Legally Brunette: Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Legally Brunette: Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Two Ts In A Pod with Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge
• Episode: Legally Brunette: Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni
• Release Date: January 8, 2025
• Host/Authors: Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson
• Description: Emily and Shane delve deep into the legal and personal turmoil between Hollywood stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, unraveling the complexities of their high-profile disputes.

---

1. Introduction and Context

In this episode, Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson revisit their ongoing coverage of the infamous Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni case. They begin by providing an update on their previous episode discussing the Menendez brothers, highlighting the simultaneous legal battles both cases are entangled in.

Notable Quote:

Emily Simpson [03:26]: "As of right now, they still have a resentencing hearing scheduled for January 30th and 31st."

---

2. Overview of the Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni Dispute

The heart of the episode centers around the tumultuous relationship and legal battles between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, primarily stemming from the production of the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel, It Ends with Us.

Key Points:

• Production Tensions: Blaze Lively, the lead actress, and Justin Baldoni, the director and producer, experienced significant creative differences during filming.
• Allegations of Harassment: Blake filed an 80-page sexual harassment complaint against Justin with the California Civil Rights Department, citing inappropriate behavior on set.

Notable Quote:

Emily Simpson [05:44]: "I have spent probably the last four or five days, I have read the entire complaint that Blake Lively's attorneys filed..."

---

3. Legal Actions and Strategic Moves

The hosts dissect the sequence of legal maneuvers taken by both parties, emphasizing the strategic timing of filings and public relations tactics.

Key Points:

• Simultaneous Filings: Blake filed her harassment complaint concurrently with the New York Times publishing a critical article about Justin Baldoni.
• Justin's Libel Suit: In response, Justin launched a libel lawsuit against the New York Times, alleging defamatory reporting.
• Representation Conflict: Brian Friedman, Justin's attorney, simultaneously represents the Menendez family and Justin, raising potential conflicts of interest.

Notable Quote:

Emily Simpson [14:51]: "Now we've got a California civil rights department complaint filed. We've got Justin Baldoni filing a libel suit against the New York Times..."

---

4. Inside the Production Breakdown

Emily and Shane delve into the nitty-gritty of the production issues that led to the fallout between Lively and Baldoni.

Key Points:

• 17 Demands for Return: After a production strike, Blake presented 17 specific conditions for resuming filming, aiming to ensure a respectful and professional environment.
• Crisis PR Involvement: Justin hired a crisis management firm, reminiscent of strategies used by high-profile figures like Johnny Depp.
• Editing Conflict: A significant rift emerged during the editing phase, where Blake took control, leading to two distinct cuts of the movie—Justin's and Blake's.

Notable Quote:

Emily Simpson [27:58]: "She consistently was like, I'm not going to finish unless this. I'm not going to finish. I'm not going to come back to work."

---

5. Public Relations and Media Maneuvers

The episode explores how both parties leveraged public relations to sway public opinion and manage reputational damage.

Key Points:

• Text Message Leaks: Private communications between Justin's team and the crisis PR firm were leaked, providing Blake's legal team substantial evidence.
• Support from A-List Actors: Blake garnered support from high-profile celebrities, further influencing public perception.
• PR Firm's Role: The involvement of Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, both pivotal in Justin's PR strategy, added layers of complexity to the dispute.

Notable Quote:

Emily Simpson [41:05]: "She wants to blame Justin and his team for planting those stories instead of taking accountability for some things that you did yourself."

---

6. Impact on Careers and Future Projects

Emily and Shane analyze the broader implications of the lawsuit on both Blake Lively's and Justin Baldoni's careers, including agency relationships and future opportunities.

Key Points:

• Agency Fallout: WME, Justin's talent agency, severed ties with him following the allegations, signaling a significant professional setback.
• Ryan Reynolds' Involvement: Blake's husband, Ryan Reynolds, played a supportive role during key meetings, highlighting their united front.
• Editing Discrepancies: The existence of two movie cuts, with Sony ultimately releasing Blake's version, underscores the depth of the conflict.

Notable Quote:

Emily Simpson [50:17]: "It's a popularity contest. She's always going to win the popularity contest."

---

7. Legal Ramifications and Ongoing Litigation

The hosts outline the current state of legal proceedings and predict future developments based on available information.

Key Points:

• Pending Responses: Justin has yet to respond to Blake's harassment complaint, with expectations of a robust legal rebuttal.
• Potential Defamation Claims: Justin's lawsuit against the New York Times could pave the way for further legal battles.
• Discovery Processes: The acquisition of leaked text messages indicates an ongoing discovery phase that could unveil more details.

Notable Quote:

Emily Simpson [62:44]: "Baldoni still has to file a response to her complaint... and the New York Times has to file a response to his libel suit."

---

8. Conclusion and Takeaways

Emily and Shane conclude the episode by reflecting on the intricate power dynamics and professional missteps that have exacerbated the Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni dispute.

Key Points:

• Mutual Misconduct: Both parties exhibit professional lapses, from Blake's aggressive demands to Justin's reactive PR strategies.
• Public Perception Tilted: The majority of public support currently favors Blake, influenced by her star power and Justin's handling of the allegations.
• Future Monitoring: The case remains fluid, with anticipated developments that Emily and Shane pledge to monitor closely in upcoming episodes.

Notable Quote:

Emily Simpson [54:19]: "They both have dirty hands... the public opinion is on Lively's side so far."

---

Final Thoughts

This episode of "Legally Brunette" offers a comprehensive analysis of a high-profile Hollywood dispute, weaving together legal intricacies, PR strategies, and personal conflicts. Emily and Shane provide insightful commentary, encouraging listeners to consider the multifaceted nature of celebrity legal battles and their broader implications on careers and public image.

---

Note: For a deeper dive into the legal documents and personal interactions detailed in this episode, listeners are encouraged to read the full complaints filed by both Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

Transcript

[Jason Alexander]

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[Peter Tilden]

And I'm Peter Tilden.

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[Jason Alexander]

Follow us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Ellie Flynn]

We want to speak out and we want this to stop.

[Emily Simpson]

Wow. Very powerful.

[Ellie Flynn]

I'm Ellie Flynn, an investigative journalist, and this is my journey deep into the adult entertainment industry.

[Unnamed Model]

I really wanted to be a Playboy model. He was like, I'll take you to the top. I'll make you a star.

[Ellie Flynn]

To expose an alleged predator and the rotten industry he works in.

[Unnamed Model]

It's honestly so much worse than I had anticipated. We're an army in comparison to him.

[Ellie Flynn]

From Novel. Listen to the Bunny trap on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Emily Simpson]

Hi, guys. Welcome to Legally Brunette with Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson. Hi, guys. Welcome to our second episode of Legally Brunette. First of all, we apologize for having such a kind of long space in between our first episode, which was on the Menendez brothers, and our second episode, which we are going to delve into the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni case. But first of all, I think it's really important that we do a little bit of an update on Menendez. If you did not listen to our first episode, I would say go back and listen to it. It's a good episode on Menendez, but as of right now, they still have a resentencing hearing scheduled for January 30th and 31st. However, the attorney for the Family of the Menendez family members. There's 24 relatives who support the immediate release of Eric and Lyall. They are represented by Brian Friedman. He claims that he plans to petition for the Menendez case to be transferred to a California Attorney General's office. That is because there is, in his opinion, and I would agree with him, there is a conflict of interest. So there is an attorney named Kathleen Katie who represented the one member of the Menendez family members who was against their resentencing and release. His name is Milton. He is the brother of Kitty Menendez. He does not think that they should be released from prison. Kathleen Katie represented him pro bono and she has now been named the DA's director of the Bureau of Victims Services. She represented Milton, who did not want them released from prison. She represented him pro bono. She was a big supporter of Hawkman being the new da. So I think there's political undertones. And she has now been named the DA's director of the Bureau of Victim Services, which means she would be heavily involved in the resentencing.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So there's going to be hearing on the conflict. Is there going to be a determination whether.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, that's where we're at. I think procedurally what will happen is I think that January 30th hearing will either get continued or taken off calendar. If he files a petition, I think he'll either file a petition to recuse her from the case or a petition to move the venue.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay.

