Yahoo Lifestyle Justin Baldoni Dropped By WME Following Blake Lively’s Sexual Harassment Complaint
EXCLUSIVE: Justin Baldoni is no longer a client of WME. The decision to have the actor-director-producer leave the agency was made Saturday morning by WME leadership due, at least in part, to the sexual harassment and retaliation complaint filed late Friday by Baldoni’s It Ends With Us co-star and fellow producer Blake Lively, Sources tell Deadline. Lively continues to be represented by WME.
The agency did not respond to requests for comment from Deadline. If and when they do, we will update the story.
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Blake filed a 10-claim complaint late Friday with the California Civil Rights Department accusing Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios and others involved in It Ends With Us of sexual harassment and “a coordinated effort to destroy her reputation.”
In the filing, she details “the hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the Film” and the multi-pronged “Astroturfing” campaign that was allegedly launched against her by Baldoni and his company after the release of the film, based on Colleen Hoover’s book.
The complaint details issues that Lively and/or her employees allegedly had on set by being subject to “nude videos or images of women, including producer’s wife,” mentions of Baldoni’s or fellow producer Jamey Heath’s “previous ‘pornography addiction'”, discussions “about personal experiences with sex”, “description of their own genitalia” and “personal, physical touching of, or sexual comments” as well as inquiries by Baldoni to Lively’s trainer “without her knowledge or consent to disclose her weight” and Baldoni and/or others adding “sex scenes, oral sex, or on-camera climaxing by [Lively] outside the scope of the script,” among other explosive claims.
Baldoni, through his lawyer Bryan Freedman, called the allegations “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
In addition to producing It Ends With Us through his Wayfarer Studios and starring opposite Lively, Baldoni directed the movie, which tackles domestic violence.
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