Predator and Prey: Assault, harassment, and other aggressions in the entertainment industry

[Dimity]

14 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

One can point out that Johnny won but feel that it was a deeply flawed court case.

Exactly.  That situation was yet another one where we have to have a perfect victim or there was no crime.  It's, frankly, getting exhausting.  Blake Lively has the damn receipts showing what this guy tried to do to her and it still doesn't matter in the court of public opinion because people will always take the man's side if they can find any damn thing in this world about the woman they can point to as being problematic.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

3 hours ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

 As far as Baldoni, plenty of people hire PR teams, especially when they’re going up against powerful people like Lively and Reynolds.

Maybe, but it's easier to go after the A lister. Lively is much more famous than Jenny Slate who was namechecked here at least once because someone asked her what it was like to work with Baldoni, since she played his character's sister in It Ends With Us. Instead of just answering the question, Slate sidestepped by saying he seems 'really intense', whatever that means. If she's also being named in this suit, I missed it, so someone with better Google-Fu can enlighten me. If she's not, then perhaps Baldoni is wanting good press for himself at Blake's expense because she's the easier target. Why bring up Taylor Swift at all, come to that? How is it relevant who Blake's friends are if they're not going to be involved here?

[FilmTVGeek80]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

But as you said, he also lost in the UK that I believe admitted more evidence.  I think people are coming around on the US trial a bit.  They 'won' in the courtroom by cherry-picking a jurisdiction and doing to Amber there what they had done to her in the press outside of it.  There were jurors who believed he hit her (which should have made her win the libel case right there) but hated her more.  One can point out that Johnny won but feel that it was a deeply flawed court case.





 

No, I don’t believe there was more evidence presented in the UK case. In fact there was a lot of evidence that was presented that wasn’t vetted as closely as it was in the US. The UK case was decided by a judge who decided Amber was totally trustworthy partly because of her donation to a children’s charity which was a lie. What did they do to her in court? Present a strong case with evidence with her side being allowed to present their own evidence and counter anything presented. She wasn’t ganged up on. She had her own high-priced lawyers and a PR team working for her in the media. Amber was not as powerless as some like to pretend she was. And “people” are coming around? What people? The media have certainly done there damndest to try and paint her as a victim because admitting they might have been wrong about her is not something most journalists are willing to do. 

58 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Exactly.  That situation was yet another one where we have to have a perfect victim or there was no crime.  It's, frankly, getting exhausting.  Blake Lively has the damn receipts showing what this guy tried to do to her and it still doesn't matter in the court of public opinion because people will always take the man's side if they can find any damn thing in this world about the woman they can point to as being problematic.

What receipts does she have? What she says in her suit is not the end of the story anymore than what he says in his.  I already asked what lies & misinformation was allegedly spread about her. Please don’t pretend that Blake doesn’t have plenty of people on her side. “Believe all women.” Plenty of people take a woman’s side with no thought to evidence and if you actually suggest to wait and see all evidence you’re “taking the man’s side.” 

53 minutes ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Maybe, but it's easier to go after the A lister. Lively is much more famous than Jenny Slate who was namechecked here at least once because someone asked her what it was like to work with Baldoni, since she played his character's sister in It Ends With Us. Instead of just answering the question, Slate sidestepped by saying he seems 'really intense', whatever that means. If she's also being named in this suit, I missed it, so someone with better Google-Fu can enlighten me. If she's not, then perhaps Baldoni is wanting good press for himself at Blake's expense because she's the easier target. Why bring up Taylor Swift at all, come to that? How is it relevant who Blake's friends are if they're not going to be involved here?

I’m not sure how it’s easier to go after the A-lister, especially people like Lively who basically have studios like Marvel and Sony on her side and billionaire friends like Taylor Swift. Jenny Slate is not a defendant in any of the cases. I think Taylor was mentioned because she’s another example of someone giving their two cents among the pressure to give Blake everything she wanted, including having her husband making rewrites.

[ABay]

Wait, can we back up? Why is Ryan Reynolds an asshole? 

[Vermicious Knid]

I am inclined to believe him, because he has receipts.  

Quote

 

In the alleged exchange, the 37-year-old actress said: "I'm just pumping in our trailer if you want to work out our lines," to which Baldoni replied: "Eating with crew and will head that way."

The text chain allegedly took place on 3 June 2023, which the lawsuit claims is 'after the alleged harassment and “uncomfortable” situations allegedly occurred'.

