022 lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, following an op-ed she wrote about her experiences with domestic violence in The Washington Post. Heard did not mention the actor by name in the piece.
A screenshot showing an unflattering article about Hailey Bieber as a bully allegedly from Baldoni to Abel was included in the documents, with Baldoni telling his team, “This is what we need.”
Lively’s breakout role was in 2005’s The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and her co-stars, America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel, have all spoken out in support of their longtime friend.
In a joint Instagram post on Sunday, Tamblyn and Ferrera released a statement signed by all three of them, including Bledel, who is not active on the platform.
“In support of our sister Blake,” they wrote in the caption, signing it with a red heart emoji and their first name.
“As friends and sisters of Blake for over twenty years, we stand in solidarity with her as she fights back against the reported campaign being waged to destroy her reputation,” the trio’s statement said.
The director spoke out in a post on X/Twitter on Sunday evening, praising the actress for her work ethic
Feig collaborated with Lively on 2018’s A Simple Favor and its upcoming sequel
Lively has accused Baldoni, 40, of launching a smear campaign against her by hiring a PR crisis management team to “take her down.” The actor and director have denied the allegations
“During the filming of It Ends With Us, we saw her muster the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set,” they said.
“And we are shocked to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that followed to discredit her voice,” they continued.
“Most disturbing is the unabashed exploitation of the stories of domestic violence survivors to silence a woman who asked for safety,” Lively’s Sisterhood co-stars wrote.
“The hypocrisy is astonishing.”
Lively’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars have also come out to defend Lively, who they have known for about two decades: From left to right: Lively, Ferrera, Bledel, Tamblyn pictured in 2008 portrait
The three actresses released a lengthy statesmanlike release in which they defended their longtime friend and praised her for her “courage to ask for a safe place to work” and “to stand up for herself and others.” The women said they were shocked by the “premeditated and vindictive attempt” to “discredit her voice”
In the lengthy complaint, Lively also detailed dozens of alleged incidents of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior toward herself and other women on set.
Among the accusations, The Rhythm Section actress accused Baldoni of being overly concerned about her appearance and weight.
She detailed how he allegedly went behind her back to talk to her personal trainer about helping her lose weight, disguising a reference to a weight loss expert as someone who would “help her with probiotics and to treat strep throat.” to combat’.
Baldoni has denied the allegations, but the damning accusations have led to him being dropped by talent agency WME, which also represents Lively.