We actually talked about this in my class. We talk a lot about social media and the way it influences people. They noticed all the bad press Lively started getting (my female students, mostly), and all the hate in their social media feeds. It made for good discussion. And this video was great. Thank you. I really do feel I could use this in my classes as a way to break down how the machine works. Your integrity is always appreciated.
The craziest part is that the feminist strongholds of X (before the election) and r/FauxMoi fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Because they didn't like Blake Lively, they went all in on hatred for her. It's a lesson on there being no such thing as a perfect victim.
people arent being critical of PR and crisis management teams, theyre just being manipulated by Blakes more expensive and more powerful PR/ crisis management team.
@@i.870 i am sure Baldoni’s team wants posts like yours to be the narrative but it’s not. Baldoni is a creep. His bad behavior and retaliation will be his downfall and the only person he has to blame is he himself.
Not to forget about Stephanie Jones, Baldoni’s former publicist. She filed a complaint in New York Supreme Court, accusing the actor’s crisis PR team of waging a coordinated effort to undermine her and deflect blame for what she calls a retaliatory smear campaign targeting Lively. So, there is a lot more to this story. It will get very interesting …
And shes a well known shark and loves taking revenge on people who cross her (Jess Able was a subordinate of Jones and was said to have "stolen" Jones' clients.) she's also MARRIED to an exec agent at WME!!! The people who rep Lively and Reynolds and DROPPED Baldoni... this is way messier and its from both ends.
Seriously Dan, with so many others this would have been a mess of gossip ...but you approached this with such depth and thoughtfulness! That's why I trust your voice on all things Movies!!
Wow... the manipulation is insane. Even I, who could care less about celebrity drama, was starting to think negatively about Blake and I really had no reason to. I don't even think about her or have seen her movie. The power of the social media machine is scary.
Yeah the way blakes PR team is making people ignore what theyve seen with their own eyeballs is insane. like "yeah blake wasnt a total b!tch to that interviewer for no reason, she totally didnt take over the movie project and use it to sell her alcohol product in the marketing, justin made you imagine it!"
@@i.870 off course BL, was not going to let this settle without promoting how "good" she is and drag JB down. She is the one with the power, money and better connections. She will do everything to come up as the "good girl" who was forced to kiss JB. All this drama just because she wants the rights to the movie and he does not want to give it to her, because he bought it when it was cheaper and now the value of it has exponentially grown. Poor BL, such a "good girl"
There was plenty of reason to! like her basically taking over the promotion of the movie. Trying to make it seem like romance movie rather than the social movie that it was trying to convey.
The sad thing is, if Blake Lively weren't married to a power player in Hollywood, she probably never would have gotten this complaint off the ground. The text messages are fairly damning, but I wouldn't be surprised if both parties walk away with nothing.
But at least it's shed light on what's probably not uncommon practise in Hollywood. It might not stop this sort of thing happening but I hope it will make us all generally a lot more wary of sustained negative social media attention given to one person.
Blake Lively’s complaints made their way to HR, and after the SAG-AFTRA strike last year, Baldoni not only signed off on them but also seemed to agree, "Yeah, I messed up. Let’s fix it." a. The complaint reads like a juicy exposé-long, detailed, and impossible to ignore. Baldoni even signed on the dotted line, admitting her points had merit. b. Other women have stepped into the spotlight, spilling their own on-set horror stories of mistreatment and condescension. c. A male co-star turned Blake’s complaint into required reading, posting it on social media with a simple but powerful caption: “Please read.” d. Baldoni’s podcast co-host made her exit just as dramatic, with a mic-drop social media post declaring, “We deserve better.” e. SAG-AFTRA showed up for Blake, issuing a strong statement of support and advising women on any set to report harassment directly to them. This came as a lifesaver for women who’d previously been stonewalled by the production company, which not only ignored their complaints but doubled down with threats of retaliation. At this point, we’re way past the smoke and fire stage-this is a full-on inferno. Grab your marshmallows or run for the hills because the building is going down.
@@Brenzo-j2z At this point, she's kind of more famous for being famous. Gossip Girl's popularity was a long time ago and she hasn't starred in many movies since. She can and does get plenty of work, but except for It Ends With Us, the films she is the lead in don't do very well at the box office. Most people talk more about her Met Gala appearances then her movie roles
@@jessrl8025 Oh, I see. I'm a guy so I figured I didn't really see her movies that much because of the genres but I do remember Age of Adaline and I'm pretty sure that was her and I liked that one and I've heard of Gossip Girls ofc but never actually saw it. So would you say he's more famous than her? I never heard of him prior, I know his wife from the movie Coherence which I really liked.
"All of this will be most importantly untraceable" ...unless we foolishly discuss this electronically as to leave an undeniable paper trail that will be subpoenaed and used as evidence against us in court one day. Yes, a perfect plan!
I think that a lot of her business related woes have to do with the timing of her business releases, like her drink launch having “It Ends With Us” themed drinks. The reason I don’t believe Baldoni’s PR team really had to do much with this is because the author had launched an It Ends with Us coloring book that received a huge amount of backlash and the coloring book was promptly removed from shelves.
Really enjoying your extra coverage these days. I've seen others talking about both of your lats videos' topics but I'm happy to say, your coverage has been leaps and bounds better in both cases. More Dan!
The fact that Sony is the reason she avoided speaking about DV is a very important factor for me. It explains a lot and I see how she could feel set up just by his switch up on that issue alone. But it’s clear that something happened behind the scenes that sent him running to the best smear team in the business. I didn’t fall for the campaign of hate because it’s very clear when a woman is being crucified in favor of a man, and wow I was angry to see the narrative that he was a dv hero when NO DV ADVOCATES are supportive of the book’s portrayal of DV in the first place. A “hero” who cares so much just doesn’t choose that script.
Sorry, not good enough. She is a nepo baby with a lot of power, wealth and influence. She had agency against the corporate machine and she could have spoken up if she’d wanted to. And did Sony also ask her to promote her alcohol and shampoo? Did Sony also instruct her to be rude to the infertile interviewer? So no, I don’t condone sexual harassment. I do think smear campaigns are slimy, as Dan put it. But to say Blake is totally being set up is a falsehood. There’s no smoke without fire. She has to be accountable for her own actions.
The thing is, they asked for the promotion to be 'light', but did they tell her to talk about florals and her hair? I'd be interested to see the instructions given to him. Maybe he went against it because it was the right thing to do or because he didn't have anything personal to promote and get distracted by ...
This is the first video I've seen that actually read the docs. Your video gave me a far better understanding of both sides, as compared to one of your peers who just gave his opinion w/o reading out the text.
Yes. Thank you, Dan, for focusing more on the facts than simply damning those involved. Sad that this could’ve been avoided if they’d reacted slightly differently to “the other side”.
Among all the noise online I couldn't help but wonder "what does Dan think about this" so I'm so glad you're covering this now in your unbiased and intelligent way! Thank you!
Around the time the movie came out, my Instagram reels suddenly started showing "resurfaced" videos of Lively from a decade ago snapping at reporters, sometimes justifiably so. Then a ton of reels from just one content creator parodying Lively's red carpet appearances. The whole thing felt incredibly strange considering my Insta algorithm usually only shows me cooking reels. This whole thing turned out to be messier than the Don't Worry Darling debacle.