It then ends with Lively allegedly writing: "Take your time."

These messages in particular were included to counter Lively's sexual harassment claims, as she willingly asked him to come into her personal space at least once after claiming privacy invasions...

"When Blake Lively says she was sexually harassed, because Justin Baldoni went into her trailer whilst she was breastfeeding, what she failed to talk about is the invitation she sent in a text message.

 

And this piece from Deadline showing her real concern:

Quote

 

...one significant aspect of Lively’s initial CRD complaint and her NYE lawsuit has slid somewhat out of the spotlight. While not centering on the supposed weaponization and unleashing of a “digital army” against Lively, the matter may give away the heart of the clash and why the Green Lantern-starring couple waited months to take their dispute with Baldoni public.

In both the December 20 CRD filing and the federal lawsuit 11 days later, Lively’s lawyers note how the fallout from the online caustic criticism of her personally was “harming her businesses.” Like her multi-platforming husband, Lively has long had a number of lucrative revenue streams from brand products and endorsement deals.

The ramifications of Livley’s 2024 haircare line flopping, in relative terms, as the onslaught of negative social media posts about her abounded, must certainly play a role, contractually or otherwise.

 

The online backlash came about organically from her trying to pretend a movie about domestic violence was a fluffy romcom, along with flogging her and Ryan Reynolds businesses during what should have been promos for the movie.  Wear your florals, wtf.

[MadyGirl1987]

19 hours ago, ABay said:

Wait, can we back up? Why is Ryan Reynolds an asshole? 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I find his persona grating and fake. I feel like he's becoming one of those actors who always play themselves in movies(like the Rock) and I feel that the self he portrays comes across as an act. The only movie I have yet to like that he's starred in is Deadpool and Wolverine and that's only because said movie plays him against Hugh Jackman and balances out his juvenile shtick.

As for Baldoni versus the Lively-Reynoldses, I don't like any of them. I've never been a Ryan Reynolds fan, and could take or leave Lively until her tone-deafness around the "It Ends With Us" press tour left a bad taste in my mouth. Baldoni I'm just now learning about and he sounds horrible. To me, it's a case of jerks fighting amongst themselves and exposing bad behavior on both sides. Just because he's a jerk doesn't mean they aren't guilty of bad behavior as well...

[peachmangosteen]

58 minutes ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Just because he's a jerk doesn't mean they aren't guilty of bad behavior as well...

And just because someone doesn't like Blake Lively doesn't mean she's lying about being harassed. But this thread is proof for many it is. And this mindset is going to become even more prevalent now that this horrible country has given power to a rapist (among other things), which allowed all the odious people to think they can just be freely even more misogynistic. We're in a very scary time unfortunately.

Edited Wednesday at 10:54 PM by peachmangosteen

[Notabug]

21 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

I am inclined to believe him, because he has receipts.  

And this piece from Deadline showing her real concern:

The online backlash came about organically from her trying to pretend a movie about domestic violence was a fluffy romcom, along with flogging her and Ryan Reynolds businesses during what should have been promos for the movie.  Wear your florals, wtf.

As far as the breastfeeding texts; I don't see where she told him to walk right into her trailer without knocking.  They apparently were planning to rehearse their lines; she told him where she was and what she was doing; she also told him to take his time in coming to her trailer.  That doesn't sound like an open invite for him to inspect her breast pump to me.  If anything, it seems like she was letting him know that she needed a few minutes.  Had I received those messages, I'd certainly think twice about barging in without notice as would most other people IMO,

BTW, she'd just had her 4th kid and had breast fed all of them.  I expect by this point, she could probably pump and be put back together and the equipment stored in 15-20 minutes tops.  He must've sprinted right over to see her.

Edited Thursday at 12:32 AM by Notabug

[FilmTVGeek80]

3 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

And just because someone doesn't like Blake Lively doesn't mean she's lying about being harassed. But this thread is proof for many it is. And this mindset is going to become even more prevalent now that this horrible country has given power to a rapist (among other things), which allowed all the odious people to think they can just be freely even more misogynistic. We're in a very scary time unfortunately.

For many, it’s not about simply not liking her. At first, I was inclined to believe her - as far as the harassment was concerned (I’ve still not seen a shred of proof that he or his PR team spread lies about her). But, I’m also a big believer in not pretending to know the whole story based on one side or because of someone’s gender. There’s a lot in her complaint that has either turned out to be exaggeration from her or taken out of context. Like, I think it’s ridiculous that she referred to a birthing video as pornography. It’s sketchy as hell that The NY Times cropped a text between his PR people to make it seem like they planted a story when the actual message says the exact opposite. 