[Emily Simpson]

So anyway, I do know that Today the new DA is meeting with the 24 family members who support their release.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I think the little I come across with the new da, some people think that the new DA is opposed to their release or something affect. But I think it's more of the DA needs to be. He's new, he's in office, he's got to be caught up on everything. Right. He's not just going to greenlight it because it's a Netflix special.

[Emily Simpson]

Right? I agree. And I think he needed the time to go back and he wanted to go through everything thoroughly. I do think people speculated that he was not in favor of their recenting release because he met with Milton already and Milton is the brother of Kitty, like I said earlier, who. Who does not want them released from prison. And I think people interpreted that as him being proud.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Well, you know, one way to look at it is though, is you want the DA to be thorough.

[Emily Simpson]

Right?

[Unnamed Co-host]

Because if he or she is not thorough and then something comes up that hinders the resensing hearing or Their. All their opportunities to be released. I mean, it could go against them as well. So you want them to be thorough and you don't want it to cause an issue later down the road that maybe it's a faulty hearing of some sort or.

[Emily Simpson]

I agree. And I think it's not an issue of him being thorough. I think that's a good thing. I think the issue is that this Kathleen Katie is now part of the DA's office, and she's director of the victim services section, which would be representing the family members are considered victims of a crime, certainly. And I think people are afraid that there's a conflict of interest there because she's been representing Milton pro bono, and then that's the side that she would lean to. So it looks to me like a conflict of interest and that she should either be recused from the case or else the venue needs to be changed. So anyway, we will continue to follow that and give you any updates as they.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah, time will tell as they come up.

[Emily Simpson]

All right, let's get into the Blake Lively Justin Baldoni case, which, by the way, is so crazy and convoluted. I have spent probably the last four or five days, I have read the entire complaint that Blake Lively's attorneys filed, and I have read the entire complaint that Justin Baldoni's attorneys have filed on his behalf against the New York Times. As mostly there's several causes of action, but a liable case.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay, well, then let's keep it simple because I don't know as much as you do on this case yet. So what's the first in the order of events, what's the first thing that has surfaced, whether it be a legal proceeding or there just be a formal complaint or an informal complaint?

[Emily Simpson]

Well, let's go back just a little bit and let's just say, let's just start with this all surrounds the movie It Ends with Us, which was a book written by Colleen Hoover. I'm not sure exactly when she wrote it, but probably, I don't know, but I read it, I'd say three to four years ago.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay.

[Emily Simpson]

It was a very popular book. The title, It Ends with Us.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay.

[Emily Simpson]

It has to do with domestic violence. It has a very strong female lead. Her name's Lily Bloom. I think a lot of people connected with it. I liked it. I thought it was a great book. I think I read it during the whole quarantine time frame when I was reading a lot because there wasn't anything else to do.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Well, you like a lot of Hoover's books.

[Emily Simpson]

I do. I do. I'm a big fan of Colleen Hoover and actually good friends with her. I. I like her very much. And just side note, Colleen does support Blake in this situation.

[Unnamed Co-host]

She.

[Emily Simpson]

She posted on her Instagram and supported Blake. She didn't say anything negative about Justin, which I appreciated, but she did support Blake. Anyway. When the movie premiered over the summer, there was a lot of speculation that there was tension on set between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. Blake Lively was the lead role. Justin Baldoni owns the production company called Wayfarer, and he and a partner, Jamie, he's own the production company. They bought the rights to the book to make a screenplay five years ago. Okay, so this.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So they bought the screenplay and they plan to produce it themselves.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. And he's also backed. His company is backed by a third friend who is a billionaire. His last name is Sarawitz, and he's also a part of all this legal.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay, so we got three people so far in the production side.

[Emily Simpson]

So when the movie premiered, I would say there was a ton of press surrounding all this tension between these people. I would say, based upon the things I read, that I was very much swayed towards Blake Lively being difficult, being hard to work with. I would say a lot of interviews in the past resurfaced that showed her being kind of disrespectful, a little condescending to reporters. I think she got a lot of bad press. Also, there was a lot of things being said that she wasn't promoting the movie in the way it should be because it had to do with domestic violence, that she was focusing more on it being like something you like a chick flick, go. Go see it with your girlfriends. Wear a flowery dress, have a cocktail. And she was also. I mean, the heart of the movie is domestic violence, and it's. I think it's considered intimate domestic violence where it's. They're married.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay, but if she's promoting in a way where it's a fun girl movie, how is. I mean, maybe that's incorrect, but maybe that's. That's how she saw it. I don't know. I mean, is that wrong that she. I mean, if I. If I think Die Hard's a funny movie, but everyone else thinks it's an action flick, people think it's a Christmas movie. I mean, is that wrong?

[Emily Simpson]

Well, I think people took it as. It was disrespectful to people who have been survivors of violence making light of a. Of a serious situation. Okay, so let's just. So that's Just some of the background between those two parties. When there was, you know, the movie premiere, I think they weren't even on the red carpet together. And so there was a lot of art Balon and.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And lively.

[Emily Simpson]

And lively.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And they're a couple in the movie. Their characters are a couple.

[Emily Simpson]

They're married in the movie. Okay, so on December 20th of 2024, Blake Lively files a sexual harassment complaint against Justin Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department. Now this is important that she filed with the California Civil Rights Department, which means it's more of an administrative suit at this point. It's not a civil or a criminal suit. So she filed an 80 page legal complaint which accused Baldoni of sexual harassment during filming as well as retaliation against Lively when she attempted to stand up against the alleged misbehavior. Okay, it's. I did read the 80 page complaint, I read all the exhibits. But here's the crux of it. Simultaneously with the complaint being filed, the New York Times published a piece entitled we can Bury anyone inside a Hollywood Smear Machine. It was published live on December 21, the day after her complaint was filed. Now if you kind of cross reference it with Justin Baldoni's suit against the New York Times, he claims that they were told, I think they were given notice. I don't remember the exact time, but it was like 9:30pm that this piece was going to come out and they had I think only like a 14 hour time frame to respond to it. And they were given until noon the next day to respond. But they ended up publishing the, the article earlier than what they had given them a time frame to respond.

[Unnamed Co-host]

That time frame. Where did that time frame come from?

[Emily Simpson]

It came from a New York Times. The author of the.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh, like we're going to publish this at such time.

[Emily Simpson]

I believe they sent the piece to them and said, we're going to publish this.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Right.

[Emily Simpson]

What's your response? Response, you have until noon the following day, but then they ended up publishing it at like 10am okay. So I mean, can you imagine as an attorney or as the, you know, the, as Justin Baldoni receive a 90 page complaint against you with all these exhibits attached and then you're supposed to have a response to do it?

[Unnamed Co-host]

Well, you're supposed to absorb it all, then you're supposed to interview people to figure out what's going on and then create a response, right?

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, so I think that was a big, I mean, that was a problem. I believe he didn't really.

[Unnamed Co-host]

What was the first filing? You said it wasn't a civil complaint and it certainly wasn't criminal. So what was it?

[Emily Simpson]

Well, no, it was more of an administrative complaint she filed with the California.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Is that just a document kind of time stamp the complaint, or was it with hr a union?

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, I believe so. I don't really know. All I know is that she did end up filing basically the same complaint in federal court in New York.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay.

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[Ellie Flynn]

We want to speak out, we want to raise awareness, and we want this to stop.

[Emily Simpson]

Wow. Very powerful.