Stuff like that is far from uncommon on social media, especially on places like Twitter. When I still had an account on there, it was not unusual to see a sudden rise in hate posts aimed at certain celebrities that make you go "Wait....why do we hate this person all of a sudden?" This ongoing story (if Blake Lively's side of the story is true) is making me look back and wonder how much of that was also socially-engineered by PR firms or a celebrity's team. It wouldn't surprise me since it has been an open secret for awhile that bot accounts get used to artificially increase engagement (Ex. the Release the Snyder Cut campaign).
4 years ago the plantation wedding was a big thing.... before that I didn't like blake* because her racist love of pre-civil rights south.... Blake is bad news on her own
Exactly!! Same here :) Even though I did laugh at the "He's making a list, he's checking it twice" way of promoting Schindler's List, it did seem really really strange how often I started to see it.
To tackle an angle I haven't seen talked much about yet - as an autistic person who speaks about neurodiversity for a living, Baldoni bringing up his "neurodivergence" makes me viciously angry. Even if he is ND, using his that as a spacegoat to explain away his actions not only downplays the seriousness of the innumerable ways he allegedly treated Lively, but further stigmatizes autistic/ND folks and our existence for behaviors that aren't harmful but are seen as intristic to autism. The key takeaways from people hearing that logic will either be "autistic/ND people are just assholes who do this regularly" or "well they're autistic so their shitty behavior is okay" - neither of which are accurate. To use recent events, it's in a similar vein to school shooters, or the kid who stabbed someone at a Taylor Swift concert, and the news media taking their autism diagnoses and running with it, which then victimizes other autistic people who haven't hurt anyone because people assume that being bullied/autistic equals being a psychopath. Being an awful human being and autistic don't need to be related, but they're often conflated as the same, which does nothing but harm everyone.
What's interesting to me is that no one is denying the absolutely awful and demeaning harassment Lively had to deal with on set from Baldoni and his team that started this to begin with.
To me the harassment part doesn't seem to be that serious. It's subjective at best. Like couldn't she cover herself while talking to JB? And breastfeeding is normal even in public places. She's a grown woman for god sake!! And they were filming a romance, maybe he just wanted to make it look more real??
@@annainkala6219Blake Lively’s complaints made their way to HR, and after the SAG-AFTRA strike last year, Baldoni not only signed off on them but also seemed to agree, "Yeah, I messed up. Let’s fix it." a. The complaint reads like a juicy exposé-long, detailed, and impossible to ignore. Baldoni even signed on the dotted line, admitting her points had merit. b. Other women have stepped into the spotlight, spilling their own on-set horror stories of mistreatment and condescension. c. A male co-star turned Blake’s complaint into required reading, posting it on social media with a simple but powerful caption: “Please read.” d. Baldoni’s podcast co-host made her exit just as dramatic, with a mic-drop social media post declaring, “We deserve better.” e. SAG-AFTRA showed up for Blake, issuing a strong statement of support and advising women on any set to report harassment directly to them. This came as a lifesaver for women who’d previously been stonewalled by the production company, which not only ignored their complaints but doubled down with threats of retaliation. At this point, we’re way past the smoke and fire stage-this is a full-on inferno. Grab your marshmallows or run for the hills because the building is going down.
If true, the Smear campaign against Blake Lively is scarily effective. I never payed attention to It ends with us, both the movie and the drama but I got flooded with all the anti Blake Lively rheortic, I just assumed it was the usual celebrity fallouts we have now and again (like the Rock or Joaquin Phoenix a while back) but seeing it now, PR really is nasty business
@@MsJilsephonieCorrect. One must appear to be humble and kind, as Baldoni has. I may not know him, but this IS a popularity contest on steroids, if nothing else. BL has already tarnished her own reputation because if the videos of her ornery behavior didn't already exist, then Team Baldoni would have had nothing to go on.
@@MsJilsephonieonly that isn’t true. The cast completely back Lively. She has a couple of instances of things said in interviews where what she said, especially taken out of context, seems rude, but it’s really not as rude as it seems in all the instances I’ve seen. And if you’re going to bring up Armie Hammer saying she tried to get him removed, please save it. If she did try and get him removed then I suspect it was with very good reason, the man is a super creep.
@@jaybee4118 Asking woman who has fertility issues about pregnancy bump is vicious and for that reason I will be forever a Blake hater. She is a mean girl at heart and she was very rude many times specially to women , that's why she doesn't deserve our support now. She is just like amber heard but worse
@@MsJilsephonieIt is not vicious, it’s a faux pas, one you’d happily pass off as a simple harmless error if a male made the same comment. Blake Lively did a speech raising awareness for child abuse, educated herself on the WORST kinds just to give a speech even though she’d just had a baby herself. She deserves respect and has done more for children than you or that woman who expects people to be telepathic about her fertility issues. Get a grip.
I know you can't judge a book by its cover or a public personality and their choice of PR rep, but having J Depp, Drake and Logan Paul on the client list does kinda say a lot already.
This was a fantastic breakdown, thank you Dan! The fact that the other cast of the movie is on Blake Lively’s side says a lot imo. It’s obvious that inappropriate behaviour did happen on set.
It’s so frustrating (but sadly not surprising) of him to try to use neurodivergence as an excuse for sexual harassment… you are still responsible for your actions and several of the things alleged in this case have nothing to do with social cues, and once you receive direct feedback, there is no excuse the worst part is that as an Autistic woman, if I tried to say my neurodivergence caused me to be just impolite to someone, I would be dismissed, but men try to use it to justify harassment and they get a “oh poor boy, he didn’t know any better” from a lot of people
In a household of ADHDers, we talk regularly about how ADHD isn't an excuse. It gives some explanations that can provide grace and it gives a place to look for solutions. Like, if my son impulsively hits his sister because he's bored, he still has to apologize. But we've had a standard solution that if he feels like rough housing, he can always come and ask us. We might say no, but we often don't. So if he has that impulsive thought, he has an accomodation. He still has to apologize to his sister if he hurts her.
Love how any time I bring up my autism to explain genuine challenges people tell me I need to just get over it, but guys like him get to use autism as an eternal get-out-of-jail-free card
I always was baffled as to why Lively was getting dragged during this movie's premier over such petty stuff and wondered what was going on. Good to know my radar was working.
There’s no smoke without fire. No PR machinery could fabricate her rudeness to interviewers. No corporation is powerful enough to force her to talk about her shampoo and alcohol.
@@lubis1991 But they can curate old, forgotten interviews and astroturf nothingburgers. I don't know why I'm supposed to be angry about shampoo, but I'm not.
@ If you think self-promotion is in good taste next to a movie about DV, then it’s probably because you don’t respect the significance of DV enough as a topic. Also, curation is not fabrication. Forgotten is not insignificant. She is responsible for all those actions. Baldoni had no way to make her such a rude person.
Even if it was in poor taste for Lively to promote her brand, it doesn’t make her dishonest, and it’s not a mistake comparable to those on the other side, if they really occurred.
This is far more common across film industries in the world than most people realise. Very brave of her to take such a firm stand and my heart goes out to the ones who don't have the power to.