 

2 hours ago, Notabug said:

As far as the breastfeeding texts; I don't see where she told him to walk right into her trailer without knocking.  They apparently were planning to rehearse their lines; she told him where she was and what she was doing; she also told him to take his time in coming to her trailer.  That doesn't sound like an open invite for him to inspect her breast pump to me.  If anything, it seems like she was letting him know that she needed a few minutes.  Had I received those messages, I'd certainly think twice about barging in without notice as would most other people IMO,

BTW, she'd just had her 4th kid and had breast fed all of them.  I expect by this point, she could probably pump and be put back together and the equipment stored in 15-20 minutes tops.  He must've sprinted right over to see her.

She didn’t tell him to walk right in - and we don’t know that he did. But, she certainly had no qualms about telling him explicitly what she was doing and telling him he could come right over. She only adds the “take your time” after he mentions he was eating with the crew. These messages allegedly happened after she claims the harassment had begun and he was creeping her out. Why tell someone you think is creepy when you have your breast out? Why not just say something like “I’m busy with a personal matter. Come by in 15 minutes.” Now, that’s not to say he never barged in like she claims, but it’s another thing that makes her “receipts” not seem as rock solid as some claim, at least to me. I guess we’ll find out if this ever reaches the deposition phase or goes to trial. Like I said, I want it to get to that phase. To see people under oath - whether either side can back up their claims. 

[Vermicious Knid]

I promise I won't keep harping on this but today Baldoni's camp released raw footage of a scene where the main characters are dancing. They say it proves nothing unsavory was going on, Lively immediately claims it shows the exact opposite and there wasn't an intimacy coordinator available. I have not watched it so can't say. But there is this from the countersuit:

Quote

 

The actress claimed the director spoke about his sex life on set and improvised unwanted kissing. In her lawsuit, Blake’s lawyer wrote, “Mr. Baldoni improvised physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed, or discussed with Ms. Lively, with no intimacy coordinator involved.”...

Justin included an alleged text exchange with Blake. He wrote Blake, “Just hired intimacy coordinator who I LOVE. Will set you up to meet/ FT with her next week for intro.”

In Blake’s alleged text, she replied, “I feel good. I can meet her when we start 🙂 thank you though!”

Justin screenshotted his exchange with Blake and sent it to a female producer.

He told the producer, “Just wanted to tell you about this – seems she doesn’t want to meet intimacy coordinator until we start which may mess up the workflow, but I can still meet with her of course.”

The female producer replied, “That’s fine if she doesn’t want to meet her now. You’ll just have to walk her through what you and [the intimacy coordinator] are thinking.”

 

All the PR people involved are suing each other too. 

[BetterButter]

Sean “Diddy” Combs Files $50M Defamation Lawsuit Against Grand Jury Witness

Quote

The lawsuit, which also names Nexstar, targets assertions from Courtney Burgess that he possesses videos depicting sexual encounters involving Combs and other celebrities.

 

[CountryGirl]

Here is the video, if anyone is interested:

 

BL alleged that there was no sound for the video. That's clearly wrong or perhaps she didn't think audio of them was being picked up? She even says at the end that "no one will ever know what we are saying." Got that one wrong.

Then she alleged that this was the scene where she claimed he kept talking out of character when it's clear she is the one pushing for them to be talking when it's supposed to just be a slow-mo romantic scene of them dancing with only the music in the background and where she claimed he ran his lips down her neck and whispered that she "smelled so good." Except that is not what happened. She was the one to bring up her spray tan and he merely reassured her by saying, it "smells good." 

How offended she was when he called her and Ryan "cute." Yet she could refer to him and his wife, whom he brought up, as being "sociopaths." Then the dig about his nose before he calls cut the first time. 

I could say more but the video speaks for itself and refutes so many of BL's claims and if she could lie like this, why, again, should I believe her? She is the type of woman that makes it hard for other women to come forward and report harassment, abuse, and/or rape.