[Ellie Flynn]

Flynn. And I'm an investigative journalist. When a group of models from the UK wanted my help, I went on a journey deep into the heart of the adult entertainment industry.

[Unnamed Model]

I really wanted to be a Playboy model. Lingerie topless.

[Ellie Flynn]

I said, yes, please, because at the center of this murky world is an alleged predator. You know who he is because of his pattern of behavior.

[Unnamed Model]

He's just spinning the web for you to get trapped in it.

[Emily Simpson]

He's everywhere and has been everywhere.

[Unnamed Model]

It's so much worse and so much more widespread than I had anticipated.

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Together, we're going to expose him and the rotten industry he works in.

[Unnamed Model]

It's not just me. We're an army in comparison to him.

[Ellie Flynn]

Listen to the bunny trap on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Emily Simpson]

Foreign. So now we've got a California civil rights department complaint filed. We've got Justin Baldoni filing a libel suit against the New York Times. And then we've got Blake filing basically the same sexual harassment suit in a federal court in New York.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay, so of the 80 page complaint that you're right, what are, what's the juicy stuff in it?

[Emily Simpson]

Well, let's get to.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Get to the, get to what we're here for.

[Emily Simpson]

Okay, let's get to the juicy stuff. So she claims that during filming that she was subjected to sexual harassment. And some of her, some of her examples are showing nude images of women. But basically.

[Unnamed Co-host]

No, no, no, no, no, no. Who. Who is she saying is sexually harassing her?

[Emily Simpson]

Well, this is the thing. You. I feel like you have to read her complaint and then you have to read Justin Pa's complaint to actually understand what's going on. Because she claims she's shown no nude images. He claims those nude images were his partner, Mr. Heath, showing her his wife giving birth as part of. Because there's a scene where she gives birth in the movie. Okay, so he claims that, that it was a creative type of, of conversation, like you should, we should film it like this. Look, here's my wife giving birth.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay?

[Emily Simpson]

So to him, it's an innocuous, benign video of a woman giving birth to her.

[Unnamed Co-host]

She's claiming he's showing something inappropriate, showing.

[Emily Simpson]

Inappropriate images of women, also talking about porn and some type of porn addiction. And then apparently her trainer was asked about her weight, which she claims is body shaming. His. His response is there was supposedly a scene where he's supposed to pick her up and he has back problems, so he went to her trainer and asked how much she weighed.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Well, at least he didn't ask her.

[Emily Simpson]

No, he went, he circumvented her. He went to the trainer, asked how much she weighed. I guess she found out about it and she basically claimed that he was body shaming her. You know, that's a hard one for me. I can see both sides. I can understand she just gave birth when she filmed the movie four months prior. So I can understand she gave birth in real life.

[Unnamed Co-host]

In real life, she gives birth in the movie and then he shows her a video of birthing.

[Emily Simpson]

Yes, that's a lot of birthing going on. So she claims that she was body shamed. She also claims that there wasn't an intimacy coordinator on set and that there should be. But then in his.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I imagine the intimacy coordinator is probably always right. It's probably a standard thing. I, I Know, I would want one. If I was a production company, I would want one there. Because you need, like, a third kind of neutral party or someone to kind of set the record straight as to what the plan.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, I think what they do is they actually coordinate the movements so that it's. This is interesting. Would you like to hire an intimacy.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Private hiring of these intimacy coordinators?

[Emily Simpson]

We'll look into that later, sir.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So there was none on set?

[Emily Simpson]

No, there was. So in her complaint is. She makes it like there wasn't an intimacy coordinator. Then in his filing, he says there was an intimacy coordinator. And he shows text messages where he texts Blake and said, would you like to meet with the intimacy coordinator? And she says, basically, like, not right now. So then Justin meets with the intimacy coordinator on his own, takes notes, and then when he goes to the scene, he's giving the notes, apparently, allegedly from his assuming.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah, yeah. He could have just wrote whatever he wanted.

[Emily Simpson]

I mean, that's true, too.

[Unnamed Co-host]

She approved this. She approved this. She approved this.

[Emily Simpson]

So that's.

[Unnamed Co-host]

That's very faulty right there. You have a.

[Emily Simpson]

You're saying he didn't protect himself.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

[Emily Simpson]

You're saying you have an intimacy coordinator. She chooses not to meet with the intimacy coordinator. You meet with the intimacy coordinator. You take notes.

[Unnamed Co-host]

If anything, she should assign something, saying she's waiving her opportunities to be with an intimacy coordinator. That's what you do. Like if you get injured on the job.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And then you. You refuse medical attention. You have to sign. You typically sign something saying, I refuse medical attention.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, I don't think she didn't. As far as the text messages that I saw in the complaint and Baldoni's complaint, she didn't refuse. She just said, not now, maybe later.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah, she didn't accept.

[Emily Simpson]

So he was meeting with the coordinator on his own, taking his own notes, and then going back into the scene. She claims that he was improvising these sex scenes too much. Like, he bit her lip. He. He was doing things that were inappropriate, that were outside the scope. Okay, I guess outside the scope of her nudity writer. I've never heard of a nudity writer before. I'm not. I mean, we don't have them on reality tv. Maybe we should.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Maybe you need one.

[Emily Simpson]

But apparently, outside of your regular contract as the main star in this, she also has a nudity writer, which outlines. I'm sure it's specific. I haven't seen it.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So cutting the chase. She claims he deviated.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

From whatever her expectations were and whatever her limits Were right.

[Emily Simpson]

Then she also claims that not only Baldoni, but also his. His business partner, Mr. Heath, would enter while she was breastfeeding and that that made her uncomfortable or that she was changing her.

[Unnamed Co-host]

That's where I have a problem. Why wasn't her door locked? I mean, if I'm going to change my pants, I'm going to lock the door. You know, I'm not saying it's her fault.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Co-host]

But if she. If. If someone doesn't lock the door in a time where they don't want someone walking in on them, and then someone walks in on them. Okay, that. That's an unfortunate incident. Now, lesson learned. Don't walk in without knocking and also lock the door.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. I don't. I. You know, the whole walking in on her when she's breastfeeding or whatever. Again, I have to cross reference it with Baldoni's complaint against the New York Times because he does insert text messages where she invites him in to work on lines while she's, I believe, pumping milk.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay.

[Emily Simpson]

So I think she said a tone. Okay.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So I'm guessing that the initial complaints only showed her side. He walked in on me, he showed me this video, right? Then he eventually responds in whatever format, and he's like, yeah, but we had. Now he's filling in the blanks. Yeah, but we had text conversations. She was okay with me.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Being present while she was pumping for breast milk. And she denied or she waived. Kind of the opportunity to see the intimacy coordinator, at least at that moment.

[Emily Simpson]

Exactly.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So he's filling in these all. He's providing all his defenses.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And he's substantiating it with, like, texts and stuff.

[Emily Simpson]

I. I believe his response to the. To his suit against the New York Times was very telling for me. I think if you are really interested in this case and you really want to have an informed opinion on what's going on, I would say read Blake's complaint. It's 80 pages, but you can read it pretty quickly. You know, every. Every time you file a complaint and attorney writes on your behalf, it's persuasive. Right. You're going to write it from the perspective. You're going to advocate for your own client. You're gonna. You're gonna leave out certain things that are damaging. They're damaging. Exactly. So you read her complaint and you're like, wow, this guy did all these things and he acted like this, and he, you know, you have this vision of him, like, intruding into her space and, you know, making out with her when they say cut, but he's still kissing her. And, you know. But then you read his complaint against the New York Times, and he really.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Kind of tones it down a little.

[Emily Simpson]

It does. He really substantiates what happened. Why? And he has some really good defenses.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay, and then there's. And is that in the complaint? Is that in the legal proceedings with the defamation suit, or is that in his response to her?

