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Blake Lively has recently spoken about a recent cover of The Hollywood Reporter that showcased an image of her and Justin Baldoni amid their ongoing legal battle.
The magazine’s cover showed Lively loading a phone with a slingshot aimed at Baldoni while he is holding onto a copy of It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. A spokesperson for the Gossip Girl actor has since given her opinion of the cover in a statement given to The Daily Mail.
“The Hollywood Reporter should be ashamed of itself,” a spokesperson for Lively told the publication on Friday.
“The framing in this picture is outrageously insulting as it plays into every sexist trope about women who dare file a workplace complaint, turning them into the aggressor, and suggesting they deserve the retaliation that comes their way.”
The statement continued: “In addition, the story is extremely offensive as it incredibly seems to explain away documented examples of sexual harassment and retaliation by calling them ‘cultural misunderstandings.’”
The Independent has reached out to both representatives for Lively and The Hollywood Reporter for comment.
The publication’s illustration was meant to showcase the biblical story of David and Goliath in which a little boy is able to overcome a giant with just a slingshot.
Rumors of a feud between Baldoni and Lively on the set of It Ends with Us — based on the Colleen Hoover book of the same name — started percolating online last year, as they appeared to avoid each other during the film’s promotional tour. At the time, Lively was called out for a “tone-deaf” approach to the movie, with fans claiming she failed to treat its heavy subject matter with the appropriate solemnity.
In the lawsuit against Baldoni, filed in December, Lively alleged that the backlash she received was part of a carefully orchestrated effort by Baldoni’s PR team.
The Jane the Virgin alum is suing The New York Times for $250 million, and he is counter-suing Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for $400 million. The lawsuit against the couple alleges that they’re attempting to “destroy” Baldoni’s reputation and career.
In January, a New York federal judge informed both parties to prepare for a trial in March 2026. After this, Lively and Reynolds’ attorneys filed a notice stating that they would seek to dismiss Baldoni’s counter-lawsuit
On Thursday, Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, asked to be removed from Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds, with Sloane’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley filing a motion in New York federal court. McCawley also asked for her firm, Vision PR, to be removed from the countersuit.
In court documents, Sloane’s lawyer alleged that the publicist was “dragged” into a “smoke and mirrors exercise” by Baldoni’s team “to distract from their own sexual harassment and systematic retaliation.” The filing also alleges that there is no “basis” for the claims that they supposedly launched a “smear campaign” against Baldoni or planting “malicious” stories about the actor.
Most recently, Lively and Reynolds have submitted a letter to a judge in New York asking for a stronger protective order (PO) than the court’s “model” one. This came after both Lively and Baldoni agreed to a PO order, as the Gossip Girl alum is suing her former colleague for sexual harassment and accusing him of orchestrating a campaign to “destroy” her reputation. These are claims Baldoni has since denied in a countersuit.
“As detailed in Ms. Lively’s Amended Complaint, Ms. Lively, her family, other members of the cast, various fact witnesses, and individuals that have spoken out publicly in support of Ms. Lively have received violent, profane, sexist, and threatening communications,” the new letter, which was obtained by E! News, stated.
In addition, the actor’s team asked for certain material to be categorized as “an Attorney’s Eyes Only,” which would make those legal documents highly confidential.