I've long thought Blake was trash since she thought it was fine and dandy to have a wedding at a plantation with her reception tables parked right in front of the slave quarters so they could be prominently featured in the background of her photos. Ryan is trash, too, for going right along with it. That they apologized after the fact and threw some money at the "problem" later doesn't excuse or negate what they did. Neither does calling it the "biggest mistake of her life" when there's her joking about her blackface incident that clearly she learned nothing from, thus the plantation wedding, and also dedicating a fashion spread on her now-defunct website to the "Antebellum." She defended known pedophile and rapist Woody Allen, who sexually abused his own daughter, Dylan, and groomed his now-wife Soon Yi, crowing about how he is "empowering to women." As a survivor of sexual abuse, I find her praise of this predator absolutely disgusting and despicable. 

JB may very well be a terrible person. I don't know enough about him and I don't think any of us do to know for certain, at this point. If he did harass BL, then that was absolutely not okay, no matter how terrible she is, she did not deserve that, and he deserves whatever ramifications come his way, personally and professionally.

That having said, even if he did harass her, which I am questioning the veracity of her claims and not unreasonably so, given she's already been caught out in several discrepancies in this video alone, but even if she was a victim in this instance, which again, I acknowledge, she could have been, that will never erase that she is a garbage human being who has said and done some truly horrific things. Her being proven to be victimized here, which remains to be seen, isn't going to whitewash her previous racist, misogynistic behavior. I will be sorry that this happened to her but I'm not going to handwave all that's come before, which I feel is happening, to some extent, whether consciously or unconsciously, and that is also not okay. 

I actually hope this does go to trial so that all of the evidence and, hopefully, the truth can come out. But from what I've seen of that, I don't see it coming out in her favor. Time will tell.

 

Edited Thursday at 03:41 PM by CountryGirl

[xfuse]

I just watch the video and the one tmz had. I saw him kissing her. My impression is that is a guy who is trying to make out with a woman and she clearly did not want to. He kept going in to kiss her and she kept trying to get him to not too. 

[Notabug]

On 1/22/2025 at 8:56 PM, FilmTVGeek80 said:

 

 

She didn’t tell him to walk right in - and we don’t know that he did. But, she certainly had no qualms about telling him explicitly what she was doing and telling him he could come right over. She only adds the “take your time” after he mentions he was eating with the crew. These messages allegedly happened after she claims the harassment had begun and he was creeping her out. Why tell someone you think is creepy when you have your breast out? Why not just say something like “I’m busy with a personal matter. Come by in 15 minutes.” Now, that’s not to say he never barged in like she claims, but it’s another thing that makes her “receipts” not seem as rock solid as some claim, at least to me. I guess we’ll find out if this ever reaches the deposition phase or goes to trial. Like I said, I want it to get to that phase. To see people under oath - whether either side can back up their claims. 

Considering Mr Baldoni not only told her about his wife's delivery but showed explicit videos of the event to her; I don't see telling him she was pumping as being creepy at all.  It is a fact.  Women who are breastfeeding need to pump every now and then if the baby isn't available.  I see nothing wrong with her giving him factual information about a normal and regular event in her life.  Maybe since she had already expressed discomfort at his behavior, she thought telling him she was breastfeeding would cause him to keep his distance.  

There is absolutely nothing shameful about feeding one's child and there is no reason she had to keep it secret or try to hide the fact she was lactating.  If Mr. Baldoni got some sort of sexual jolt from hearing she was pumping, that is on him, not her.  Many women who breastfeed are also going out to work each day.  There is no reason to act like it needs to be hidden.

 

[CountryGirl]

Other than the slightest of kisses on her forehead, his lips never touch her lips. 

Everything I heard and saw was in line with what they are both discussing during the scene where they are basically saying it’s a tease. Just like it was written in the book (although BL admitted she never read the book and it's clear that she hasn't when she keeps trying to direct the scene by having them talking when, again, the scene never called for dialogue, and JB is THE director after all.  This was a scene for a movie. A slo-mo romantic scene with characters that were supposed to be shown falling in love where Ryle is wanting to kiss Lily but doesn't. JB tried several times to get her to stop talking, but she wouldn't. She didn't say she was uncomfortable with kissing. She said she didn't like eye contact and she kept insisting that non-stop talking would make for a better scene because apparently that's what she and Ryan do, but that's not the scene in the book or what JB, the actual director, was going for.  Nevertheless, he tried to go along with it and I think he was trying to help her. But at the end of the day, all he's trying to do is capture the essence of the scene with the characters dancing and falling in love. Also, they both made comments about "restraint" and "not giving them (the audience) want they want." At the 21:34 mark of the video, he says he is taking off the hat (ballcap) and will try to kiss her (to pretend). If this is supposed to be the scene where all the unwanted kissing and touching occurs, I'm not seeing it or hearing it. As for her being uncomfortable, I guess I missed it with all of the touching she did, wrapping her arms, several times, around his neck, he's not putting them there, she's intertwining her fingers with his, touching his face, touching his chest. It also disproves her complaint where she said HE was the one who wanted all the talking when it's clear, it was her. She also claims he body shamed her yet that's what she did to him with this exchange: JB: ."..and my nose is so big." BL: "Yes, I was hoping we could address this. It's not too late. Just gotta shut down, gotta call an insurance month and just deal with that." No wonder she asked for a gag order. 