[Emily Simpson]

He hasn't responded to her yet.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh, he hasn't responded to her yet?

[Emily Simpson]

No.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay, so we only have her complaints. Her complaints and then his defamation lawsuit that he initiated with the New York Times. And you're saying read both those, and then that's what you're putting together.

[Emily Simpson]

Yes.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And he has not yet responded to her complaint.

[Emily Simpson]

No.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So that would be more telling as well.

[Emily Simpson]

Exactly.

[Unnamed Co-host]

One way or another.

[Emily Simpson]

I know that they are actually. And this is interesting, I didn't make this connection earlier in this. In this conversation we're having, but Brian Friedman, who represents the Menendez family, is Justin Baldoni's attorney. So this man is a busy man. He is out there representing the Menendez family, trying to get them released from prison, while he's also representing Justin Baldoni in this Blake Lively case. So Brian Friedman is a busy man right now. So he claims that he. Well, obviously they're gonna. They're gonna file a response, which is interesting, because then I feel like we're gonna have to do another episode because we're gonna have to go through his response, which I assume his response is going to kind of mirror what he filed against the New York Times for libel. It's going to have a lot of the same information in it, along with a lot of.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Denied, denied, denied.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. So also, she not only claims sexual harassment, but she also claims in her complaint that they had a. A meticulous, very planned out, coordinated attack on her character. Because towards the end.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Hold on. Why would they plan an attack? Assuming that's correct, why would they plan an attack on her character? Because when and what timeline of events is this?

[Emily Simpson]

Okay, so when the movie was about to be released, Justin Baldoni hires a crisis management PR firm. They're the same ones that represented Johnny Depp. This is. Her name is Melissa Nathan. He also has another PR person named Jennifer Abel.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Why? It's not normal. I'm going to release a movie. I need to get a crisis management team.

[Emily Simpson]

That's probably not normal. But I think he was thinking if she makes these, you know, sexual harassment allegations public, he needs to be ready for it.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Those complaints had already been made internally.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And so he had fear or worrisome that it would surface and probably cause damage to his reputation and. Or the movie.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Jason Alexander]

I'm Jason Alexander.

[Peter Tilden]

And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the really Know really.

[Jason Alexander]

Podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions, like.

[Peter Tilden]

Why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor.

[Jason Alexander]

We got the answer.

[Peter Tilden]

Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer. And, you know, never know who's going to drop by.

[Jason Alexander]

Mr. Bryan Cranston is with us.

[Peter Tilden]

How are you?

[Jason Alexander]

Hello.

[Peter Tilden]

My friend Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park.

[Jason Alexander]

Wayne Knight, welcome to really no, really, sir. Bless you all.

[Peter Tilden]

Hello, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging.

[Jason Alexander]

Really?

[Unnamed Co-host]

That's the opening.

[Jason Alexander]

Really? No, really? Yeah, really?

[Unnamed Co-host]

No, really.

[Jason Alexander]

Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win.

[Peter Tilden]

$500 a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition signed Jason Bobblehead.

[Jason Alexander]

It's called really no really? And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ellie Flynn]

We want to speak out, we want to raise awareness, and we want this to stop.

[Emily Simpson]

Wow. Very powerful.

[Ellie Flynn]

I'm Ellie Flynn and I'm an investigative journalist. When a group of models from the UK wanted my help, I went on a journey deep into the heart of the adult entertainment industry.

[Unnamed Model]

I really wanted to be a Playboy model. Lingerie top, helpless.

[Emily Simpson]

I said, yes, please, because at the.

[Ellie Flynn]

Center of this murky world is an alleged predator. You know who he is because of his pattern of behavior.

[Unnamed Model]

He's just spinning the web for you to get trapped in it.

[Emily Simpson]

He's everywhere and has been everywhere.

[Unnamed Model]

It's so much worse and so much more widespread than I had anticipated.

[Ellie Flynn]

Together, we're going to expose him and the rotten industry he works in.

[Unnamed Model]

It's not just me. We're an army in comparison to him.

[Ellie Flynn]

Listen to the bunny trap on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Emily Simpson]

So let's go back a little bit. So they film half of the movie. Let's just say half. Then the writer strike occurs.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay?

[Emily Simpson]

So they have to shut down production. They don't film for months on November.

[Unnamed Co-host]

They have to Shut down production. Oh, no, there's an actor straight.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, there's an actor strike.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Whatever. The writing was already done.

[Emily Simpson]

Right? Okay. There's an actor strike. There's a strike.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Good thing I'm here.

[Emily Simpson]

Good thing you are here. Okay. There's a strike. They've shut down production. They can't film the rest of the movie.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Got it.

[Emily Simpson]

On November 9, the strike is over. Everybody can go back to work. On that same day, there is an email sent to Wayfarer, Justin Baldoni, his partner from Blake's legal team, basically saying that they need to put a Protections for return to production into place. It's. That's what she called it. A. Protections for return to production.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Protections for return to production.

[Emily Simpson]

Protections for return to production.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay, what is that in layman's terms?

[Emily Simpson]

It's basically 17 items that were listed that all needed to be adhered to and agreed upon for Blake to return to the set to film the rest of the movie.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So again, late terms, she figures things went off the rail a little bit. They. They have a pause because of the strike. They come back to set, and she's saying, these are 17 issues that I need addressed.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

In. In some fashion.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. And it's basically in layman's. Well, you know, I. I didn't write down all seven.

[Unnamed Co-host]

No biting of the lip, I assume, was one of them.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, it had a lot.

[Unnamed Co-host]

No, no birthing videos.

[Emily Simpson]

Birthing videos. It was basically in a nutshell, to cease behavior of Mr. Baldoni and his partner, Mr. Heath. Both parties agreed to adopt it. And I do know that I believe that there was a response to those 17, you know, requests of basically, like, we don't agree with everything that you're asking.

[Unnamed Co-host]

We're not admitting anything.

[Emily Simpson]

We're not admitting that we did these.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Things, but we'll acknowledge your complaints and probably correct it going forward. Right.

[Emily Simpson]

And.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Well, that's pretty good. That's professional so far.

[Emily Simpson]

Right? So basically it's like, look, I don't think we did all these things, but in order to move ahead and to film the rest of this movie, and everything you're asking is reasonable, clearly, there shouldn't be nudity. There shouldn't be porn. There shouldn't be sexual harassment. You shouldn't be made to feel uncomfortable. Like, we. Correct, we. Okay, we agree. And, you know, they signed off on it.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Okay.

[Emily Simpson]

Part of those 17 terms, one of them was an. It was called an all hands and meeting where she wanted Justin, the. The Wayfarer people, people from Sony, because Sony was the one as the movie.

[Unnamed Co-host]

She wanted a lot of the big wigs.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. And her there also with some producers. And they were doing it. What's called an all hands, high maintenance lady. Yeah, yeah. So that was scheduled for January 4, because January 5 was when they were going to pick up production again.

[Peter Tilden]

Okay.

[Unnamed Co-host]

There's a little bit of pressure.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So like the day before she wants a meeting.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So they have the meeting.

[Emily Simpson]

They have the meeting. This meeting takes place at her penthouse with Ryan Reynolds, who is her husband present, apparently, according to.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Well, okay, I don't know if I, I don't know how Hollywood works or anything, but the husband being present. I, I don't know that, that, that if, if the issue was with you, I would support you 100%, but I don't know if I'd be the right person to be in the meeting. You'd have to have a professional in there, like a. Another lawyer, Someone that's kind of hired help.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, I do.

