Jenny Slate stands by Blake Lively, her co-star in the film It Ends With Us, after she accused the film’s director and star, Justin Baldoni, of sexual harassment and attempted smear campaign.
“As a colleague and friend of Blake Lively, I express my support for her to take action against those who reportedly planned and carried out an attack on her reputation,” Slate said in a statement to Today. “Blake is a loyal leader, friend, and trusted source of emotional support for me and for so many who know and love her.”
She added, “What was revealed about the attack on Blake is very dark, disturbing, and completely threatening.” “I pay tribute to my friend, admire her courage and stand by her.”
In “It Ends With Us,” Slate plays Alyssa, the sister of Baldoni’s Raelle Kincaid and sister-in-law to Blake Lively’s Lily Bloom. After Lily confesses to Alyssa that Ryle has been abusing her, Alyssa supports her in leaving him.
Slate representatives did not immediately respond diverseRequest for further comment.
Lively first accused Baldoni of sexual harassment in a complaint she filed on December 20, alleging that his behavior caused her and her family “severe emotional harm” and that he attempted to launch a smear campaign against her. Brian Friedman, who represents Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, called Lively’s complaint “disgraceful” and full of “categorically false accusations.”
According to the complaint, a meeting was held in January to address Lively’s concerns upon her return to the set of “It Ends With Us” following the actors’ and writers’ strike. During the meeting, which was attended by Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, Lively alleged that Baldoni discussed her weight with her trainer, pressured her to disclose her religious beliefs and talked about his sexuality in inappropriate ways. She also allegedly asked Baldoni not to add any more sex scenes than were already in the script, which the film’s distributor, Sony Pictures, agreed to, according to the complaint.
Lively’s dossier includes texts and emails between Baldoni and his PR team detailing their online strategy after rumors of a feud between the two began brewing. “Mr. Baldoni and his associates at Wayfarer embarked on a sophisticated press and digital plan in retaliation for Ms. Lively exercising her legally protected right to speak about their misconduct on the set, with the additional goal of intimidating her and everyone else from publicly revealing what happened. It actually happened, the complaint alleges .
Since Lively filed her request, several big names have spoken out in support of her, including “It Ends With Us” co-star Brandon Sklenar and author Colleen Hoover. “She has been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” Hoover wrote, sharing a photo of herself hugging her. “Thank you for being exactly the person you are. Never changing. Never fading.” SAG-AFTRA and Sony also backed Lively.
Amber Heard spoke out on Monday, noting that Baldoni hired the same crisis PR team as her ex-husband Johnny Depp during his highly-publicized 2022 defamation trial. “Social media is the absolute embodiment of the classic saying: A lie travels halfway around the world before the truth can put on its shoes,” Heard said in a statement about the situation to NBC News. “I’ve seen this firsthand and up close. It’s as terrifying as it is devastating.”
Lively’s “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” co-stars America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel also posted a message of support, writing in a joint statement on social media: “Throughout filming ‘It Ends with Us,’ we saw her muster the courage to demand a safe workplace for herself and her colleagues.” On set, we are horrified to read evidence of the deliberate and retaliatory efforts that followed the mutilation of her voice. Even more disturbing is the shameless exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman seeking safety. “The hypocrisy is astonishing.”