To be fair, her advertising alcohol during the tour for this movie is a completely separate issue compared to the allegations. Something being in poor taste is way way less important than allegations of misconduct.
She also launched a haircare brand to coincide with press tour for the movie. A lot of the negative backlash against her was organic, due to things she said/did on camera that seemed to be in poor taste.
Also the delays because of the re edit is the reason they coincided. If the movie came out on time then the two events would have been separated I believe
How Ironic that this movie about abusive relationships had such a troubled, potentially abusive or at least harmful production! It just goes to show that when movies are made about such touchy subjects, filmmakers and studios need to be more deliberate and careful in choosing and hiring people that align with the actual core messaging of their films. Whether or not Lively or Baldoni is in the right or it's somewhere in the middle, things like this shouldn't be happening on set! Especially when the actual story of the film is about abuse! I hate when actors and filmmakers or anyone grandstands and talks about abusive relationships or important topics in general when their actions are so contradictory to their words! Great video, Dan❤
That's what I was thinking. How on earth did they not have an abundance of intimacy coordinators throughout all of the filming since it dealt with such a heavy subject.
I think this is all by design. Baldoni allegedly expressed finding the the book to be some sort of steamy romance in a way. It would not shock me if he intentionally targeted an actress he was fond of.
@@FlagCutieAgreed. I believe intimacy coordinators should be involved for any scene where an actor may be in a state of undress, but this specifically... yeah should have been there the whole time
@@FlagCutie Right?! It’s very strange! It seems like the most obvious thing to do! I hate how now a movie that should have been a positive message about the harm of abusive relationships will now be marred and forgotten as a movie about abuse made by abusers!
Blake exaggerated it this up really good. Please see the “Price of Reason” from 12.28.24 on his take of Blake and Justin. No one is saying this and I think he got it right.
Learning that the fake Twitter/reddit discussions are real is crazy. It makes the platforms seem even less relevant than they already weren’t. The harassment is also crazy. I can’t believe there was improv kissing happening in 2023.
Blake’s promotion and release of products is not the greatest look, but her hair line had been in the works for some time and I’m sure she had contract obligations for that (from working with brick and mortar retailers like Target). The film had its released date pushed, so I feel at least for that promotion it may have been unfortunate timing. The alleged marketing plan may also have played a role in her and her team feeling it was okay to push ahead with such a promotion. Not defending it, but there may some “reasoning” behind it.
It might have been "prohibitively" expensive to pull brand campaigns or products or entirely shift a launch timeline (beverages and hair care do have expiration timelines). Hindsight is 20/20, and those might have been the better choice of valor had she known.
Yeahh, no. It is one thing to have a product launch at the same time as the campaign, but completely another to just talk about your personal brand/product while promoting a movie (about a very touchy subject). I watched soo many videos and interviews from this movie and she came off as a self absorbed dumb blond who doesn’t give a damn about the film, just money money money. And that is why everyone started believing that she was awful - it was her on behaviour.
@@anamarkov3952 I agree that the interviews were pure cringe. I’m only saying that she had obligations on both sides and she and her team made the choice to promo multiple things congruently. Was it the right thing to do? No. They may have felt at the time it was the easiest or only way to fulfill all obligations (or the cheapest, who knows). Her attitude while doing press is probably the biggest ick.
Dudes behaving badly isn't exactly novel behaviour, whether in the film industry or elsewhere, but it's particularly cocky of Baldoni to pick a fight with someone who is both way more famous and much, much richer and better-connected than him (and that's before you get into her husband's money).
@@chazzerousyou don’t know Ryan or his contacts then…. 😂 you’ll be shocked how much money they have and the people they are involved with have…. These ldiots are fkd 😅
@@VesnaLukic-h8w this is a common misconception about producers on films. She was not a producer in anything other than name, the type of person who actually has control over personnel or HR. It’s common for actors to get a producer credit to cut them into a film’s back end pay. In addition, Wayfair Studios produced the film and that studio is co-ran by Baldoni himself.
@@chazzerous plenty of directors have been fired during production for lesser and more acts. Blake isn’t some first time actress getting pushed over she is arguably in the most power couple in hollywood
Been waiting for it. So many headlines that could be "oh my" or could be clickbait. Was curious but not enough to wade in and sort it all out. When you said yesterday you have this video coming out I knew I would be getting a great explanation.
I am confused that there was initially no intimacy coordinator on set. I thought there is a rule that an intimacy coordinator has to be present when there is intimacy portrayed?
It’s possible the script initially didn’t imply any significant scenes that might require an intimacy coordinator but subsequently evolved as the directors vision was more nudity during birth, more advanced intimacy that led to the need perhaps hence the meeting
@jessicaarend Incredibly average and absurdly corny at times. I didn’t take any issue with how it handled the subject, it was just very surface level with very ham fisted themes
@ That doesn't surprise me. I couldn't bring myself to watch it bc of Colleen Hoover, and now I'm glad I didn't! Should be interesting to see how this plays out....
Nobody made anything up about her though. She really did advertise booze instead of talking about abuse victims. She really did take a jab at an interviewer for commenting on her pregnancy after she had announced it herself.
Thank you Dan for covering this topic. I was only hearing bits and pieces of what happened. This helps to give me a better picture of this ugly situation
was so excited when you mentioned this was coming in your news vid yesterday! these industry vids are some of my favorites from you, thank you for your thorough explanation on such a fascinating and complicated topic. hope you have a great new year, dan!
27:22 This is a movie about domestic abuse set to make a few execs millions. THAT is exploitation if we are calling it that. Like what planet are we living on where a film star can’t use the fame gained by a role? Men do it ALL the time when playing actual abusers.
Great breakdown of this cluster duck situation. I must say, I appreciate your approach and integrity when reporting on these industry issues. Keep up the awesome work.
Blake Lively is someone who lots of people just want to hate. They think she's not that talented, she rides on her husband's fame, she's very curated in her image, the constant bombardment of their relationship and Instagram jokes, her product line, her being part of Taylor Swift's squad. She, to me, is the definition of cringe. But I can still separate fact from rumours and personal opinion. Lots of people can't! Should be interesting to watch play out.
Regarding the "facts", please bear in mind that her legal team can make whatever claims they want to in these documents. I agree that the allegations sound terrible, but I'm also aware that there is no burden of proof on her team at this stage. In fact, they know that they can win in the press by throwing everything possible at Baldoni before ever setting foot in a courtroom.
@@tunzlunz 100% agree, but the text messages only substantiate that Baldoni coordinated with his PR firm in a pretty tasteless way. They do not support the claims of his onset behavior.
@@Lamont580Except this video showed a picture of the HR document of the on set demands made by Blake. This legal document was signed by Blake and a representative of the production company. I seriously doubt if this inappropriate behavior as claimed in this document wasn’t accurate, the production company executive would have signed this document.
It's possible for multiple things to be true at once. Lively WAS insensitive and foolish to promote her brands during the movie press tour, and it sounds like the filming was toxic And borderline abusive. She has every right to file this complaint and make these issues public. Good for her for the second, and hopefully she can see the misstep with the first. But really, these arent equivalent. A woman trying to sell her products, regardles of context, is NOT equivalent to the items listed in her complaint. Not even close.
