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Justin Baldoni's prestigious award for woman advocacy taken back days after Blake Lively's sexual harassment lawsuit
Justin Baldoni, the It Ends With Us director and star, is facing a lawsuit from co-star Blake Lively over alleged sexual harassment and a smear campaign.
Justin Baldoni's troubles are far from over. Days after he was sued by his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively for sexual harassment, the actor lost a prestigious award he had received for “advocating on behalf of women and girls”. (Also read: Justin Baldoni’s awkward interview about Blake Lively resurfaces amid her harassment lawsuit: Watch)
Justin Baldoni loses award
On December 9, the actor-director received the Voices of Solidarity Award from Vital Voices. This award celebrated “remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls.” However, following Blake Lively's lawsuit against him and his company, Wayfarer Studios, the organisation decided to rescind the award, citing Baldoni's “disturbing” and “abhorrent conduct”.
“The communications among Mr. Baldoni and his publicists included in the lawsuit — and the PR effort they indicate — are, alone, contrary to the values of Vital Voices and the spirit of the Award. We have notified Mr. Baldoni that we have rescinded this award,” Vital Voices wrote in a statement posted on their official Instagram account on Monday.
Blake Lively's laswsuit
Blake Lively has accused Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and a smear campaign to harm her reputation. The two worked together on It Ends With Us, but their professional relationship was strained, to say the least. The new lawsuit includes text messages between Baldoni and his publicists, in which the actor-filmmaker appears to instruct them to 'bury' Blake.
Since her lawsuit became public, Blake Lively has received widespread support from the members of the film fraternity. Sony Pictures, which distributed It Ends With Us, told The Hollywood Reporter, “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. Further, we strongly condemn any reputational attacks on her. Any such attacks have no place in our business or in a civil society.” Actor's body SAG-AFTRA has also lent their support to Blake. Meanwhile, Baldoni has been dropped from agency WME.
