Justin Baldoni's lawyer says his client was receiving 'threats by two extremely powerful people' amid the Blake Lively lawsuit.
It Ends with Us, the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel, stars 37-year-old Lively and Baldoni, 40, who also served as the movie's director and producer.
But the mother-of-four claims the atmosphere on the set turned 'hostile' with Baldoni at the helm as she filed a legal suit accusing her co-star of 'repeated sexual harassment' on Friday (December 21).
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Lively's attorneys said the Gossip Girl favourite had to make certain requests during filming, which included an agreement that there would be no more 'adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on-camera climaxing'.
Other requests also allegedly stated there were to be no discussions of a sexual nature in front of her, no mention of cast and crew's genitalia, no mention of Baldoni's alleged 'pornography addiction' and no nude videos or images of women being show to Lively.
Lively reportedly asked there also were to be no further discussions about her weight or her dead father.
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The demands were allegedly agreed between the two parties in a meeting, which was attended by various producers and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
However, Lively's legal action claims Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios tried to 'destroy' her reputation through 'social manipulation' - using the same crisis communications team, headed by Melissa Nathan, that supported Johnny Depp in his infamous defamation trial with Amber Heard.
According to Lively's complaint, Nathan created a plan for Baldoni to 'help change narrative' when the film was being promoted in which she claims turned into a smear campaign against her.
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To this end, Lively's legal team acquired text messages sent between the communications team and Baldoni, which appeared to discuss plans to 'destroy' her.
Fans on social media grew suspicious of a potential rift between the actors when they were seemingly avoiding each other at press junkets during the promotion of the film.
Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, addressed Lively's accusations in a new statement on Monday (December 23) that claims his client was subject to 'threats'.
Freedman said the agency group, known as TAG PR, 'operated as any other crisis management firm would when hired by a client experiencing threats by two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources'.
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He said the agency was only doing its job, claiming that audiences on the It Ends With Us promotional tour found Lively's 'own actions, interviews and marketing' to be 'distasteful'.
Lively previously spoke to The New York Times, where she said: "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."
Freedman also addressed this interview in The Times, adding: "It’s ironic that the New York Times, through their effort to 'uncover' an insidious PR effort, played directly into the hands of Lively’s own dubious PR tactics by publishing leaked personal text exchanges that lack critical context — the very same tactics she’s accusing the firm of implementing."
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The new statement comes as Baldoni's legal team slammed the lawsuit as 'shameful' and 'intentionally salacious' with Freedman appearing to criticise Lively further by saying her legal action is 'another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation'.
Several celebs have since spoken out to lend their support to Lively, including It Ends With Us Author, Colleen Hoover, Amber Heard, and her The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars, America Ferreira, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel, who said in a joint statement on Instagram that they 'stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation'.
Topics: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Celebrity, Film and TV, Books, Ryan Reynolds
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