I’m in no way a Blake lively fan, but I don’t hate her either. I really could care less about her. But hearing all this, I 100% believe her. This is borderline maniacal and sadistic on the part of these men and the people they hired. They knew they had an easy target because she does have a reputation of being difficult, and they took full advantage of that. It seems pretty clear, but chances are they’ll win the battle because as their PR person said, people are always ready to hate on women.
Call me duped cuz I was wholeheartedly on baldoni's side throughout all of this, I tought lively not addressing the films abuse themes was scummy, then that old interview resurfaced, I was manipulated by the campaign insane !!!!!! If she has the receipts for all of this and they aren't taken out of context then godamm this man is awful
The PR firm that Baldoni hired to astroturf coverage has also worked for: the Trump campaign, Johnny Depp, Drake, Jason Sudekis, and just about every other shit stain in the public eye. Very interesting
@ lol you may as well ask when was he good exactly, the whole point of this story is that nobody can say they know anything to be true about anybody that this PR firm worked for - good or bad.
Depp and Sudekis are cool to me, obviously Depp is a professional degenerate. Maybe you are just mad that men have an advocate out there who are there to save them against the myriad of BS claims given by gold diggers.
No. Sony is the distributor and set the marketing plan. Wayfair is the production company, and its co-founder Baldoni hired the crisis PR team to manipulate the public via a smear campaign. If you’re saying marketing = manipulation, sure. Sony isn’t the only one doing it. It’s a huge industry to sell stuff. Capitalism.
It's very difficult to shake the idea that there wasn't some kind of organized smear campaign against Lively. The negative stories and anecdotes were everywhere.
Thanks Dan, this was a well structured and balanced recap. I must say that regardless of the criticism that can be levelled at Lively for poor taste in marketing (which is very much lessened seeing how Sony directed her messaging) utterly PALES in comparison with Baldoni's and the other guys unprofessional and revolting behaviour on set. The first is a personal failing, the latter is harmful and downright criminal. Hearing about the billionaire willing to fund the attacks on Lively also puts the power dynamics into a very different light. If Baldoni acted this way to Lively, I shudder to think how he treats others. He is clearly buying into his own bullsh*t.
Regardless of what Baldoni's alleges about cherry picking and changing the meaning of the texts, if Baldoni was in fact accused of sexual misconduct and dealt with that NOT by responding to the accusations themselves but by trashing his accuser's reputation, THAT'S ENOUGH of a bad action (and maybe illegal retaliation). And, if he did in fact sexually harass her, it's also something called DARVO, a manipulation tactic some abusers use to deflect responsibility onto an individual they have abused. I'll be paying attention to whether or not Baldoni's team can prove EITHER that (1) he wasn't accused of sexually inappropriate behavior on set at the time of making the movie (which the signed document seems to clearly establish) OR that (2) he didn't react to the accusations by trying to trash Lively's reputation (which the texts about the Daily Mail, among other things, seem to clearly establish). Those are two of the most important issues and I'm positive there will be a lot of attempts to rehash every little irrelevant detail to sidetrack this point and confuse everyone. Whether or not Lively is a bitch or not is irrelevant. Whether or not her filing is completely true is also not the crux of this issue, in my opinion. This is about how Baldoni RESPONDED to being accused of something serious. Retaliation is morally reprehensible and, in some cases, ILLEGAL.
Whatever the case, I hope more people speak up against oppression and abuse in the workplace no matter if it's Hollywood or a ice cream shop. I want to say i hope they get justice too but we know the justice system is crooked and money is power. FYI, he always looked like a creep to me.
Because of all the craziness of the holidays, I really haven't been paying that much attention to this story. Wow, that's a lot of info. Thanks Dan for putting this video together. Appreciate it. Looking forward to Charts later today.
Situations like this are why I try not to jump on bandwagons. When you are starting to see enhanced negativity about someone very quickly it's always worth it to take a beat and even a 2nd and 3rd look. It's so easy to astroturf stuff nowadays on the internet where many are just not discerning about what they're seeing and reading.
Thank you for covering this and reading from the filed documents. A few other channels that have talked about the filing didn't read from it or did a general summary of what it said. Breaking down the minutia makes this situation much more gross, but I think this needs to be known about and studied. Like what Nathan and Able say in their text messages, it is too easy to turn the public against a woman. Lively may have had issues with her reputation before this, but even if she had a spotless reputation, the public would have turned on her just as quickly. This needs to be a lesson for all of us, and we need to question when stories of "difficult women" are getting spread. Is it really because someone is being difficult, or is it because they were standing up for themselves and others when the men in charge were abusive. I'm really disappointed in myself because I was ready to believe all the bad press surrounding Lively. Part of it was because I'm not a fan of hers, but most of it was because I felt very grossed out by how she handled PR for the movie. It doesn't help that I hate the book the movie was based on. I was ready to dislike anyone involved in the film, including Baldoni. Knowing the terrible promotion tactic was mandated by the production company as another way to bomb Lively's reputation really irks me. It just makes the shitty PR even worse. When Baldoni started to give interviews where he addressed the subject of abuse while Lively talked about wearing florals to see the movie and all of the products she sells, I was ready to take Baldoni's side. I only started to rethink and realize things were not as they seemed when it was reported that the rest of the cast unfollowed Baldoni on their socials and the reports that he hired the same PR firm that Depp hired before the promotion cycle for the movie began. It sucks that I fell for this BS. Still, I'm using it to remind myself that the internal misogyny I held as a younger person is still there, and I need to keep asking myself why I'm ready to dislike a woman when a group of men is out there calling her "difficult."
I’m more willing to believe that a billionaire would be petty and vindictive enough to start a smear campaign against an actress then said actress being a tyrant on set.
Who is the billionaire in this story? 😂 the actor in question is actually not very known and not very rich, compared to the “poor little actress” who is veryyy rich and very very well connected.
@@anamarkov3952 Did you watch the video? Or are you on his pr team trying to gaslight us? We know who he is backed by, laughs. And who he is backed by has more power and money than deadpool.
I have a lot of contempt for Blake Lively and I think she is genuinely an airheaded meangirl. None of that excuses sexual harassment and smear campaigns. While I disliked Blake during all of this promotion, I always got a sense of dread Baldoni was just overcompensating with his talking points and I guess that was right. I stand with Blake.
@@elizabethification771 Is it really a smear campaign if they just post her previous interviews where she was extremely rude to other women? I mean nobody forced her to act like that it's all her doing
These PR Crisis firms remind me of characters in fiction, like on The Black List - I almost can't believe this is real, but I'm glad it's all coming out so people can see this is not just conspiracy theory how social media can be manipulated like this.
Hoping to see some industry insight into the additional fact that Lively has been trying to buy out Baldoni for the rights to the sequel that he hasn't sold her. Wondering if that was a pressure point for this filing, seeing as these lawsuits now render the property worthless to sell
I don’t think so, I think that’s to just be able to make the fils without his involvement. Even Colleen Hoover doesn’t seem to want him to make them now, but it’s too late, she sold the rights to him and he’s just going to be a pain about it now. He won’t sell unless he’s somehow forced to. Maybe his billionaire partner dumping him because the studio could be ruined by this and Baldoni has no money (assuming it is him that owns it and not his partner of course). As I understand it, the instigator of this filing was him going against his own agreement in the HR complaint he signed. If he attempted to make her look bad in public, then he was breaking that contract. They have proof he did that so they are filing this as a result.