[Unnamed Co-host]

As opposed to like.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, he's part of it. But she had, she had representatives from Sony. She had some other producer representative that she picked. I mean, she had other people there.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I mean, it's not wrong that he's there, but it just. If he, if he was there and said nothing, which I don't know what the answer is, he was there and he said nothing. That's okay because he's there to support his wife. But if he's there and he's chiming in on everything, then. Then it just becomes like more of an emotional thing and a personal thing as opposed to like a professional issue that's being resolved.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So he said something.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, so this meeting takes place at their penthouse in New York. And apparently, according to Baldoni's suit, whose penthouse and Blake and, and Ryan, they're married.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh. It's on their home turf.

[Emily Simpson]

It's on their home turf in their own home. Apparently there were a less stars coming in and out is what Justin Baldoni's lawsuit says. So I'm like, who are these A list stars that are just walking in and out while this meeting's going on. But that's what they claim. But also, just to let you know, just to give you a little background, supposedly Ryan Reynolds was very involved in this film and actually rewrote a scene and.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah.

[Emily Simpson]

And was there and involved in it. And so would you like me to.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Do that when you're filming? You want me to come in there and start to say, no, this needs to be said. You need to do this?

[Emily Simpson]

I mean, Sometimes I'd like to just bow out.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I'm not gonna that, like tap out.

[Emily Simpson]

And bring Shane in as my replacement. But so this meeting takes place. It was called the all hands in meeting. It's on January 4th. Apparently they're going through, you know, all these grievances that she has. And then Ryan Reynolds goes off on Justin Baldon and attacks him for this reference he made to Blake's weight that had to do with body shaming. And apparently it was. I don't know, it was traumatic for him. He said he's never been spoken to like that. He's never been yelled at like that before. So I just have this visual of these two A list actors in their fancy pit house just going off on.

[Unnamed Co-host]

This guy while other A listers are.

[Emily Simpson]

Walking, are just coming and going. So he claims in his suit that a Sony representative said that they regret not getting involved and telling him that he was out of line. Here's what I would like, and this is what isn't in either of these complaints, and maybe this will come later, but I would like declarations under penalty of perjury from these people because obviously that's hearsay. Just saying the Sony representative said this.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah, you know, yeah, that's a tough one. Now, looking back, you know, if the meeting was documented somehow, that is the.

[Emily Simpson]

Something that is just what, at this point, what I feel like is missing is, yeah, I want declarations from people who were there, who were witnesses saying, this is what I said.

[Unnamed Co-host]

This goes back to what I said earlier with the intimacy coordinator. You need to have a third person that's unbiased. And so here you have a meeting with all these people that are upset. And there should have been some way to document what was said and what was exchanged. I don't. And I don't know how they do that. I don't know if that's normal to record it or to, you know, I don't know.

[Emily Simpson]

But here's probably what's going on right now because Justin Baldoni is going to.

[Unnamed Co-host]

File a four minutes and he's going.

[Emily Simpson]

To file a response. I mean, I would assume that they're working on all of that.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah.

[Emily Simpson]

And his attorney came out today. There was an article today that I read. Baldoni's attorney, Brian Freeman, came out today and said they plan to sue Blake personally and that he is more than happy and to share all their text messages.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Nice.

[Emily Simpson]

So that's interesting as well. Here's my take on it and we'll get more into the legal aspect of It. But here's my takeaway. As someone who read the complaint, saw the movie, has read lots of articles, read the complaint against the New York Times. My takeaway is, is that this is a power struggle between an A list actress who's married to Ryan Reynolds, who really felt that this movie was hers, and that she developed the character and that she was Lily Bloom and she took control of costuming and she wore a lot of her own clothes and she wanted to rewrite scenes. And in the end of the movie, she ends up editing the movie herself and kicking Justin Baldoni out. According to him. Allegedly. That's according to him. And I think it comes down to a power struggle between Justin Baldoni, who bought the film or bought the rights to the film and wanted to produce the film. But he's not a. I didn't know who he was until this.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Have you ever heard of creative differences?

[Emily Simpson]

Creative differences. But I think those creative differences are based on her being an A list actress getting her way.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Wait, you're. You're saying Baldoni, this is his first kind of big screen.

[Emily Simpson]

I mean, I know he was. He was in a series. I can't remember what it was.

[Unnamed Co-host]

This is his biggest one, but I.

[Emily Simpson]

Would say this is his. I'd never heard of him before until now. I mean, she's clearly the bigger star, Right? But I think going into the movie, he was a director. He's the owner. It's his production studio. But I think there was a power struggle, and I think that something happened. I don't know what it is, but I think something happened.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I know it happens a lot, and there's a lot of good movies that come out of it. But he had too many hats. He had too much responsibility. How can he direct himself? So, I mean, if he's being inappropriate with the intimacy scenes, and then she goes and complains to the director, which is him, what's he gonna do? Tell himself, like, stop biting her lip? I mean, he can't do that. So there was. There was not any. There was no neutral people in this to be able to help guide it.

[Emily Simpson]

So you're saying his. It was his fault that he owns a production company, but he should have had safeguards in place for him.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Correct. Because I know lots of actors do that, and that's cool. I think Solar System, one of my favorites, does that. He wrote, directs and acts because he's like, I know Rocky, right? So I know it can happen. It's not abnormal. But watching this, you certainly. Especially if you're going to Hire Blake Lively. You should certainly have someone like security or someone in the room all the time. Right. Like, I know at work, when there's a complaint and a male boss is going to have a female person in there, he always brings in another female to sit there to make sure that nothing inappropriate is exchanged. And if there is, then that person can report it. And obviously you pick the gender because then you can remove any biases. So he messed up that way.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Co-host]

It doesn't mean he's guilty or innocent. I'm just saying he messed up that way.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

But who knew what he was dealing with? Maybe he didn't want it. Maybe he wanted it to just be him and Blake. Likely.

[Emily Simpson]

I don't know. But I'm. Here's my question. If the first half of the movie was filmed and there weren't really any documented issues, but then they have the strike.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh, and there's downtime.

[Emily Simpson]

Downtime for months. But then she reaches out the day the strike ends, her, through her legal counsel reaches out and says, here's these grievances I'm not coming back to.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And it was the day before. Right. January 4th.

[Emily Simpson]

The day before that was the day they had the meeting. Okay.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So a little close in time.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. So then after this meeting, they all agree. They adopt the. You know, we'll abide by everything you say. They just need to get the movie made. I feel like he had his hands tied. Like, he has to agree to all her demands because he has millions of dollars invested in this movie.

[Unnamed Co-host]

More so with the strike.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. And they. They lost time. They've invested millions of dollars. They've only got half of this movie made. They have to finish it. I think she knew the power that she had, and she consistently was like, I'm not going to finish unless this. I'm not going to finish. According to him.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Right. Right.

[Emily Simpson]

I mean, I don't think he has any power in this. She's the lead star. If she constantly threatens. I'm not going to finish. I'm not going to finish. I'm not going to come back to work. I'm not going to do this. What? What? They don't have time.

[Unnamed Co-host]

No.

[Emily Simpson]

To argue. They don't have time to get counsel. They're not gonna try. They don't want to piss her off anymore.

[Unnamed Co-host]

No.

[Emily Simpson]

You just. Your hands are tied in the situation. You basically just have to be like, whatever you say. Whatever.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah, we gotta wrap this up.

[Emily Simpson]

Whatever you say. I agree to whatever you say. But here is something that I find interesting and Tell me what you think about this. Once they agreed to those 17 demands that she had, it was all in writing. She even says in her. In her complaint that after that the movie was finished, it was wrapped, there were no more issues.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh, wait, so she confirmed that the second half of the filming.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Things were appropriate.

[Emily Simpson]

Appropriate? It was wrapped.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So what's done? So, okay, here's where the mess up. Is Baldoni trying to do his crisis control because it was a preemptive strike or attempt that may never have needed to be in place to begin with. Let's get into that, and we'll never know because we don't have a time machine. But had he not done that, it might have been all resolved.

