How ‘It Ends With Us’ production led to a sexual harassment lawsuit and ‘astroturfing’ allegations

In a bombshell lawsuit filed on Dec. 20, Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni, her co-star and the director of It Ends With Us, of sexual harassment, fostering a toxic workplace environment and orchestrating a smear campaign to tarnish her public image.

The legal filing comes after months of escalating tension between the two stars. Baldoni’s noticeable absence from key press events ahead of the film’s August opening fueled speculation, while criticism of Lively intensified online. Fans accused the actress, who also served as a producer on the project, of trivializing the film’s heavy themes of domestic abuse with upbeat marketing campaigns and promotions for her hair care line.

Based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, It Ends With Us tells the story of Lily Bloom (Lively), a florist trapped in an abusive relationship with a neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni). Despite the off-screen controversies, the film grossed $351 million globally and secured a spot on Netflix’s global chart.

The allegations against Baldoni are in stark contrast with his public persona as a vocal advocate for women’s rights. In her legal complaint, obtained by Yahoo Entertainment, Lively claims that much of the online backlash she faced during the press tour was orchestrated by Baldoni’s crisis PR team. Among other inappropriate behavior described by Lively is the allegation that Baldoni claimed he could speak to the dead — including her late father, who died in June 2021.

Since the lawsuit was filed against Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni has been dropped by his talent agency, WME. His lawyers have denied Lively’s claims, calling them “false” and alleging the lawsuit is a calculated effort to rehabilitate her “negative reputation.”

On Monday, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists released a statement that praised Lively’s “courage in speaking out.”

“These are startling and troubling allegations. Employees have every right to raise issues of concern or to file complaints,” the union said in its statement. “Retaliation for reporting misconduct or inappropriate behavior is illegal and wrong.”

Public support for Lively has grown, with figures like Hoover, Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Schumer and Amber Heard speaking out. During his high-profile defamation trial in 2022, Johnny Depp, hired the same PR crisis manager as Baldoni to defend himself during his legal battle with Heard, his ex-wife.

Lively’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants castmates America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel also issued a joint statement in her defense.

Although Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios owns the rights to Hoover’s follow-up novel, It Starts With Us, another film in the series appears unlikely. When asked about a potential sequel, Baldoni told Entertainment Tonight in August: “I think there are better people for that one.”

Here’s a closer look at how the drama unfolded — from the rocky press tour to Lively’s explosive allegations.

January 2023

It Ends With Us casting announced

Lively joined the film’s cast as Lily Bloom, while Baldoni, who also directed the project, took on the role of Ryle Kincaid, Lily’s abusive partner. Hoover enthusiastically endorsed the casting on Instagram.

June 2023

Filming begins — then halts amid strikes

Production had commenced in Hoboken, N.J., only to be halted shortly thereafter, due to the actors’ and writers’ strikes. The disruptions paused filming for several months, with shooting resuming in January 2024.

November 2023

Lively demands changes before returning

According to the complaint, Lively approached Baldoni and Wayfarer’s attorney with a “Protections for Return to Production” document, listing demands for safeguards to create a safer working environment before resuming production.

January 2024

Lively meets with Baldoni

A “hands on” meeting takes place on Jan. 4 — attended by Lively, Baldoni, Wayfarer CEO and producer Jamey Heath and others — to discuss what Lively described in the complaint as repeated sexual harassment and disturbing behavior.

According to the legal filing, Lively confronted Baldoni for improvising unwanted kissing and discussing his sex life, “including encounters in which he said he may not have received consent,” according to the New York Times. She also alleged that Heath had shown her a video of his wife in labor naked, had pressured her to “’simulate full nudity‘ in a birth scene,” and had watched Lively when she was topless and having body makeup removed or was breastfeeding in her trailer.

In the end, both agreed to implement the “Protections for Return to Production” for Lively, her employees and the cast and crew before production resumed — including the hiring of an intimacy coordinator. Lively reportedly told people that the men’s behavior had improved since the new protections had been implemented.