Both things can be true. Yes, Blake came out with her own products at a poor time, but she was also treated poorly on set if everything she says is true.
While I heard of the movie and its' success this summer, I had no idea any of this happened until like two weeks ago. Sometimes, an information bubble of ignorance works ok for you.
Weird movie to begin with- weird cast. It is true that Lively's reputation has been falling, and she was gaining criticism for this role,, particularly from those affected by sexual abuse, understandably, so it does seem like she , in some twisted way, believes orwants to believe she has been harrassed to validate her part in the movie and/or to rescue her reputation by gaining sympathy or support or something. Maybe she got too into the role a d it's messed with her, I don't know. But- I've heard that she is a bit of a brat- bossig people around a lot and has to have things her way. She does seem very into herself , and I find her to be not-so genuine. Anyway, I find her to be strange, and this whole movie, and I don't see how any normal person would want to be involved in this. I think it requires a certain maturity and integrity and sensibility and artistry that perhaps both of these lack, in my opinion. So they are probably both guilty of some shady business here, in some form
I remember when the video came out with the one journalist with BL. Even then, while Lively was a bit too harsh, I didn't see anything egregiously wrong. And since then, people have tried to poke into Lively's character. The fact is that you could criticize a person for their past actions (that whole marriage at an antebellum thing for ex), but don't let that cloud your judgement if the person claims to be dealing with extremely harmful behavior by another person
I think it’s abundantly clear that the PR campaign against her was largely successful and this lawsuit highlights how effectively these campaigns can be in changing public opinion. I did not ever pay attention to Blake Lively and suddenly 3 months ago, I started seeing a ton of negative videos about her. Two things can be true at once; her behavior in certain instances was bad, AND a campaign was waged to weaponize those specific instances to change public opinion. Any person can have a bad day and do something rude that they later regret. That interview showed her in a bad moment being rude to a reporter. She probably should have apologized to the reporter. But the reason I’m suddenly hearing about that story at all is because someone had a grudge and wanted to make her unsympathetic so her complaints about abuse would be undermined. There is no such thing as a perfect victim. Even if she had hundreds of little moments of being rude or insensitive, she doesn’t deserve to be abused or harassed at work. And this is looking like DARVO, pure and simple.
Thank you for bringing out the facts in the way you have and doing your best to remain objective to the situation. I think this is just another example of the importance of hearing both sides and examining the facts BEFORE making our thoughts and opinions known to others whether online or in person. My wife and I were talking about misinformation and misunderstanding from not having all the facts, in ANY given situation not just this one, and what the long term ramifications are for those who just base their opinion on how they feel as opposed to what actually transpired.
Funny how a movie titled “it ends with us” has never ending drama.
It ends with us in court
@@_Amit_Sunil 😂😭😭👏
@@_Amit_Sunil that's so close to being a LegalEagle line
The joke was on them lol
We actually talked about this in my class. We talk a lot about social media and the way it influences people. They noticed all the bad press Lively started getting (my female students, mostly), and all the hate in their social media feeds. It made for good discussion. And this video was great. Thank you. I really do feel I could use this in my classes as a way to break down how the machine works. Your integrity is always appreciated.
What class?
The craziest part is that the feminist strongholds of X (before the election) and r/FauxMoi fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Because they didn't like Blake Lively, they went all in on hatred for her. It's a lesson on there being no such thing as a perfect victim.
Sure…
@@alobo9937 idk about American systems but from a Commonwealth perspective this would come under SST/SSc (if this is school and not college)
@turbochargedfilms Thank you! I'm in college in the US and was just curious if this was a type of civics or law class.
The best thing to come out if this would be for peoples literacy of this type of PR/crisis management and be able to see how its used in elections
Nah, I doubt people will learn anything. They just move on to the next hate train.
people arent being critical of PR and crisis management teams, theyre just being manipulated by Blakes more expensive and more powerful PR/ crisis management team.
@@i.870 i am sure Baldoni’s team wants posts like yours to be the narrative but it’s not. Baldoni is a creep. His bad behavior and retaliation will be his downfall and the only person he has to blame is he himself.
Bro said "I spoke with your dead dad" 😂 he's wild
Nah FR, that’s one of the main points I completely agree with Blake about even if he was joking that’s wild and I’d be annoyed too
Not to forget about Stephanie Jones, Baldoni’s former publicist. She filed a complaint in New York Supreme Court, accusing the actor’s crisis PR team of waging a coordinated effort to undermine her and deflect blame for what she calls a retaliatory smear campaign targeting Lively. So, there is a lot more to this story. It will get very interesting …
And shes a well known shark and loves taking revenge on people who cross her (Jess Able was a subordinate of Jones and was said to have "stolen" Jones' clients.) she's also MARRIED to an exec agent at WME!!! The people who rep Lively and Reynolds and DROPPED Baldoni... this is way messier and its from both ends.
Seriously Dan, with so many others this would have been a mess of gossip ...but you approached this with such depth and thoughtfulness! That's why I trust your voice on all things Movies!!
Wow... the manipulation is insane. Even I, who could care less about celebrity drama, was starting to think negatively about Blake and I really had no reason to. I don't even think about her or have seen her movie. The power of the social media machine is scary.
COULDN’T care less
Yeah the way blakes PR team is making people ignore what theyve seen with their own eyeballs is insane. like "yeah blake wasnt a total b!tch to that interviewer for no reason, she totally didnt take over the movie project and use it to sell her alcohol product in the marketing, justin made you imagine it!"
@@i.870 off course BL, was not going to let this settle without promoting how "good" she is and drag JB down. She is the one with the power, money and better connections. She will do everything to come up as the "good girl" who was forced to kiss JB. All this drama just because she wants the rights to the movie and he does not want to give it to her, because he bought it when it was cheaper and now the value of it has exponentially grown. Poor BL, such a "good girl"
The replys to your comment really illustrate your point!
There was plenty of reason to! like her basically taking over the promotion of the movie. Trying to make it seem like romance movie rather than the social movie that it was trying to convey.
The sad thing is, if Blake Lively weren't married to a power player in Hollywood, she probably never would have gotten this complaint off the ground. The text messages are fairly damning, but I wouldn't be surprised if both parties walk away with nothing.
But at least it's shed light on what's probably not uncommon practise in Hollywood. It might not stop this sort of thing happening but I hope it will make us all generally a lot more wary of sustained negative social media attention given to one person.
Blake Lively’s complaints made their way to HR, and after the SAG-AFTRA strike last year, Baldoni not only signed off on them but also seemed to agree, "Yeah, I messed up. Let’s fix it."
a. The complaint reads like a juicy exposé-long, detailed, and impossible to ignore. Baldoni even signed on the dotted line, admitting her points had merit.
b. Other women have stepped into the spotlight, spilling their own on-set horror stories of mistreatment and condescension.
c. A male co-star turned Blake’s complaint into required reading, posting it on social media with a simple but powerful caption: “Please read.”
d. Baldoni’s podcast co-host made her exit just as dramatic, with a mic-drop social media post declaring, “We deserve better.”
e. SAG-AFTRA showed up for Blake, issuing a strong statement of support and advising women on any set to report harassment directly to them. This came as a lifesaver for women who’d previously been stonewalled by the production company, which not only ignored their complaints but doubled down with threats of retaliation.