[Emily Simpson]

I'm gonna agree with that, because my take is these publicists whose private text messages have been made public is what was the catalyst for her suit against him. So he has a crisis PR team that he hires. He also has a publicist named Jennifer Abel. Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan are the two main characters in this. They're constantly texting with Baldoni about PR and. And, you know, stories and all these things. Apparently, he hired this crisis management firm, and they do this thing called astroturfing. I don't really understand what it is. But then there was this outside company, hired some guy in Texas. I don't think it's bots, but they do have some way, some logistical way to put good things out and maybe suppress bad things. They also have relationships with, you know, your big players, like Daily Mail. Yeah, okay, all those things. The thing that I thought from the very beginning when I read the complaint and there were pages and pages of personal text messages between Justin Baldoni, his publicist, Jennifer Abel, and then the crisis management team, which was Melissa Nathan. I'm thinking to myself, where did Blake Lively get all these text messages? How did her team. How did her legal team get these text messages? You know, that you would only be able to get those through discovery after you filed a complaint and then you go into a discovery.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Nonetheless, they were surfaced, but it was intentional. Whether it was, you know, done. So in a way, I'll tell you.

[Emily Simpson]

How I think it was surfaced. And Baldoni's lawsuit touches on it a little bit. There was another. There's a lot of key players, a lot of publicists involved in this. But there was a woman named Stephanie Works, who was a publicist for Baldoni. Apparently, they had a falling out. She also worked with his other publicists, Jennifer Abel. And then something happened where Jennifer and Stephanie split ways. Stephanie Confiscated her work phone and then did a forensic analysis on it. And that's where all these text messages came from. I think what she. This is me. I'm. I'm. This is me. Just my opinion. I think this woman Stephanie, saw all these text messages that had to do with Blake Lively and all these, you know, ways to figure out how to suppress certain stories or whatever's going on, and she gave those to Blake's team, probably in. In return for something. I don't know. Blake Lively is a huge A list actress. I'm sure it was like, hey, I have this. I think that's what's called, is like a friendly subpoena.

[Unnamed Co-host]

What are the text messages say?

[Emily Simpson]

Oh, there's so many.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I can't give examples. They paraphrase.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, they would send articles back and forth like, did you see this? Did you see the response to this? We need to do this. Let's talk to this. Let's do this honestly. Here's the crux of his libel suit with the New York Times. If you look at Blake Lively's complaint, she puts in text messages that say things like, he wants us to bury her. You know, things like that that don't look so great for him that it looks like he's intentionally trying to make her look bad in the press. They publish text messages, but they don't publish the entire conversation. If you look at his suit against the New York Times, he publishes the entire text chain.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah. Which is how it should be. Because I know in court a lot of times when you print out the text, a judge may very well say, I, I want to see the phone. I want to see the whole string of text.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I don't want to see selective, you know, printouts.

[Emily Simpson]

Let me just give you an example. There's a lot of examples, but let me just give you an example. There's a text exchange about an article that says, could Blake Lively be canceled? They left out in Blake's complaint where. One of. Where Justin's publicist says, damn, this is unfair because this is also not me. Everything now looks like it's me insinuating that that wasn't her, that she wasn't responsible for that article about Lively being canceled, but they left that out in Blake's complaint.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Well, you know what? This is all going to come down to What? No one's going to work with Bike Lively anymore. Well, I don't think who would work with Baldoni? It doesn't matter. Innocent or guilty or whatever, who's going to work with these People that are obviously litigious.

[Emily Simpson]

No, I don't. I don't disagree. This isn't good for anyone. And it's also not good for these publicists. I mean, it makes everyone look bad. It looks like a smear campaign sequel to this movie. There is. And that's another question, like, how are you going to make this movie?

[Unnamed Co-host]

You can't.

[Emily Simpson]

You can't. He owns the rights to the. I believe he owns the rights to the. You can't.

[Unnamed Co-host]

You can't do a sequel because the chemistry is not there. People watching it. As long as assuming all this surfaces. It'd be hard to watch a movie knowing they hate each other when they're supposed to be acting like they're in love or whatever the story is. That's a tough one. And that sucks for Colleen Hoover, who had an opportunity to have a big movie on the silver screen, and then now it's like everyone's fighting in the kitchen. Yeah, that sucks.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah. You know, the only way this movie could be made is if he sells it to another production company and they.

[Unnamed Co-host]

But then he's in the movie, you said. Yeah, she's in the movie.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah. Well, they can't be in a movie together, so there's never going to be a sequel unless it's completely different actors and he sells it to another production company. And then I don't know if people are invested in it, because now you.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Have different people, and it might be very well delayed. You know, actually, far out.

[Emily Simpson]

Blake wanting to produce it herself and star in it and then finding someone to take him.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Ryan Reynolds. Yeah.

[Emily Simpson]

That's what. You're gonna bite her lip.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah. Okay. Wow. Well, what I learned is I need to now make sure I have a third person in my production company. So when I do a film with Sofia Vergara or Carmen Electra, I need to have someone on set.

[Jason Alexander]

Right?

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And you are not allowed in the room if there's any complaints. Okay, that was bad. On Ryan Reynolds part.

[Jason Alexander]

I'm Jason Alexander.

[Peter Tilden]

And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the really Know really.

[Jason Alexander]

Podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions, like.

[Peter Tilden]

Why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor.

[Jason Alexander]

We got the answer.

[Peter Tilden]

Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunt? His stuntman reveals the answer. And you never know who's gonna drop by.

[Jason Alexander]

Mr. Bryan Cranston is with us.

[Peter Tilden]

How are you?

[Jason Alexander]

Hello.

[Peter Tilden]

My friend Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park.

[Jason Alexander]

Wayne Knight, welcome to really. No, really, sir. Bless you all.

[Peter Tilden]

Hello, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging.

[Jason Alexander]

Really?

[Unnamed Co-host]

That's the opening.

[Jason Alexander]

Really? No, really? Yeah, really?

[Unnamed Co-host]

No, really.

[Jason Alexander]

Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win.

[Peter Tilden]

$500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign, Jason Bobblehead.

[Jason Alexander]

It's called really no, really. And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ellie Flynn]

We want to speak out, we want to raise awareness, and we want this to stop.

[Emily Simpson]

Wow. Very powerful.

[Ellie Flynn]

I'm Ellie Flynn and I'm an investigative journalist. When a group of models from the UK wanted my help, I went on a journey deep into the heart of the adult entertainment industry.

[Unnamed Model]

I really wanted to be a Playboy model, lingerie topless.

[Ellie Flynn]

I said, yes, please, because at the center of this murky world is an alleged predator. You know who he is because of his pattern of behavior.

[Unnamed Model]

He's just spinning the web for you to get trapped in it.

[Emily Simpson]

He's everywhere and has been everywhere.

[Unnamed Model]

It's so much worse and so much more widespread bread than I had anticipated.

[Ellie Flynn]

Together, we're going to expose him and the rotten industry he works in.

[Unnamed Model]

It's not just me. We're an army in comparison to him.

[Ellie Flynn]

Listen to the bunny trap on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Emily Simpson]

All right, let's talk a little bit about the backlash that Justin Baldoni has faced amid the all these Blake Lively claims. First of all, a lot of a list actors, actresses came out in support of Blake. I would say Blake's the bigger star.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Well, no one knows Baldoni, right? I mean, they do Lively, Right.

[Emily Simpson]

And also, let's be honest, the people that are coming out in support of her, did they read the complaint? Did they read.

[Unnamed Co-host]

No, no.

[Emily Simpson]

They're just saying, I like Blake. I'm coming out in support of Blake.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So popularity contest.

