Brandon Sklenar backs Blake Lively amid Baldoni lawsuit drama

Brandon Sklenar, who portrayed Lily Bloom's first love in "It Ends With Us," sided with Blake Lively, who has accused Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a hate campaign against her. Sklenar shared an Instagram post with the caption: "For the love of God read this," referring to Lively's complaint against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.

Sklenar, who played Atlas Corrigan in the film, joined others who publicly supported Lively. Among them are the author of "It Ends With Us," Colleen Hoover, actresses from "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," Amber Heard, and director Paul Feig. Sony Pictures, the film's distributor, also supported Lively, condemning any attacks on her.

SAG-AFTRA, an organization representing actors, also supported Lively, emphasizing that actors can report irregularities. "These are startling and troubling allegations. Employees have every right to raise issues of concern or to file complaints. Retaliation for reporting misconduct or inappropriate behavior is illegal and wrong," the statement reads.

As a result of Lively's accusations, Justin Baldoni was removed from the WME agency, which also represents Lively. This shows how seriously the film industry takes such allegations. Meanwhile, Baldoni's lawyers remain firm. Bryan Freedman, representing Baldoni, claims that Blake Lively is now running a smear campaign against his client, trying to ruin his career. He asserts that Lively behaved disrespectfully during the promotion of "It Ends With Us." He also noted that Baldoni experienced "threats by two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources," but did not disclose any names.

"It Ends With Us" has been controversial from the start. The book addresses the topic of domestic violence and, according to some, justifies the behavior of aggressors. These accusations reappeared after the movie's release. Despite the controversy, it was a box-office success and later performed well on streaming platforms. During the film's promotion, rumors emerged about a toxic relationship between Lively and Baldoni. Baldoni, also the director of "It Ends...," promoted the movie separately from his co-star. There were no joint photos or interviews, and it was noted that the stars of the production do not follow Baldoni on Instagram, a seemingly minor detail but significant in today's pop culture.

In recent months, foreign media have reported that Blake and her legal team have been preparing a lawsuit against Baldoni, gathering evidence, including private correspondence between the actor and a PR firm tasked with smearing Lively online. The actress claims she was forced to watch obscene videos handed over by Baldoni, respond to questions about her sex life, and act in improvised sex scenes for which she had not given prior consent. The case is ongoing.