Kate Beckinsale and Blake Lively. Dave Benett/Getty Images for Harris Reed; Janet Mayer/INSTAR
Blake Lively’s recent legal complaint about Justin Baldoni inspired Kate Beckinsale to open up about the mistreatment she’s encountered on set.
“I’ve been following, as a lot of people have, this situation between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni and I must stress that I don’t know either of them. I’ve never met either of them and I wasn’t on the set,” Beckinsale, 51, said in a Sunday, December 29, Instagram video. “But I will say, what is highlighted is this machine effect when a woman complains about something legitimately offensive, upsetting, harmful or whatever in this industry.”
Beckinsale recalled a time when she was working on a project and was called names after raising concerns about working with an unidentified costar.
“I was referred to, by the end of it, both over the walkie-talkie and to my face as ‘that c—,’” she claimed. “Because I said, ‘I’m finding it very difficult — my costar is drunk every day and he’s obviously going through something and I have full sympathy for that, but I’m also waiting, as is the whole crew, six hours a day, for him to learn his lines. And it means I’m not getting to see my daughter in the evenings, ever, for the whole movie.’”
Beckinsale shared that the studio ended up giving her a bike to use while she had downtime. The actress also reflected on an instance in her career where she was placed on a “strict diet-and-exercise program” that resulted in her losing her period twice. Beckinsale further claimed that she felt “unsafe” in a “fight situation on two different films with two different actors” and had to get “MRIs” to show she was injured.
“I was gaslit and made to feel like I was a problem and blamed and ostracized,” she alleged. “[I was] left out of cast dinners, not spoken to as soon as I mentioned there was a problem.”
In addition to being treated poorly by others on set, Beckinsale claimed that she experienced an issue with someone on her own team.
Abigail Breslin is defending Blake Lively‘s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni one year after her own accusations against former costar Aaron Eckhart were made public. “When did the word woman become synonymous with scapegoat. In light of recent events regarding the attempt to destroy the career and livelihood of a fellow actress and woman, I have […]
“I was forced by a publicist that I was employing to do a photo shoot the day after I had a miscarriage,” she claimed in the clip. “I said, ‘I can’t. I’m bleeding. I don’t want to go and change my clothes in front of people I don’t know and do a photo shoot. I’m bleeding out a miscarriage,’” she alleged. “She was like, ‘You’ll have to, or you’ll be sued.’”
Beckinsale said that the examples she recalled in the clip were just some of the many similar experiences she’s had in her career over the years. While Beckinsale noted that times have changed, she claimed these on-set issues are still prevalent today, and she’s proud to see Lively, 37, stand up for and inspire other women like her.
“I’m grateful to Blake Lively for highlighting that this is not an archaic problem that no one’s facing — this is continuing,” the Underworld actress said. “And then when it does happen, a machine goes into place to absolutely destroy you. And I’m sure that’s the case in other industries as well, and it’s just got to stop.”
Months after a reported rift between It Ends With Us costars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, she sued him for sexual harassment. In the lawsuit, which was filed on Friday, December 20, and obtained by Us Weekly after it was reported on by TMZ and The New York Times, Lively accused Baldoni of launching a […]
Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni, 40, on December 20 accusing him of sexual harassment and launching a “social manipulation” campaign against her to “destroy” her reputation while promoting their film It Ends With Us.
“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,” said Lively in a statement to The New York Times on December 21.
Baldoni denied the allegations and claimed via his lawyer that the accusations are “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”