[Emily Simpson]

It's a popularity contest. She's always going to win the popularity contest. Also, let's just go back a little bit to the publicist. And supposedly, this takedown of Blake, which is what her complaint is about. Here's where it gets muddled. How can you tell the difference between a crisis PR firm planting stories or reaching out to, you know, media outlets to get negative stories out there? And an organic. Just negativity against Blake because of her own actions. How do you. It's hard to differentiate. I think a lot of the negative press surrounding her had to do with her. Her own demeanor when she was marketing the movie. And then there were, you know, old interviews that resurface where, you know, there was the one reporter that said, congratulations on your little bump, because she had just announced that she was pregnant. And she looks at the reporter and goes, congratulations on your little bump. I mean, it was so. It was cringy. I couldn't even watch it. It was so bad. So how much is. I think she was embarrassed by the negative reaction to her in the public. I think a lot of people were going against her. They were talking about how she wasn't marketing the movie properly, how she was glazing over the whole domestic violence situation. She didn't look good. There were a lot of articles about her that were negative. And I think her way of getting back at that is to blame Justin and his team for. For planting those. Instead of taking any accountability for. Maybe it was some things that you did yourself.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Some women in my life do that.

[Ellie Flynn]

Oh, yeah.

[Unnamed Co-host]

They point the finger at me. We'll talk about that later.

[Emily Simpson]

All right. So the backlash that Justin Baldoni has faced. Baldoni's talent agency, wme, dropped him as a client immediately when the complaint was.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah, but that. That's normal, right?

[Emily Simpson]

Well, I don't know. They represent Blake and Ryan.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh, really?

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh, so they picked a side. They clearly picked us up.

[Emily Simpson]

Clearly picked a side.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh, wow. I thought, like, it was. It was just representing him, and they dropped and just kind of like, we don't want to go there. But you're saying they. They said, we'll continue to represent Lively and Reynolds and not Beldo. Well, the bigger stars.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

There's pro. There's certainly a lot more money involved in representing Lively and Reynolds. Oh, I mean, Reynolds never turns down the script. That's. So they'll do all of this stuff.

[Emily Simpson]

So Deadline reported that the decision. That the decision was made by WME leadership and was partly due to Lively's lawsuit. I mean, let's be honest here. It's not partly due to the lawsuit. It's 100 because of the lawsuit. Baldoni was awarded at the 2024 Vital Voices Solidarity Awards, which is an awards program that honors remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls worldwide. On December 23, Vital Voices announced they rescinded the award and alerted Baldoni on the decision amid the legal drama. See, I don't like that people are, are making decisions about who's right and who's wrong before everything has come out before he's allowed to. Yeah, but lead his own case.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah, but we all tend to do that to some degree. But the publicist company definitely did that.

[Emily Simpson]

Oh, yeah, he claims in his countersuit that, and I don't know, this is just alleged that at a premiere of a movie that Ryan Reynolds went up to, you know, one of the representatives of this, of WME and was like, you have to drop Baldoni. So, and I don't know, probably, I mean, I mean, I'm sure there was pressure fetched, but. Baldoni hosted the podcast Man Enough alongside author Liz Plank. On December 23, Plank announced her departure from the show after four years. She wrote in a state in a statement obtained by People. We all deserve better, and I know that together we can create it. I will have more to share soon as I continue to process everything that has happened. In the meantime, I will continue to support everyone who calls out injustice and holds the people standing in their way accountable. Lastly, in the wake of Lilies Lively's lawsuit, Elizabeth Day, a host of the podcast how to Fail, deleted an episode where she interviewed Baldoni about. It ends with us. I have made the decision to remove the recent how to Fail interview with Justin Baldoni from all platforms while the distressing allegations made against him and Blake Lively's recent lawsuit are fully investigated. Every individual has a right to a safe workplace. Every woman has the right to dignity in that workplace. Every form of abuse should be called out. And I salute the individuals who have the courage to do so. Here's my question. If Blake were really. We're talking about Blake Lively, if she were truly reasonably and really uncomfortable, why would she sue a year later?

[Unnamed Co-host]

No, it is a fair question, but sometimes it takes time and sometimes people don't want to, but then they can't. Maybe they think they're going to walk it off, right? Then they can't get over it. So then they want to file. Then they have to find an attorney.

[Emily Simpson]

But doesn't it seem to you.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I just, I never think that time is an absolute, like, defense. It's like, it makes. It's a fair question. Like, like if there's a violent situation and someone waits a couple years to report it. Well, there are reasons.

[Emily Simpson]

Here's just my takeaway. She accuses him of retaliating against her by hiring this PR firm because of the allegations that she made. However, when she Files her complaint simultaneously with the New York Times article, which kind of cherry picks what text messages it's using. It's. She's doing the exact same thing that she claims that he's doing. She's clearly going after his character and reputation. That's just my opinion.

[Unnamed Co-host]

They both have dirty hands.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Or unclean hands. Both of them, to some degree, he was preemptively trying to, you know, address things publicly, which probably made it worse because maybe it never would have surfaced because they were just kind of HR complaints, for lack of better words, right in the beginning. And then he now makes it a bigger issue, or at least enough for her to think, wait, what the hell is he doing to me? So then she, you know, fires back, and now it's just all over the place. So they're both, in a way. In a way, they're both had some degrees of unprofessionalism.

[Emily Simpson]

Yep.

[Unnamed Co-host]

The public opinion is on Lively's side so far. You had Hoover, who is the author. You had the PR firm. Right.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, it's not a PR firm. It's their management firm.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Management firm. They are. Then you have the New York Times. That didn't really help them.

[Emily Simpson]

No, it didn't help him at all.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Help him at all.

[Emily Simpson]

No.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And then that's pretty. That's pretty bad.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Ryan Reynolds is. Is, you know, he's got some leverage, I'm sure.

[Emily Simpson]

Talk about Ryan Reynolds just for a little bit, because he was involved in the film. According to Justin Baldoni's suit against the New York Times. If you read the whole thing, he does make. So when they went to do press, I never understood this. And I tried to understand it. It doesn't really lay it out completely, but something happened so that when it was press time for this movie, it's now being released, they would not be together. Apparently, Blake would not allow Justin Baldoni to be at the premiere of the movie. He wasn't. She banned him, according to him.

[Unnamed Co-host]

But at this. At this point in time, there was no legal proceedings filed, nothing like that internal thing.

[Emily Simpson]

And that's where. I don't understand where the breakdown happened, because she made her grievances known on January 4th. They put it in writing. They finished the movie.

[Unnamed Co-host]

They did what they could to accommodate her issues.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. They finished the movie. The movie wraps on February 9th. Then they go into the editing process. Here's where I think the breakdown took place. Blake wanted to take over the movie. She wanted to edit the movie herself. Apparently, she allowed. He allowed her to come into the Editing bay. It went from, like, a couple times. Editing, too. I think she fully took over. Then there ends up being two versions of the movie. There ends up being an editor's cut, which is Baldoni's cut. How does that happen?

[Unnamed Co-host]

How does an actor just walk into an editing room, be like, excuse me, and then they start editing? I mean, don't you have people that are professionals that have that experience that know what to do? Then instead, you just have some lady to walk in that says, like, you know, cut this out. Do that. I mean, that's weird.

[Emily Simpson]

I. I don't disagree.

[Unnamed Co-host]

So how do they let that slip?

[Emily Simpson]

I think because she has so much power that she basically was like, I want to edit scenes myself. I want to do this. I think she has Ryan Reynolds backing, that is.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And this can't be normal. I mean, it's not like Kevin Costner, where he's. He's done a million things, directing and editing, where it's like, he might chime in, and then the others say, yeah, you know, this is Kevin Costner. Like, they want to pick his brain. They want his input. This is like some actress that. I don't even know what she's done. What has she done?

[Emily Simpson]

She was in Gossip Girl. She's been on a lot of things.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I know she's done things. Yeah, but she's just in front of the screen. I mean, she just walks into the.

