As the consequences of Justin Baldoni‘s alleged sexual harassment and retaliation against Blake Lively deepen, SAG-AFTRA has now come out condemning the “startling and troubling allegations.”
“We applaud Blake Lively’s courage in speaking out on issues of retaliation and harassment and for her request to have an intimacy coordinator for all scenes with nudity or sexual content,” a guild spokesperson told Deadline Monday. “This is an important step that helps ensure a safe set.”
On Dec. 20, the It All Ends With Us star/producer filed a complaint against her co-star and director Baldoni, along with his company Wayfarer Studios and others with California’s Civil Rights Department. While not formally a lawsuit, Lively’s action is a clear indication of an official filing in the courts to follow. After the claims of sexual harassment, retaliation and a social media campaign allegedly orchestrated to smear Lively, Baldoni was abruptly dropped from their mutual agency WME [which also reps Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds]. Though Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman adamantly denies any wrongdoing on his client’s part, the matter seems to be escalating quickly with many Hollywood A-listers flocking to Lively’s side and further industry blowback against the Jane the Virgin alum.
“Employees have every right to raise issues of concern or to file complaints, a guild spokesperson told Deadline. Retaliation for reporting misconduct or inappropriate behavior is illegal and wrong.”
“We all have a right to be treated with dignity and respect on the job and to work in an environment free of harassment, discrimination and retaliation,” the spokesperson added.
As we reported earlier, over the weekend Jennifer Abel, a publicist for Baldoni defended her client in a post on social media, saying “although we were prepared, we didn’t have to do anything over the top to protect our client,” adding “What the cherry-picked messages don’t include, although not shockingly, as it doesn’t fit the narrative, is that it was no ‘smear’ implied, no negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan, although we were prepared for it, as it’s our job to be ready for any scenario, but we didn’t have to implement anything, because the internet was doing the work for us.”
In the aftermath of Lively’s explosive allegations against Jane the Virgin alum Baldoni, he was subsequently dropped by his and Lively’s mutual agency WME on December 21, as reported exclusively by Deadline.
Lively and Baldoni as well as Lively’s spouse Ryan Reynolds are all members of SAG-AFTRA.
It All Ends With Us halted production during last year’s industry-wide strikes and resumed on Jan. 5 of this year.
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