Getty ImagesThe Women's Solidarity Award recently awarded to Justine Baldoni has been revoked after the actor was accused by his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively of sexual harassment and mounting a campaign to “destroy” her reputation.
Baldoni was honored by Vital Voices, a global non-profit organization that focuses on women's empowerment, with the award earlier this month.
The organization announced Monday night that it was rescinding the award following a legal complaint filed by Lively alleging “abhorrent conduct” by the actor, his studio and crisis public relations team, which it said was “contrary to the values” the organization espouses. non-profit.
Baldoni's legal team told the BBC the allegations were “absolutely false” and said it had hired a crisis manager because Lively had threatened to scuttle the film unless her demands were met.
In the romantic drama, Lively plays a woman who finds herself in a relationship with a charming but abusive boyfriend, played by Baldoni.
The Voices of Solidarity Award. was given to Baldoni on Dec. 9 at an awards ceremony in New York, Vital Voices said in a statement. The award was presented by comedian Hassan Minhaj and honors “remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in protecting women and girls”.
He posted about his award Instagram pagesaying he was “deeply honored and humbled” and noted the continued work that needs to be done to help future generations of people.
“I hope we can teach our boys while they're still young that vulnerability is strength, sensitivity is a superpower, and empathy makes them strong,” he says in the post.
In a statement on Monday, Vital Voices explained that it had rescinded the award and notified Baldoni of the decision.
Less than two weeks after the awards ceremony, Lively, who is best known for her role on the TV show Gossip Girl, filed legal complaint accusing Baldoni and his team of attacking her public image. She says in the complaint that the attacks followed a meeting to address “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni and a film producer.
According to the filing with the California Department of Civil Rights, the meeting made a list of 30 demands related to the pair's alleged misconduct to ensure they could continue producing the film. The list included requests such as no further mention of Baldoni's “pornography addiction”, no descriptions of genitalia, and no addition of intimate scenes that had not been approved by her when she read the script.
Lively also accused Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios of running a “multi-level plan” to destroy her reputation in the media and online, including hiring a crisis manager who led a “sophisticated, coordinated and well-financed revenge plan” against her and using a “digital army ' to post content on social media that looks authentic.
In response to the legal complaint, Baldoni's attorney, Brian Friedman, said in a statement Saturday that the allegations were “categorically false.”
Friedman accused Lively of making numerous demands and threats, including “threatening to not show up on set, threatening not to promote the film,” which would ultimately lead to his “ultimate death upon release if her demands were not met fulfilled'.
He argued that Lively's claims were “deliberately obscene with the intent to publicly injure and revise a narrative in the media.”