Lively also claimed that the filmmaker had orchestrated a “targeted smear campaign” against her, but Freedman dismissed the allegations, arguing that the actress ruined her image through herownactions.
Netizens, on the other hand, have been divided over the conflict, with one side believing Blake’s claims and the other seeing Baldoni as a victim of much more influential celebrities.
“Blake and Ryan want to prove they are Hollywood and untouchable,” a reader argued.
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Fans are scrambling to identify the two “powerful people” threatening Justin Baldoni after his lawyer claimed he was being intimidated
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Image credits:Katie Jones/Beauty Inc/Getty Images
Baldoni’s supporters see him as the victim ofpowerfulHollywood figures punching down in retaliation for what they perceive as Lively’s self-inflicteddecrease in popularity, which Freedman said made the work of Baldoni’s PR team easier.
Image credits:Sony Pictures Entertainment
These includethe manipulation ofonline forums like Reddit,the pushing ofvideos on TikTok, andthe takedown of accounts that go againstBaldoni, allin ordertocreate “social fan engagement,” “go back and forth with any negative accounts,“and help “change the narrative.“
The legal back-and-forth is the latest development in the controversy between the co-stars, dating back to the movie’s premiere in August
The legal fight between the co-stars started in August, during the film’s debut campaign when rumors of tension between Lively and Baldoni were noted.
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Rumors started gaining tractionasPeople Magazinereported that Baldoni had hired a public relations manager on August 13, following a press tour that saw himbe noticeably apartfrom the rest of the cast.
Baldoni’steamis composed ofTAG PR’s Melissa Nathan, who previously representedJohnny Depp, and Jennifer Abel.
Image credits:blakelively
Correspondence between the two celebrates the public’s animosity towards Lively stating: “Thenarrative onlineis so freaking good […] Fans remain supportive and believe the ‘feud‘is because she took control of the movie.”
Details of what exactly happened behind the scenes have remained nebulous, with both parties sharing conflicting accounts
Baldoni shed some light on his struggles while directing the movie in an interview withToday, confessing to having gotten “out of the way too much“at some points, fuelingtherumors of the couple’s attemptat takingcreative controlaway from him.
Lively’s fans, on the other hand, believe her sexual harassment claims come precisely due to creative decisions, as they accuse the actor of trying to add intimate scenes that were not in the book the moviewas basedon, as well as “improvising“during the ones they filmed.
Image credits:MEGA/Getty Images
Lively’s legal complaint also alleges that Baldoni showed her explicit videos, asked her about her personal sex life, bullied her into losing weight, and interrupted her while she was breastfeeding.
Image credits:CBS Mornings
The filing also notes a series of demands Lively made, like hiring a full-time intimacy coordinator and asking the production to stop adding sex scenes “outside the scope of the script [she] approved when signing onto the project.“
Netizens remain divided over the controversy, with one side believing Lively’s claims of sexual harassment and the other taking Baldoni’s side
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“Bet you $20 the “two powerful people“he is alluding to areRyan Reynoldsand Hugh Jackman,“one reader argued.“Jackman was at severalof thered carpet premieres for this movie, and it stuck out to me as if he was showing solidarity.“
“Intimidation? He has no power. She’s the one with the big names attached to her like Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift,“another theorized.
“A working, married,nursing mothershould not be subjected to men coming in and out of her private space unannounced, being bullied into nude scenes thatwere not scripted, asked about her sexual relationships, groped or kissed outside of contract obligations,“a user countered with.
“Justin crossed those boundaries multiple times.”
“There is no excuse for him to have physically assaulted her like he reportedly did, biting her inner lip while performing kisses not written in the script, causing her to bleed,“another said. “That is aggravated assault.”
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