Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
The director and actor of the movie 'It Ends With Us' is suing the Hollywood couple for more than R7 billion.
Justin Baldoni has filed a lawsuit against his 'It Ends With Us' co-star, Blake Lively, and her husband Ryan Reynolds. He is suing the couple for civil extortion and defamation, among other things.
In his $400 million (R7,5 billion) lawsuit, Baldoni claims that Lively and Reynolds tried to hijack the movie during production and alienated him during its promotion.
He alleges that Reynolds and a "megacelebrity friend" of the couple pressured him into accepting Lively's film rewrites after he resisted the changes. A text message included in the lawsuit revealed that the famous friend in question was allegedly Taylor Swift.
Baldoni also notes that by the time production started, Lively, who played the lead female role of Lily Bloom, hadn't even read the Colleen Hoover book on which the film is based.
"Not only did Lively’s power play cost numerous people their jobs, but at every turn, her wrongheaded creative decisions reflected her fundamental lack of understanding of the book the Film was based on. This came as no surprise to her worried colleagues, given that, even well into production, Lively had not even read the book," his lawsuit reads, as reported by Us Weekly.
Lively's legal team has slammed Baldoni's lawsuit, calling it "another chapter in the abuser playbook". The actress is also suing Baldoni.
She filed a sexual harassment suit against him, claiming that he behaved inappropriately on set. Her lawsuit included a list of 30 demands she made to Baldoni and producer James Heath.
Per her lawsuit, Lively asked for "no more showing nude videos or images of women, including producer’s wife, to Blake Lively and/or her employees, no more mention of Justin Baldoni or James Heath’s ‘pornography addiction', no more descriptions of their own genitalia to Blake Lively, no more inquiries by Justin Baldoni to Blake Lively’s trainer without her knowledge or consent to disclose her weight."
She also accused Baldoni and his PR team of trying to bury her in a smear campaign. Baldoni denied her allegations.
Lively and Baldoni have both produced "receipts" and text messages to support their claims.
Rumours about tension between the stars surfaced long before the movie even hit the big screens. Things got worse as the film's release date drew closer, with Baldoni and Lively keeping their distance at the premiere.
They also didn't attend any interviews together during the press tour.
When asked if another film based on Colleen's second book, 'It Starts With Us', would be made, Baldoni responded, "I think there are better people for that one. I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct. That’s what I think."
It looks like this movie is ending in disaster!
MORE FROM JACARANDA FM:
Listen to Jacaranda FM:
- 94.2
- Jacaranda FM App
- http://jacarandafm.com
- DStv 858/ OpenView 602
Follow us on social media:
Main image credit: Instagram/@itendswithusmovie