Blake Lively nhận được sự ủng hộ từ đạo diễn Paul Feig của A Simple Favor trong bối cảnh Justin Baldoni bị khiếu nại quấy rối tình dục

“She truly did not deserve any of this smear campaign against her. I think it’s awful she was put through this,” Feig wrote in a post on X

By 

Jen Juneau

Published on December 23, 2024 09:40AM EST

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• Paul Feig has voiced his support for his A Simple Favor star Blake Lively amid the actress’s sexual-harassment complaint against Justin Baldoni
• In his post, Feig called Lively “one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented and kind people I’ve ever worked with”
• The filmmaker also said that Lively “truly did not deserve any of this smear campaign against her”

Paul Feig is in Blake Lively‘s corner.

Amid the actress’s recently filed sexual-harassment complaint against her It Ends with Us director and costar Justin Baldoni, Feig — who directed Lively, 37, in A Simple Favor (2018) and its upcoming sequel — made a post on X in support of her.

“I’ve now made two movies with Blake and all I can say is she’s one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented and kind people I’ve ever worked with,” wrote Feig, 62, linking to The New York Times‘ write-up about Lively’s filing against Baldoni, 40.

A series of private text messages used as an exhibit in Lively’s lawsuit allegedly also shows Baldoni texting and emailing with PR executive Jennifer Abel and crisis-management expert Melissa Nathan as they planned what Lively claims was a smear campaign meant to “destroy” her reputation.

Added Feig in his post supporting Lively on Sunday, Dec. 22, “She truly did not deserve any of this smear campaign against her. I think it’s awful she was put through this.”

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In her complaint, Lively alleges that Baldoni engaged in misconduct during the production of It Ends with Us including showing her explicit images and videos, asking her about her personal sex life and adding additional intimacy scenes to the film that she had not originally agreed to, PEOPLE previously reported. The Gossip Girl alum also names lead producer Jamey Heath as participating in misconduct in the complaint.

The complaint states that Lively, who was joined by her husband Ryan Reynolds, met with producers of the movie to request that Baldoni change his behavior.

Some of the protections Lively sought were “no more improvising of kissing” and “no more personal, physical touching of, or sexual comments by, Mr Baldoni or Mr, Heath to be tolerated by [Blake Lively] and/or any of her employees, as well as any female cast or crew without their express consent,” per the complaint.

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Although Lively said Baldoni agreed to the protections, the complaint alleges that he then hired crisis publicists to begin a retaliatory smear campaign against her in the press and on social media.

Lively says in her complaint, which is a precursor to filing a discrimination lawsuit in California, that “she has suffered from grief, fear, trauma and extreme anxiety” due to Baldoni’s behavior.

The actress’s complaint adds that “the emotional impact on” her “has been extreme, not only affecting her, but her family, including her husband and four children.”

Meanwhile, Lively, Feig, Anna Kendrick and Henry Golding reunited this year to film A Simple Favor 2, a follow-up to their hit thriller.

Speaking with PEOPLE about her directorial debut Woman of the Hour in October, Kendrick, 39, teased the sequel to 2018’s A Simple Favor, which is about widowed mother Stephanie (Kendrick) investigating the disappearance of her glamorous new friend Emily (Lively).

“She lives on the East Coast, I live on the West Coast, so we don’t get to see each other often,” Kendrick said of Lively. “But it was lovely, and I think that those characters have such weird chemistry that it’s so fun to just get the gang back together. And it does feel a little bit like riding a bike.”

“And I’ll say after making the first one, I was fully like, ‘This is the craziest movie I’ve ever been a part of.’ I think it’s really fascinating that Paul Feig is the guy who’s arguably best known for Bridesmaids, and the darkness and craziness that is inside of his brain, it’s impressive,” she continued. “You’re like, ‘Oh, my God.’ ”

“So the second movie is nuts. I know I’m going to say that, like, ‘Oh, it’s crazier than the last one,’ but girl, it’s a lot,” added Kendrick.

In response to the allegations, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman told PEOPLE in a statement on Dec. 21, that Lively’s complaint was to “fix her negative reputation.”

He also described her claims as “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.”

Freedman went on to say that Lively caused problems during the creation of the movie, by “threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release.”