The studio behind It Ends With Us, Sony Pictures, is backing Blake Lively. In a new statement to Rolling Stone Monday evening, the film company said it “fully” supports the actress after she accused co-star and film director Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and of launching a smear campaign against her.
“We have previously expressed our support for Blake in connection with her work on and for the film. We fully and firmly reiterate that support today,” a Sony Pictures Entertainment spokesperson stated. “Further, we strongly condemn any reputational attacks on her. Any such attacks have no place in our business or in a civil society.”
The new statement from Sony comes hours after SAG-AFTRA, too, voiced its support for Lively, calling her allegations “startling and troubling.”
“We applaud Blake Lively’s courage in speaking out on issues of retaliation and harassment and for her request to have an intimacy coordinator for all scenes with nudity or sexual content,” the actors’ union wrote in a statement. “This is an important step that helps ensure a safe set.”
Sony and SAG-AFTRA’s public support comes after she sued Baldoni for sexual harassment, and alleged that the actor launched a social media smear campaign against her. The suit included alleged text messages for a pre-release strategy to shift the online conversation toward criticism of Lively.
Earlier on Monday, Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel dismissed the leaked communication between herself, Baldoni, and management expert Melissa Nathan. Abel denied that a smear campaign had been implemented. “No negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan, although we were prepared for it as it’s our job to be ready for any scenario,” Abel wrote. “But we didn’t have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us.”
Bryan Freedman, who is representing Baldoni, Abel, and Nathan in the suit, echoed the sentiment of Abel’s posts to Rolling Stone. He said Nathan’s company, The Agency Group (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.”
It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover, along with actresses Amber Heard, America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel, have voiced their support for Lively amid the lawsuit.