Justin Baldoni accused Blake Lively's trainer of being a spy on 'It Ends With Us' set, reveals lawsuit
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The drama surrounding Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni doesn't seem to be nearing an end as a new controversy about the 40-year-old actor-director has come up in Lively's lawsuit.
Justin Baldoni had complained to Blake Lively in a text message that her personal trainer was a "damn spy" on the set of the film 'It Ends With Us', according to the lawsuit.
Newsweek reported on Monday, December 30, after reviewing documents in the civil rights complaint, which was filed in California on December 20, that Lively mentioned that Baldoni said he'd been dealing with lower back pain as a ruse to express his grievances on the issue to the film's crew.
Justin Baldoni accuses Blake Lively's trainer of being a 'damn spy'
A part of the 80-page complaint by Blake Lively read, "Mr. Baldoni referred to Ms Lively's trainer as "a damn spy" and sought to plant stories to portray his concerns as being motivated by his lower back pain."
The 'Gossip Girl' star said that Baldoni raised his grievances with her trainer in a series of texts to production workers on the motion picture, according to Daily Mail.
However, Lively did not specifically name the fitness professional in her complaint to the California Civil Rights Department, per the outlet.
Notably, Lively's legal filing suggested that Baldoni accused her trainer of reporting back to Lively that he wanted her to shed pounds for the film "less than four months after [she] had given birth to her fourth child"' son Olin.
Lively added in the lawsuit that she was "humiliated" to learn that Baldoni - "without her knowledge or permission" - convened a meeting with the trainer and "implied that he wanted her to lose weight in two weeks," according to Daily Mail.
Lively added in the complaint that Baldoni had been deceitful on several fronts about issues linked to her physical appearance, as she said she "routinely" felt shamed about her figure, per the outlet.
She said that on one instance, Baldoni had sent her to a weight loss specialist under the initial guise he was pointing her to an expert on probiotics after she had come down with strep throat, according to a report by E! News.
Blake Lively's publicist denies planting stories about Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloane hit back hard after Justin Baldoni’s lawyers accused her of planting stories to smear him.
In a statement to People, Leslie Sloane said, "It’s clear that Mr Baldoni and his Wayfarer Associates are suggesting that I originated press stories about HR complaints on set, which is false."
Moreover, Sloane shared her version of events and said she first learned about the HR complaints through an anonymous tip forwarded by journalist Sara Nathan.
She said, "I was contacted on 8/11 by Sara Nathan (Melissa Nathan’s sister) forwarding an anonymous tip that Page Six received, regarding allegations of HR complaints on the set of 'It Ends with Us'."
It's key information as Baldoni’s crisis rep Melissa Nathan was earlier named in Lively’s complaint and accused of being part of the alleged smear campaign against the actress, per the outlet.
Sloane added that if stories were planted, they didn’t originate from her or her team. She continued, "After that, I was contacted by various press outlets asking about allegations of HR complaints. When contacted, I responded to press questions by referring them to Wayfarer or Sony for information regarding HR complaints."
She further encouraged people to check out both Lively’s complaint and different legal filings by Jonesworks LLC and Stephanie Jones, which she believes back up the claims of a campaign against Lively.