At this point, we’re way past the smoke and fire stage-this is a full-on inferno. Grab your marshmallows or run for the hills because the building is going down.
Isn't she a big star in her own right?
@@Brenzo-j2z At this point, she's kind of more famous for being famous. Gossip Girl's popularity was a long time ago and she hasn't starred in many movies since. She can and does get plenty of work, but except for It Ends With Us, the films she is the lead in don't do very well at the box office. Most people talk more about her Met Gala appearances then her movie roles
@@jessrl8025 Oh, I see. I'm a guy so I figured I didn't really see her movies that much because of the genres but I do remember Age of Adaline and I'm pretty sure that was her and I liked that one and I've heard of Gossip Girls ofc but never actually saw it. So would you say he's more famous than her? I never heard of him prior, I know his wife from the movie Coherence which I really liked.
"All of this will be most importantly untraceable" ...unless we foolishly discuss this electronically as to leave an undeniable paper trail that will be subpoenaed and used as evidence against us in court one day. Yes, a perfect plan!
"I can't write to you that we'll destroy her reputation. Except just now."
And how come BL has access to that text message?
@@Capuchinho987 14:13 The firm said they were subpoenaed.
@@Capuchinho987who cares “how”? Thank goodness she has them!
The production of the movie sounds so disgusting.
The scariest part about this is that there are MASSIVE companies that can manipulate media on a huge scale to anyone who is the highest bidder...
I think that a lot of her business related woes have to do with the timing of her business releases, like her drink launch having “It Ends With Us” themed drinks. The reason I don’t believe Baldoni’s PR team really had to do much with this is because the author had launched an It Ends with Us coloring book that received a huge amount of backlash and the coloring book was promptly removed from shelves.
A lot of people don't know about the business of marketing and PR.
Really enjoying your extra coverage these days. I've seen others talking about both of your lats videos' topics but I'm happy to say, your coverage has been leaps and bounds better in both cases. More Dan!
Dan you are right, this is extremely bizarre. Thank you for covering it 💜
The fact that Sony is the reason she avoided speaking about DV is a very important factor for me. It explains a lot and I see how she could feel set up just by his switch up on that issue alone. But it’s clear that something happened behind the scenes that sent him running to the best smear team in the business. I didn’t fall for the campaign of hate because it’s very clear when a woman is being crucified in favor of a man, and wow I was angry to see the narrative that he was a dv hero when NO DV ADVOCATES are supportive of the book’s portrayal of DV in the first place. A “hero” who cares so much just doesn’t choose that script.
Sorry, not good enough. She is a nepo baby with a lot of power, wealth and influence. She had agency against the corporate machine and she could have spoken up if she’d wanted to. And did Sony also ask her to promote her alcohol and shampoo? Did Sony also instruct her to be rude to the infertile interviewer?
So no, I don’t condone sexual harassment. I do think smear campaigns are slimy, as Dan put it. But to say Blake is totally being set up is a falsehood. There’s no smoke without fire. She has to be accountable for her own actions.
So basically you didn't want to believe cause it was a (w)oman. Got it.
The thing is, they asked for the promotion to be 'light', but did they tell her to talk about florals and her hair?
I'd be interested to see the instructions given to him. Maybe he went against it because it was the right thing to do or because he didn't have anything personal to promote and get distracted by ...
This is the first video I've seen that actually read the docs. Your video gave me a far better understanding of both sides, as compared to one of your peers who just gave his opinion w/o reading out the text.
Yes. Thank you, Dan, for focusing more on the facts than simply damning those involved. Sad that this could’ve been avoided if they’d reacted slightly differently to “the other side”.
Check out @ophiedokie she breaks down the allegations
Among all the noise online I couldn't help but wonder "what does Dan think about this" so I'm so glad you're covering this now in your unbiased and intelligent way! Thank you!
perhaps
Around the time the movie came out, my Instagram reels suddenly started showing "resurfaced" videos of Lively from a decade ago snapping at reporters, sometimes justifiably so. Then a ton of reels from just one content creator parodying Lively's red carpet appearances. The whole thing felt incredibly strange considering my Insta algorithm usually only shows me cooking reels. This whole thing turned out to be messier than the Don't Worry Darling debacle.
Stuff like that is far from uncommon on social media, especially on places like Twitter. When I still had an account on there, it was not unusual to see a sudden rise in hate posts aimed at certain celebrities that make you go "Wait....why do we hate this person all of a sudden?"
This ongoing story (if Blake Lively's side of the story is true) is making me look back and wonder how much of that was also socially-engineered by PR firms or a celebrity's team. It wouldn't surprise me since it has been an open secret for awhile that bot accounts get used to artificially increase engagement (Ex. the Release the Snyder Cut campaign).
4 years ago the plantation wedding was a big thing.... before that I didn't like blake* because her racist love of pre-civil rights south....
Blake is bad news on her own
Yeah she a real piece of garbage. Rude and mean to anyone who she doesn't see on her level. She's got plenty of complaints of just being shitty.
Not so fun fact - Olivia Wilde's ex husband had the same PR company as Baldoni and Johnny Depp...
Exactly!! Same here :) Even though I did laugh at the "He's making a list, he's checking it twice" way of promoting Schindler's List, it did seem really really strange how often I started to see it.
Rule of thumb, if the Daily Mail is taking a side, you should probably give the other side the benefit of the doubt
They're literally the worst.
Same with the NYT. There is little media without a bias anymore.
To tackle an angle I haven't seen talked much about yet - as an autistic person who speaks about neurodiversity for a living, Baldoni bringing up his "neurodivergence" makes me viciously angry. Even if he is ND, using his that as a spacegoat to explain away his actions not only downplays the seriousness of the innumerable ways he allegedly treated Lively, but further stigmatizes autistic/ND folks and our existence for behaviors that aren't harmful but are seen as intristic to autism.
The key takeaways from people hearing that logic will either be "autistic/ND people are just assholes who do this regularly" or "well they're autistic so their shitty behavior is okay" - neither of which are accurate. To use recent events, it's in a similar vein to school shooters, or the kid who stabbed someone at a Taylor Swift concert, and the news media taking their autism diagnoses and running with it, which then victimizes other autistic people who haven't hurt anyone because people assume that being bullied/autistic equals being a psychopath.
Being an awful human being and autistic don't need to be related, but they're often conflated as the same, which does nothing but harm everyone.
What's interesting to me is that no one is denying the absolutely awful and demeaning harassment Lively had to deal with on set from Baldoni and his team that started this to begin with.
To me the harassment part doesn't seem to be that serious. It's subjective at best. Like couldn't she cover herself while talking to JB? And breastfeeding is normal even in public places. She's a grown woman for god sake!! And they were filming a romance, maybe he just wanted to make it look more real??
