Blake Lively is condemning Wayfarer Studios for what her lawyers are calling a “disingenuous charade” of an investigation into her sexual harassment claims against It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni.
Lively’s legal team filed a motion to compel Baldoni’s film studio to share documents concerning its “so-called ‘investigation” around the actress’ initial accusations against Baldoni on Monday, May 19, Us Weekly can confirm.
“It appears that Wayfarer is trying to hide behind the ‘investigation’ to conduct shadow discovery and hide it from any scrutiny,” a spokesperson for Lively told Us in a statement on Monday. “As Ms. Lively has alleged, Wayfarer ignored its legal obligation to conduct an investigation when she privately raised concerns starting in May 2023, but claims it’s doing one now — in the middle of a case in which it sued her for $400 million for the same things it now says its ‘neutrally’ investigating.”
The statement to Us is similar to what was written in the letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman on Monday, per court records obtained by Us.
“Does anyone believe that Wayfarer is genuinely investigating a film set workplace that no longer exists?” Lively’s reps wondered in their statement on Monday. Us Weekly has reached out to Baldoni’s team for comment.
Lively’s initial complaint, filed in December 2024, accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and allegedly fostering a hostile work environment on the film’s set. Lively claimed, in part, that Baldoni discussed his sex life, including an alleged pornography addiction, with her during their time on set. She further alleged that “degrading and sexual comments” had been made by Baldoni about Lively. (Baldoni has vehemently denied all allegations against him.)
Lively’s legal team subsequently filed a Rule 11 Sanctions on Monday, “requesting the Court to impose monetary sanctions” against Wayfarer Foundation founder Steve Sarowitz, Baldoni’s producing partner Jamey Heath, publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, and It Ends With Us Movie LLC.
The Rule 11 filing called into account “claims against Ms. Lively that have no reasonable basis in law or fact and clearly were brought for an improper purpose.” One example stated in the docs was allegations made by Baldoni’s legal team that Lively is extorting Taylor Swift amid the ongoing lawsuit.
“If you want to know why Justin Baldoni’s lawyer pulled his latest inflammatory and defamatory media stunt, it might be because he knew that both he and his clients were about to be hit with sanctions motions based on his reckless decision to file multiple frivolous claims in federal court,” Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, shared in a statement on Monday. “You can’t file lawsuits in federal court that have no basis in law or fact to create a harassing media narrative, or in other words, their strategy from day one.”
They concluded: “The Baldoni legal team received notice of their sanctionable behavior weeks ago, but doubled down rather than withdrawing their frivolous and harassing claims. Now they’ll face the consequences of treating federal court like a media playground.”