[Spartan Girl]

An intimacy coordinator’s take on the video

While I don’t think the truth can be uncovered with just one video, I don’t think it exactly vindicates him either. To quote someone on Blusky, I’m sure there are plenty of videos of Ted Bundy not murdering women either.

One quote that really stands out:

Quote

Even though she’s Blake Lively and can say no and isn’t going to be fired for speaking her mind the way that somebody else might fear, she still has to keep working with him and keep the peace and play nice. I can just see her trying to stay lighthearted and in good spirits about it and not upset him or anybody, and not waste anybody’s time. But of course, she is trapped between a rock and a hard place. I can see her appeasing him and trying to keep a smile on her face. 

In terms of the hierarchy on a set, he is in charge. But it can be very murky. Obviously, she’s the star, the household name on the project. I didn’t know who he was until this movie, but I have known who she is for many years, and so she’s not powerless. I would say she has a significant amount of power here. But regardless, he is the director and she’s supposed to take direction from him. I was sort of surprised that this is the clip that his team leaked. 

 

[CountryGirl]

I find a lot more truth in the raw footage in a video where several of BL’s allegations have already been disproven than cherry-picked, edited texts and other specious evidence that is being posited as fact. Things like the video cannot lie, but people often do and if she’s lying about these things, what else is she lying about? She’s not credible at all, not because of her problematic past or her being an imperfect victim, but because of her actions during and after filming. And bringing up a serial killer as a comparison to JB? If it wasn’t meant as a comparison, why mention Bundy at all? As an actual victim of sexual abuse and sexual harassment, such hyperbole and speculation and rendering someone guilty before being proven so in a court of law vs the court of opinion are so incredibly dangerous and make it that much harder for actual victims to be believed, much less come forward. 

[Vermicious Knid]

Wild speculation here, had this thought. It's Baldoni and his production company that own the rights for a movie adaptation. There is a sequel to the book that I assume he also would have the right to make. So I wonder if she's angling for a settlement that will include him handing the rights to that over to her, so she can make the movie. Because if there is one, she sure isn't going to be starring in it now, even if they have to spend millions to buy out her contract (if she was signed for two movies). People are attached to the character not the actress. 

Or I'm totally reaching and you all can shoot this theory down. 

[peachmangosteen]

Abusers/harassers/rapists are rarely held accountable in court so the only way we have to actually hold them accountable is through the court of public opinion.

At least when this shit was happening with Johnny Depp (it makes me sick to even type his name), I could kinda see why since he was once an actual huge star but this Justin guy is a literal nobody and still so many want to discount everything a woman says about him.

I'm glad I'm not following this on Twitter. The worst of humanity must be having a field day with this.

Edited 16 hours ago by peachmangosteen

[merylinkid]

On 1/23/2025 at 12:46 AM, BetterButter said:

Sean “Diddy” Combs Files $50M Defamation Lawsuit Against Grand Jury Witness

 

Aaaand this is why he is still in jail, because the judge found he was likely to intimidate witnesses.   If he can direct his lawyers to do this from jail -- and they do it -- what would he be doing if he were out?  

BTW, testimony in a court proceeding is an absolute defense to defamation.   You would think his lawyers would have told him that.   Also that they would  have told him that when the judge already thinks you are witness tampering filing a lawsuit against a witness doesn't help.    I hope the lawyers face consequences for going along with this.

[Shrek]

12 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

An intimacy coordinator’s take on the video

While I don’t think the truth can be uncovered with just one video, I don’t think it exactly vindicates him either. To quote someone on Blusky, I’m sure there are plenty of videos of Ted Bundy not murdering women either.

One quote that really stands out:

 

Given that it was the 70s I bet there's not.