@@annainkala6219Blake Lively’s complaints made their way to HR, and after the SAG-AFTRA strike last year, Baldoni not only signed off on them but also seemed to agree, "Yeah, I messed up. Let’s fix it."
a. The complaint reads like a juicy exposé-long, detailed, and impossible to ignore. Baldoni even signed on the dotted line, admitting her points had merit.
b. Other women have stepped into the spotlight, spilling their own on-set horror stories of mistreatment and condescension.
c. A male co-star turned Blake’s complaint into required reading, posting it on social media with a simple but powerful caption: “Please read.”
d. Baldoni’s podcast co-host made her exit just as dramatic, with a mic-drop social media post declaring, “We deserve better.”
e. SAG-AFTRA showed up for Blake, issuing a strong statement of support and advising women on any set to report harassment directly to them. This came as a lifesaver for women who’d previously been stonewalled by the production company, which not only ignored their complaints but doubled down with threats of retaliation.
At this point, we’re way past the smoke and fire stage-this is a full-on inferno. Grab your marshmallows or run for the hills because the building is going down.
@annainkala6219 Hi Justin, thank you for replying.
@annainkala6219 read the 80 page document. What he did was horrifying.
@@yippykiyay89you have heard ( no pun intended) only one side of the story. Let’s wait to see what JB has to say for himself.
If true, the Smear campaign against Blake Lively is scarily effective. I never payed attention to It ends with us, both the movie and the drama but I got flooded with all the anti Blake Lively rheortic, I just assumed it was the usual celebrity fallouts we have now and again (like the Rock or Joaquin Phoenix a while back) but seeing it now, PR really is nasty business
It's only effective because she was rude on film if she was a nice person it wouldn't work
@@MsJilsephonieCorrect. One must appear to be humble and kind, as Baldoni has. I may not know him, but this IS a popularity contest on steroids, if nothing else. BL has already tarnished her own reputation because if the videos of her ornery behavior didn't already exist, then Team Baldoni would have had nothing to go on.
@@MsJilsephonieonly that isn’t true. The cast completely back Lively. She has a couple of instances of things said in interviews where what she said, especially taken out of context, seems rude, but it’s really not as rude as it seems in all the instances I’ve seen. And if you’re going to bring up Armie Hammer saying she tried to get him removed, please save it. If she did try and get him removed then I suspect it was with very good reason, the man is a super creep.
@@jaybee4118 Asking woman who has fertility issues about pregnancy bump is vicious and for that reason I will be forever a Blake hater. She is a mean girl at heart and she was very rude many times specially to women , that's why she doesn't deserve our support now. She is just like amber heard but worse
@@MsJilsephonieIt is not vicious, it’s a faux pas, one you’d happily pass off as a simple harmless error if a male made the same comment. Blake Lively did a speech raising awareness for child abuse, educated herself on the WORST kinds just to give a speech even though she’d just had a baby herself. She deserves respect and has done more for children than you or that woman who expects people to be telepathic about her fertility issues. Get a grip.
I was hoping someone could explain this mess to me… THANKS DAN!
I know you can't judge a book by its cover or a public personality and their choice of PR rep, but having J Depp, Drake and Logan Paul on the client list does kinda say a lot already.
This was a fantastic breakdown, thank you Dan! The fact that the other cast of the movie is on Blake Lively’s side says a lot imo. It’s obvious that inappropriate behaviour did happen on set.
I think your point about how PR companies are probably going walk away from this situation the worst is quite insightful
The PR companies that Dan pointed out that the average consumer knows nothing about?
It’s so frustrating (but sadly not surprising) of him to try to use neurodivergence as an excuse for sexual harassment… you are still responsible for your actions and several of the things alleged in this case have nothing to do with social cues, and once you receive direct feedback, there is no excuse
the worst part is that as an Autistic woman, if I tried to say my neurodivergence caused me to be just impolite to someone, I would be dismissed, but men try to use it to justify harassment and they get a “oh poor boy, he didn’t know any better” from a lot of people
In a household of ADHDers, we talk regularly about how ADHD isn't an excuse. It gives some explanations that can provide grace and it gives a place to look for solutions. Like, if my son impulsively hits his sister because he's bored, he still has to apologize. But we've had a standard solution that if he feels like rough housing, he can always come and ask us. We might say no, but we often don't. So if he has that impulsive thought, he has an accomodation.
He still has to apologize to his sister if he hurts her.
Love how any time I bring up my autism to explain genuine challenges people tell me I need to just get over it, but guys like him get to use autism as an eternal get-out-of-jail-free card
Elon Musk does this and gets away with it. I definitely think misogyny plays a part.
I always was baffled as to why Lively was getting dragged during this movie's premier over such petty stuff and wondered what was going on. Good to know my radar was working.
Same! It was weird to me how people so quickly jumped on the wagon.
There’s no smoke without fire. No PR machinery could fabricate her rudeness to interviewers. No corporation is powerful enough to force her to talk about her shampoo and alcohol.
@@lubis1991 But they can curate old, forgotten interviews and astroturf nothingburgers. I don't know why I'm supposed to be angry about shampoo, but I'm not.
@ If you think self-promotion is in good taste next to a movie about DV, then it’s probably because you don’t respect the significance of DV enough as a topic. Also, curation is not fabrication. Forgotten is not insignificant. She is responsible for all those actions. Baldoni had no way to make her such a rude person.
@@lubis1991 Again, I see no point in pretending to be angry over nothing.
Even if it was in poor taste for Lively to promote her brand, it doesn’t make her dishonest, and it’s not a mistake comparable to those on the other side, if they really occurred.
Exactly.
This blows the Don’t Worry Darling drama out of the water
This is far more common across film industries in the world than most people realise. Very brave of her to take such a firm stand and my heart goes out to the ones who don't have the power to.
Very brave of a woman worth half a billion and married to a movie star who gets what he wants to go after a guy worth a fraction of what she is.
@@miaque6460so if that was happening to you, your just gonna let it happen
@@miaque6460sounds like you are a Astroturfer. You all sounding more desperate. The complaint is damning to Baldoni.
@@miaque6460exactly why she had no reason to risk her reputation more by fighting this.
Agreed, very brave. Some people in the comments strike me as people who lack an emotional chip. Or maybe, they don't see entertainers as real people.
I didn't pay attention to this movie but I noticed all the hate Lively got and was a little confused by it. Makes sense now.
part of it was because she took over the marketing of the movie.
Fascinating story and great presentation by Dan
To be fair, her advertising alcohol during the tour for this movie is a completely separate issue compared to the allegations. Something being in poor taste is way way less important than allegations of misconduct.
She also launched a haircare brand to coincide with press tour for the movie. A lot of the negative backlash against her was organic, due to things she said/did on camera that seemed to be in poor taste.
@@Lamont580 Don’t you understand it wasn’t organic because someone literally started a mob to go after her?
Also the delays because of the re edit is the reason they coincided. If the movie came out on time then the two events would have been separated I believe
@@Lamont580but her costars haven’t stated that…only the people being sued 🤷🏽♀️. How’s any of this “organ”?
How Ironic that this movie about abusive relationships had such a troubled, potentially abusive or at least harmful production!
