The first thing I said to my mother-in-law as we arrived at her home for Christmas—after “hi” and “how are you”—was this: “Oh my god, did you hear what Justin Baldoni tried to do to Blake Lively?!”
This was December 22, less than a day after The New York Times published its detailed and damning indictment of Baldoni, a B-list actor who directed and co-starred with Lively in the summer blockbuster It Ends with Us. The film’s release coincided with a soup of tabloid-stirred rumors that Lively was a nightmare to work with. But the NYT revealed that, according to a complaint filed by Lively, Baldoni had sexually harassed her on set and then organized a “smear campaign” against her to prevent any accusations from coming to light.
The weekend before Christmas might seem like an odd time for the nation’s most prestigious newspaper to drop what is almost certainly the juiciest #MeToo story of the year—until you realize, as the Times surely did, that the story would go instantly, wildly viral, lighting up virtual group chats and IRL dinner table conversations alike as people gathered for the holidays.
From the moment the news broke, a more or less unanimous consensus emerged that Lively had been done horribly wrong—not just by Baldoni, but by every credulous, rumor-mongering commentator who believed his lies. Shame on us! Especially when this was a story with such a familiar script. Of course he was a sexual predator; of course she did nothing wrong; of course Hollywood remains a place where evil men torture beautiful, innocent actresses with impunity, laughing all the way.
The Times story was reported by, among others, the star #MeToo reporter Megan Twohey, one of the women who exposed Harvey Weinstein. On New Year’s Eve, news broke that Baldoni, who denies the allegations and is reportedly planning to countersue Lively, is now suing the Times for libel. Soon afterward, Lively hit Baldoni with a second suit, claiming that her “decision to speak out has resulted in further retaliation and attacks,” causing her to suffer “severe emotional distress and pain, humiliation, embarrassment, belittlement, frustration and mental anguish” and lost wages.
Amid this ugly battle between two people trying to save their reputations, some online commenters are starting to pose an uncomfortable question: Is this latest tale of bad men and blameless women a bit too tidy, too familiar? What if the believability of Lively’s story makes it all a bit, well, unbelievable?
The entire saga begins with It Ends with Us, whose August release was mired in controversy that centered particularly—and peculiarly—on its leading lady. The movie is based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel of the same name about a romantic relationship that turns violent, a dynamic that Lively and Baldoni portray both sensitively and persuasively on-screen. But multiple media stories insinuated that Lively had been a nightmare behind the scenes, engaging in bullying and “diva-style behavior” while also displaying shocking insensitivity toward the film’s delicate subject matter.