April 2024

Baldoni and Lively share emotional first look

The pair opened up to People about the filming, with Baldoni praising Lively as “strong, funny and intelligent,” stressing her strong “influence” on the production. “Everything she put her hands on and her mind to, she made better,” he said.

“I loved [playing] Lily,” Lively added. “I hope that love is felt by those who care about her like I do, and also those who are getting to know her for the first time in this film.”

Creative differences sparked two final cuts

During this time, according to the New York Times, Lively and Baldoni created separate versions of the movie, with Sony’s approval. Lively’s version was ultimately chosen, featuring edits by the editor from Deadpool & Wolverine and the inclusion of a Taylor Swift song. Lively received a producer credit as a result.

July 2024

Baldoni hires crisis manager

On July 31, Baldoni secretly hired a crisis management and PR professional, Melissa Nathan, whose previous clients include Johnny Depp, Drake and Travis Scott. He did so at the suggestion of his publicist Jennifer Abel, per the complaint.

One of the strategies Nathan suggested included “astroturfing,” which is described in the complaint as “the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc., that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group.”

Text messages show Nathan floating around ideas to “help change narrative” by hiring contractors to dominate social media and invent “threads of theories,” all of which she deemed would be “untraceable.”

“You know we can bury anyone,” Nathan wrote in a text to Abel, according to the complaint.

August 2024

Rumors take off

As explained in a story by the Hollywood Reporter on Aug. 8, observers noted that Lively and Baldoni avoided each other at promotional events — including at the film’s New York premiere on Aug. 6, where Baldoni didn’t pose with any of the main cast and reportedly watched the film in a different theater from Lively. Internet sleuths also observed that Lively and Hoover unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram (though he follows them).

Sources later told Page Six that Baldoni made it an “extremely difficult” environment behind the scenes. Additional reports from TMZ alleged that Baldoni made Lively feel “uncomfortable” on set. At one point, Baldoni, who has a history of back problems, asked the on-set trainer how much Lively weighed before shooting a scene where he lifts her. The comment, per TMZ, allegedly made Lively feel like he “fat-shamed” her.

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Lively punted questions about working with Baldoni, instead describing her role as a “challenging experience.”

The film opens on Aug. 9

It Ends With Us premiered to mixed critical reception but achieved box office success in the end, earning $351 million worldwide. The book’s author, Hoover, described watching the film as being a “dream come true.”

A ‘tone-deaf’ marketing approach

Lively faced criticism for her perceived “tone-deaf” approach to the film’s promotion, which some felt trivialized the movie’s heavy subject matter of domestic violence. In response, she posted domestic violence statistics on her Instagram, attempting to refocus the conversation.

Criticism toward Lively grew when a 2016 interview with journalist Kjersti Flaa resurfaced on YouTube titled: “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job,” which apparently shows Lively being less than kind to the interviewer.

December 2024

Baldoni is honored by a domestic violence organization

On Dec. 9, Baldoni was awarded a 2024 Voices of Solidarity Award from Vital Voices, a nonprofit organization working to support women in leadership.

In a social media post about the recognition, he wrote, “My hope is that we can teach our boys, while they are still young, that vulnerability is strength, sensitivity is a super power, and empathy makes them powerful.”

Lively takes legal action

Lively filed a legal complaint on Dec. 20, alleging a pattern of inappropriate and harassing behavior by Baldoni and Heath on set. She also accused Wayfarer Studios of failing to uphold safeguards as outlined in a side letter to her contract in January.

Lively also claimed that the studio’s promises to provide a full-time intimacy coordinator and prevent retaliation were not adequately enforced. (In August, she told Digital Spy that it was “critical to have an intimacy coordinator” on set.”)

Lively denies planting negative stories about Baldoni

In a statement to the New York Times, Lively denied that she or her representatives planted or spread negative information about Baldoni or Wayfarer.

“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,” she said.

Support for Lively

After the lawsuit was filed, Lively received public backing from high-profile figures like Hoover, Paltrow, Schumer and the directors Paul Feig and Shawn Levy.