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Another member of the It Ends With Us cast is publicly supporting Blake Lively amid her lawsuit against director and costar Justin Baldoni.
“As Blake Lively’s castmate and friend, I voice my support as she takes action against those reported to have planned and carried out an attack on her reputation,” Jenny Slate shared in a statement to Today.com on Monday, December 23. “Blake is a leader, loyal friend and a trusted source of emotional support for me and so many who know and love her.”
She added: “What has been revealed about the attack on Blake is terribly dark, disturbing, and wholly threatening. I commend my friend, I admire her bravery, and I stand by her side.”
Slate, 42, portrayed Allysa, who is the sister of Baldoni’s character, Ryle Kincaid, in It Ends With Us. The film, which hit theaters in August, follows Lively’s Lily Bloom as her relationship with Ryle turns dangerous around the same time her first love, Atlas (Brandon Sklenar) re-enters her life.
Months after Lively, 37, and Baldoni, 40, made headlines for a reported on-set rift, the actress filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her former costar on Friday, December 20. In the legal documents, obtained by Us Weekly, Lively accused Baldoni of causing her “severe emotional distress” and creating a “hostile work environment.”
Among the lawsuit’s several claims, Lively claimed she turned down gratuitous sex and nude scenes Baldoni wanted to add to the film and alleged he improvised kissing and discussed his sex life around her without her consent. Lively’s lawsuit also alleges Baldoni body-shamed her during production and that Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath once entered her trailer while she was undressed and breastfeeding.
Lively’s lawsuit heavily accuses Baldoni of launching a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” her reputation and cites multiple texts and emails between Baldoni, a crisis management expert and a publicist working with the studio.
The docs alleged that Baldoni and his team proposed engaging in “astroturfing,” which is defined in the lawsuit as “the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group.”
“I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,” Lively said in a statement to The New York Times earlier this week.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, called the lawsuit’s allegations “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious” in a statement to Us. Freedman claimed Lively filed the lawsuit to “fix her negative reputation” and alleged that she threatened to not show up on set or promote the film “if her demands were not met.”
Slate is one of several celebrities who have spoken out in support of Lively in the wake of the lawsuit, with Sklenar, 34, and It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover both encouraging fans to read the NYT story. “[Blake], you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” Hoover, 45, wrote alongside an Instagram Story snap of herself with Lively on Saturday, December 21. “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
