What Blake’s co-stars said

The joint statement shared on their Instagram handles stated, “As Blake’s friends and sisters for over twenty years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation.”

“Throughout the filming of It Ends with Us, we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice,” it added.

Blake’s co-stars claimed that “most upsetting is the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety. The hypocrisy is astounding.”

“We are struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment. We are inspired by our sister’s courage to stand up for herself and others,” they added.

Blake vs Justin

In her complaint, Blake accused Justin and the studio of embarking on a “multi-tiered plan” to damage her reputation following a meeting in which she and her husband Ryan Reynolds addressed “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Justin and a producer on the movie.

The plan, the complaint said, included a proposal to plant theories on online message boards, engineer a social media campaign, and place news stories critical of Blake.

Justin enlisted publicists and crisis managers in a “sophisticated, coordinated, and well-financed retaliation plan” meant to “bury” and “destroy” Blake if she went public with her on-set concerns, the complaint alleges.

“To safeguard against the risk of Ms. Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the BaldoniWayfarer team created, planted, amplified, and boosted content designed to eviscerate Ms. Lively’s credibility,” the complaint states. “They engaged in the same techniques to bolster Mr. Baldoni’s credibility and suppress any negative content about him.”

The complaint also says Baldoni “abruptly pivoted away from” the movie’s marketing plan and “used domestic violence ‘survivor content’ to protect his public image.”

An attorney representing Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, called the claims “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.” He pushed back against Blake’s allegations of a coordinated campaign, saying the studio “proactively” hired a crisis manager “due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production.”

He also said Blake threatened to not appear on set and not promote the film “if her demands were not met.” Those demands were not specified in the statement, but Lively’s complaint lists 30 demands that she said Justin and others agreed to after their tense sit-down over her hostile work environment concerns.

Among them: “no more showing of nude videos or images of women” to Blake and others on set and no more discussions about pornography, sexual experiences or genitalia.

She also said Justin should not ask her trainer about her weight without her consent, should not press her about her religious beliefs and should make “no further mention of her dead father.”

An intimacy coordinator was also required to be on set whenever Blake shared a scene with Baldoni and he was barred from entering her trailer or the make-up trailer while she was undressed.

The demands also stipulated that there would be “no more improvising of kissing” scenes or adding of sex scenes to the film outside of the ones in the script Blake approved when she signed on.

It Ends With Us, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between the lead pair. Justin took a backseat in promoting the film while Lively took centerstage along with Ryan Reynolds.