Blake Lively is suing It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment, with the 37-year-old actress filing a legal complaint in California on Friday.
Lively's legal action comes after months of controversy, with the Colleen Hoover adaptation surrounded by reports of a rift between the two creative leads.
It was reported that producer and star Blake Lively and director and co-star Justin Baldoni clashed over creative vision, with sources reporting to The Hollywood Reporter that a "fracture" happened in the postproduction process.
Neither Lively nor Baldoni directly addressed the reports, but according to crew members via Rolling Stone , the tensions between Lively and Baldoni were an "open secret" on set.
Lively in particular received negative attention amid the film's release, criticised for taking over the project from Baldoni, and for her "tone deaf" media approach - not giving enough attention to the topic of domestic violence in her interviews. And with controversial past interviews with the actress resurfacing, the online backlash even forced her to pause her social media activity.
This weekend, Lively broke her silence, making accusations of sexual harassment against Baldoni, as well as accusations of a coordinated PR attack to destroy her reputation.
According to The Guardian, Lively's legal complaint details her claims of a hostile working environment, with a crisis meeting even held, and attended by Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds.
The demands made at the meeting reportedly included for Baldoni not to "make inquiries about Lively's weight", as well as "no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Lively". It also allegedly stipulated that Lively would not be asked to film sex scenes beyond what was approved.
Following the news of her legal complaint, Lively released the following statement via The Times: "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.”
Legal representatives for Baldoni have responded to the allegations in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.
"It is shameful that Ms Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations,” read the statement, going on to call the legal complaint "yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions”.
We will continue to update this story.