[Emily Simpson]

I think she has some producing credits, but so what happened? This is where I think the tension just escalates off the charts. He includes several text messages between him and editors where the editors are reaching out to Justin Baldoni, basically offering, leave.

[Unnamed Co-host]

No, like, here. She won't leave.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, no, they're offering him support. Basically saying, we're so sorry this is happening to you. Just focus on the movie. Just focus.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Editor saying that. Yeah. Okay, so the editors are kind of like. So that implies, like, yeah, we know. She's kind of like, dictating the terms here. We got your back. Like, just keep doing what you're doing. Right. And, like, we're not okay with it. Like.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. So then eventually, or apparently, according to him and his New York Times suit, she fires the editors that he hired. How does she fire editors? I don't know. And hires. Going on here and hires editors that Ryan Reynolds uses. She apparently also fired the composer that Wayfair had hired and hired.

[Unnamed Co-host]

This happen.

[Emily Simpson]

I. I don't know.

[Unnamed Co-host]

That's our contracts in place and scope of employment and all that stuff.

[Emily Simpson]

That's why I'm telling you I think the majority of the attention is a. Is a hostile takeover and a power struggle.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Dang.

[Emily Simpson]

So then eventually, according again, I just want to say this is according to Justin, that there ends, and it's memorialize in these text messages that he includes in this New York Times suit. There ends up being two cuts of this movie. There's a director's cut, which is his cut, and then there's the Blake cut, which is her cut. Apparently they go to Sony and they're like, we have two versions of this movie. And Sony's like, okay, well, we'll do a focus group type of testing, and whichever score is higher, that's.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh, interesting. So what did they do that they.

[Emily Simpson]

Did, according to Justin, what was scored higher?

[Unnamed Co-host]

His.

[Emily Simpson]

His.

[Peter Tilden]

Yeah.

[Emily Simpson]

But guess which one was released?

[Unnamed Co-host]

Hers.

[Emily Simpson]

Hers. I, I, I mean, I actually feel sorry for this.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Unprofessional.

[Emily Simpson]

So then when it comes to the release of the movie, they do a premiere, and apparently he was not allowed at the premiere period.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Wait, how did hers get released?

[Emily Simpson]

Because I think she. I think she agreed initially to release whichever one tested higher, and then I think she reneged on it later after they came back with the results and said, no, sorry, again.

[Unnamed Co-host]

At least according to your. Your understanding. Again, she has the leverage. And she's like, leverage? Don't believe your.

[Emily Simpson]

I think according.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I'm doing this right.

[Emily Simpson]

According to him, she basically would refuse to market the movie or refuse to do things if people did not. If they didn't release her version. I think she banned him from the premiere, but then I think he had to fight really hard to be able to be there. And then he was allowed to go to the premiere, but he could not arrive at the same time as her. He couldn't be on the red carpet the same time as her. He couldn't go to the afterparty. And apparently he and his friends and his family were banned to some, like, makeshift area where they were in some holding cell because they couldn't be on the red carpet the same time as her and things like that. This is according to him.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And no one's gonna want to work with her again.

[Emily Simpson]

I, I don't know. I mean, I. Honestly, after reading his complaint that he filed against the New York Times, I felt really badly for him. I did. That's just my takeaway based upon what I've read so far. Again, clearly the New York Times is going to file a response, and it'll be.

[Unnamed Co-host]

And you're not invalidating her complaints because you're saying her complaints were Addressed.

[Emily Simpson]

Her complaints were addressed.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I feel like it was formalized. Everything was on track to. To support her and whatever her needs and issues and complaints were. And then they finished filming without issue.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I wouldn't work with her.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, so if she wants to star and.

[Unnamed Co-host]

No, I'm not reading any scripts. No, you're not. No, no. But then again, no one's going to want to work with him either.

[Emily Simpson]

I mean, this has become.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Or there's smoke, there's fire. There's too much of an issue. And it's also like, hello, Baldoni. Why are you letting people walk into the editing room and just taking over and firing your people? That makes no sense.

[Emily Simpson]

I don't think he had. I don't think he felt like he had recourse. And I can in a lot of.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I walked into Bravo's editing room and be like, excuse me, I did a focus group. We're not gonna listen to it. We're gonna do my editing version.

[Emily Simpson]

Could you.

[Unnamed Co-host]

More. Less Emily. Less Emily.

[Emily Simpson]

Oh, thanks a lot. I was like, could you make me look good, please?

[Unnamed Co-host]

Oh, wow. That. Yeah.

[Emily Simpson]

Okay. So, you guys, this is a very interesting story. I mean, if you've been following it like I have, I would love to know your opinions on it.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Well, there's more to come.

[Emily Simpson]

And there's. There's so much more to come because these are all official filings. Baldoni still has to file a response to her complaint and the. The civil complaint and the federal complaint. New York Times has to file a response to his libel suit. And also Brian Friedman, his Baldoni's attorney, has also said he's going to sue Blake personally and all the text messages are going to come out between the two of them.

[Unnamed Co-host]

What would be the cause. Action for his complaint against her?

[Emily Simpson]

I. I don't know. I would say some type of intentional. I don't know. They'll pile on as many causes of action, I. I'm sure as they can. And also, Randall Reynolds got a lot of money.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Those deep pockets there also.

[Emily Simpson]

I. I will guess, or I will say that I think there'll be a lawsuit against Stephanie Works. That's just me guessing that I don't know anything. But she is the one who I believe released all the private, confidential text messages. And I'm sure that's another thing. Where is this?

[Unnamed Co-host]

Not all of them. She really Selectively, right?

[Emily Simpson]

Some of them probably selectively. But I would like to see the subpoena, but I have not seen a subpoena yet, so I'm assuming it's some type of friendly subpoena where she probably said, hey, I have all this information. I would love to turn it over to you. So, you know if you slip me a subpoena, I'm happy to comply.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Right.

[Emily Simpson]

Something.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Give me a reason.

[Emily Simpson]

Give me a reason to give you all this information. So.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Wow.

[Emily Simpson]

This is a messy, messy muddle old situation.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Too many people with too much money and too many opportunities.

[Emily Simpson]

Too much power.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah.

[Emily Simpson]

So we will follow.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I'm never gonna get over the walking into the editing room and being like, step aside.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, I don't know.

[Unnamed Co-host]

I'm gonna edit this.

[Emily Simpson]

Exactly what happened.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Clearly, that's what you said, so.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, I'm saying according to his complaint against the New York Times.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Wow.

[Emily Simpson]

He does claim that basically she took over editing and there ends there ends up being two versions of the film. How does that happen? Unless she edited her version.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Yeah. Well, we know it's the Rhino Reynolds version.

[Emily Simpson]

The. Right. The Ryan Reynolds version, so. All right, guys, thank you so much for listening. If you get the opportunity, go back and listen to our Menendez podcast. We will always keep you updated on that because that's an ongoing case. And also we will keep you updated on the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni case, because I feel like we are just at the tip of the iceberg on this and that there is going to be a lot more more that comes out. So we will definitely follow that. So thanks for listening.

[Unnamed Co-host]

Thank you.

[Jason Alexander]

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[Peter Tilden]

And I'm Peter Tilden.

[Jason Alexander]

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[Peter Tilden]

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[Ellie Flynn]

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[Emily Simpson]

Wow. Very powerful.

[Ellie Flynn]

I'm Ellie Flynn, an investigative journalist, and this is my journey deep into the adult entertainment industry.

[Unnamed Model]

I really wanted to be a Playboy model. He was like, I'll take you to the top. I'll make you a star.

[Ellie Flynn]

To expose an alleged predator and the rotten industry he works in.

[Unnamed Model]

It's honestly so much worse than I had anticipated. We're an army in comparison to him.

[Ellie Flynn]

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