Justine Baldoni Women’s Solidarity Award canceled amid allegations

The organization announced Monday evening that it rescinded the award after the legal complaint filed by Lively alleged “abhorrent conduct” by the actor, his studio and a crisis public relations team that it said was “contrary to the values” held by the non-profit. .

Baldoni’s legal team have told the BBC that the allegations are “categorically false” and that they have hired a crisis manager after Lively threatened to derail the film unless her demands were met.

In the romantic drama, Lively plays a woman who is in a relationship with an attractive but abusive boyfriend, played by Baldoni.

The award was presented to Baldoni during an awards ceremony in New York on December 9, Vital Voices said in a statement. The award was presented by comedian Hasan Minhaj and celebrates “remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls”.

He posted about his award above instagram pageSaying he was “highly respected and humbled” and noting the continued work he does to help future generations of men.

“My hope is that we can teach our boys, while they are still young, that vulnerability is strength, sensitivity is a superpower, and empathy makes them powerful,” she said in the post.

In a statement on Monday, Vital Voices said it had rescinded the award and informed Baldoni of the decision.

legal complaint Baldoni and his team accused him of attacking his public image. She says in the complaint the attacks followed a meeting to address “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni and a producer on the movie.

Lively also accused Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios of leading a “multi-tiered plan” to wreck her reputation in the media and online, including hiring a crisis manager who led a “sophisticated, coordinated, and well-financed retaliation plan” against her and used A “digital army” to post authentic-sounding social media content.

Friedman accused Lively of making numerous demands and threats, including “threatening not to come to the set, threatening not to promote the film”, which would ultimately “lead to her death during release if her demands were met.” were not completed”.

He alleged that Lively’s claims were “deliberately scandalous with the intention of hurting the public and repeating a narrative in the media”.