Justin Baldoni Slams Blake Lively's Lawsuit As An Attempt To 'Fix Her Negative Reputation'

Justin Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, has issued a response to Blake Lively's lawsuit against her "It Ends with Us" co-star/director.

The actress recently filed a suit against Baldoni, accusing him of sexually harassing her and launching a campaign to tarnish her reputation.

In response, Justin Baldoni's lawyer labeled the suit as an attempt by Blake Lively to "fix" her "negative reputation," adding that the claims she made were all "false" and "outrageous."

Months after rumors of behind-the-scenes discord on the set of "It Ends with Us," Lively recently filed a sexual harassment suit against her co-star and the film's director, Justin Baldoni.

In response to the lawsuit, Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, issued a statement condemning the actress for the move.

According to Freedman, Lively filed the suit to "fix her negative reputation," seemingly referring to the backlash she had faced for her approach to promoting the film.

He further stated that Lively's allegations in her suit were "false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious, with an intent to publicly hurt."

Freedman went on to claim that the actress displayed deeply problematic behavior throughout the making of the film, including "threatening to not show up to set."

He also said Lively threatened to "not promote the film" and that the culmination of her actions ultimately contributed to its "demise during release."

In her suit against Baldoni, Lively claimed that her co-star sexually harassed her and caused her "severe emotional distress" with his behavior.

She alleged that tensions reached a boiling point, prompting a meeting to address her complaints against the director.

During the meeting, Lively requested that there be "no more showing nude videos or images of women" to her and that there be "no more mention of Baldoni's alleged previous' pornography addiction.'"

The actress also demanded "no more discussions about sexual conquests" in her presence, "no further mentions of cast and crew's genitalia," and the cessation of conversations about her weight or her late father.

Additionally, Lively called for the cutting of any more "sex scenes, oral sex, or on-camera climaxing" by Baldoni "outside the scope of the script [he] approved when signing onto the project."

Fans quickly speculated that there was tension between Lively and Baldoni after the duo did not pose for pictures together at the world premiere of their movie despite being the lead stars.

Baldoni was also not seen in any photographs with the other cast members, unlike Lively, who shared several snaps with her co-stars.

The rumors gained further momentum when Lively attended premieres in London and Copenhagen while Baldoni remained in New York for press interviews.

There has also been speculation regarding the stars' social media activity, with many observing that Baldoni follows both Colleen Hoover, the author of the book the film is based on, and Lively, but neither of them follows him back.

While Lively's lawsuit now confirms there was a disconnect between her and Baldoni, neither of the stars has publicly addressed the rumored feud.

According to reports, part of the reasons Lively and Baldoni fueded was over the direction of the filming.

The issue lingered even into the film's post-production process, "wherein two different cuts of the movie emerged," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Meanwhile, sources had earlier slammed Baldoni's approach to making the project, which they claimed was very "chauvinistic."

"During scenes depicting abuse, Justin failed to consider Blake's character's perspective, instead focusing solely on what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint," a source told the Daily Mail. "His approach was very chauvinistic, creating a tense atmosphere on set."

The source also claimed that Baldoni went overboard in immersing himself in the darker aspects of his character, to the point where it made the female cast members feel very uncomfortable.

They added, "Justin almost became the character in the sense that some women on set felt he was borderline abusive to them and that he was unprofessional and unapologetic."

In August, a source told the Daily Mail that Lively said she was scared for her career as the controversies that plagued her threatened to tarnish her image.

The actress allegedly believed her role in the movie would be "her moment to shine" but now worries that it may ruin her career.

"Blake is definitely saddened by the hate she is getting and is trying not to let it affect her, but it is," the source said. "She thought this was her moment to shine but is now looking at it like the end of her career. She's fearing no one will want to work with her after this."

"She really wants to continue producing and directing and acting but she knows she needs to take a step back for a minute to reassess the future," they added.