Nearly two months after the legal battle between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni began, one of the most powerful men in Hollywood has weighed in on the situation. While appearing on Freakonomics Radio Live last week, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel slammed Baldoni for his part in the legal woes against Lively.
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“It is a f—ed up, bad situation with what Bologna… Baldoni… whatever his name is… is doing,” he stated.
The show’s host, Stephen Dubner, then pointed out that Justin Baldoni was a previous client of Emanuel’s WME agency, which still represents Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
“Until I fired him,” Emanuel pointed out. “It’s not really fair. I’ve known Ryan and Blake for over a decade. They’re really incredible people. In Hollywood, they have been incredibly successful. People work with them, they’ve never had any bad mojo out there or treated people badly. They are charitable — we help them with their foundation — they’ve given tons of money away.”
Emanuel then continued to share his thoughts about the lawsuits between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
“If what is alleged in her lawsuit [and] what happened on social media [in terms of Baldoni allegedly planting negative stories about the actress] is true, just because she complained to the studio that things were unhealthy on the set and that he was director and this man [Jamey Heath] was the producer, and they did to her what is being alleged, they’re really bad people,” he stated. “I know Blake, I know Ryan, they’re good people.”
Blake Lively Kicked Off the Legal Battle By Accusing Justin Baldoni Of Sexual Harassment
Blake Lively first filed a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, accusing him of harassing her on the set of It Ends With Us. She also claimed that he was part of the online smear campaign against her.
Baldoni then filed a lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, and Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, for defamation. He has since published text messages and emails between him and Lively, indicating the two didn’t have the uncomfortable situations that Lively claimed they had.
Also, during his radio show appearance, Emanuel spoke about the lack of an intimacy coordinator on the It Ends With Us set.
“They didn’t have [an intimacy coordinator] and then they went after [Lively] on social media, it’s disgusting,” he stated. “She felt that she was not being protected. She complained, and then these people tried to go after her. They should stop. They’re still trying to do it, they should stop.”
He then added, “I am a ride or die [for Lively and Reynolds]. And they are good people.”