It just goes to show that when movies are made about such touchy subjects, filmmakers and studios need to be more deliberate and careful in choosing and hiring people that align with the actual core messaging of their films.
Whether or not Lively or Baldoni is in the right or it's somewhere in the middle, things like this shouldn't be happening on set! Especially when the actual story of the film is about abuse!
I hate when actors and filmmakers or anyone grandstands and talks about abusive relationships or important topics in general when their actions are so contradictory to their words!
Great video, Dan❤
That's what I was thinking. How on earth did they not have an abundance of intimacy coordinators throughout all of the filming since it dealt with such a heavy subject.
I think this is all by design. Baldoni allegedly expressed finding the the book to be some sort of steamy romance in a way. It would not shock me if he intentionally targeted an actress he was fond of.
@@FlagCutieAgreed. I believe intimacy coordinators should be involved for any scene where an actor may be in a state of undress, but this specifically... yeah should have been there the whole time
@@FlagCutie Right?! It’s very strange! It seems like the most obvious thing to do! I hate how now a movie that should have been a positive message about the harm of abusive relationships will now be marred and forgotten as a movie about abuse made by abusers!
Blake exaggerated it this up really good.
Please see the “Price of Reason” from 12.28.24 on his take of Blake and Justin. No one is saying this and I think he got it right.
Learning that the fake Twitter/reddit discussions are real is crazy. It makes the platforms seem even less relevant than they already weren’t.
The harassment is also crazy. I can’t believe there was improv kissing happening in 2023.
Blake’s promotion and release of products is not the greatest look, but her hair line had been in the works for some time and I’m sure she had contract obligations for that (from working with brick and mortar retailers like Target). The film had its released date pushed, so I feel at least for that promotion it may have been unfortunate timing. The alleged marketing plan may also have played a role in her and her team feeling it was okay to push ahead with such a promotion.
Not defending it, but there may some “reasoning” behind it.
It might have been "prohibitively" expensive to pull brand campaigns or products or entirely shift a launch timeline (beverages and hair care do have expiration timelines).
Hindsight is 20/20, and those might have been the better choice of valor had she known.
Yeahh, no. It is one thing to have a product launch at the same time as the campaign, but completely another to just talk about your personal brand/product while promoting a movie (about a very touchy subject). I watched soo many videos and interviews from this movie and she came off as a self absorbed dumb blond who doesn’t give a damn about the film, just money money money. And that is why everyone started believing that she was awful - it was her on behaviour.
@anamarkov3952 I agree with you. I've got family in the industry and movie sets can bring out "high school" behavior on both sides.
@@anamarkov3952 I agree that the interviews were pure cringe. I’m only saying that she had obligations on both sides and she and her team made the choice to promo multiple things congruently.
Was it the right thing to do? No. They may have felt at the time it was the easiest or only way to fulfill all obligations (or the cheapest, who knows).
Her attitude while doing press is probably the biggest ick.
Advert for the film. 🎞️ 😊
This whole situation is WILD.
Dudes behaving badly isn't exactly novel behaviour, whether in the film industry or elsewhere, but it's particularly cocky of Baldoni to pick a fight with someone who is both way more famous and much, much richer and better-connected than him (and that's before you get into her husband's money).
Naw, Wayfair is backed by Steve Sarowitz and he’s far wealthier than Reynolds and Lively
@@chazzerousyou don’t know Ryan or his contacts then…. 😂 you’ll be shocked how much money they have and the people they are involved with have…. These ldiots are fkd 😅
Wel,she was a producer snd he was directir,so the power is on her side,so she could fire him easily.I just wonder why didn't she?
@@VesnaLukic-h8w this is a common misconception about producers on films. She was not a producer in anything other than name, the type of person who actually has control over personnel or HR. It’s common for actors to get a producer credit to cut them into a film’s back end pay.
In addition, Wayfair Studios produced the film and that studio is co-ran by Baldoni himself.
@@chazzerous plenty of directors have been fired during production for lesser and more acts. Blake isn’t some first time actress getting pushed over she is arguably in the most power couple in hollywood
This makes one thing pretty clear. I’m perfectly content NEVER having gone into show business.
Been waiting for it. So many headlines that could be "oh my" or could be clickbait. Was curious but not enough to wade in and sort it all out. When you said yesterday you have this video coming out I knew I would be getting a great explanation.
I am confused that there was initially no intimacy coordinator on set. I thought there is a rule that an intimacy coordinator has to be present when there is intimacy portrayed?
Correct, it's illegal
She did not want one
@@barboralitvanova5111where did you get this info from? Or did you make that up?
@@barboralitvanova5111despite the specifically quoted demand that there was an intimacy consultant?
It’s possible the script initially didn’t imply any significant scenes that might require an intimacy coordinator but subsequently evolved as the directors vision was more nudity during birth, more advanced intimacy that led to the need perhaps hence the meeting
Great timing. I just watched the movie tonight because I wanted to see it for myself. This turmoil is going down in PR history.
What did you think of the movie?
@jessicaarend Incredibly average and absurdly corny at times. I didn’t take any issue with how it handled the subject, it was just very surface level with very ham fisted themes
@ That doesn't surprise me. I couldn't bring myself to watch it bc of Colleen Hoover, and now I'm glad I didn't! Should be interesting to see how this plays out....
Nobody made anything up about her though. She really did advertise booze instead of talking about abuse victims. She really did take a jab at an interviewer for commenting on her pregnancy after she had announced it herself.
Yep
Dan, as usual amazing job! Happy New Year form Argentina ❤
Milei #1 !!!!!
"Not a well written sentence there" 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you Dan for covering this topic. I was only hearing bits and pieces of what happened. This helps to give me a better picture of this ugly situation
was so excited when you mentioned this was coming in your news vid yesterday! these industry vids are some of my favorites from you, thank you for your thorough explanation on such a fascinating and complicated topic. hope you have a great new year, dan!
Baldoni’s lawyer sounds so scummy and gross
That's the nature of the profession
"Not a very well written sentence there." Best part of the entire video haha!
27:22 This is a movie about domestic abuse set to make a few execs millions. THAT is exploitation if we are calling it that. Like what planet are we living on where a film star can’t use the fame gained by a role? Men do it ALL the time when playing actual abusers.
Great breakdown of this cluster duck situation. I must say, I appreciate your approach and integrity when reporting on these industry issues. Keep up the awesome work.
Blake Lively is someone who lots of people just want to hate. They think she's not that talented, she rides on her husband's fame, she's very curated in her image, the constant bombardment of their relationship and Instagram jokes, her product line, her being part of Taylor Swift's squad. She, to me, is the definition of cringe. But I can still separate fact from rumours and personal opinion. Lots of people can't! Should be interesting to watch play out.
Regarding the "facts", please bear in mind that her legal team can make whatever claims they want to in these documents. I agree that the allegations sound terrible, but I'm also aware that there is no burden of proof on her team at this stage. In fact, they know that they can win in the press by throwing everything possible at Baldoni before ever setting foot in a courtroom.
Making claims is one thing, text message evidence is entirely different thing altogether.
@@tunzlunz 100% agree, but the text messages only substantiate that Baldoni coordinated with his PR firm in a pretty tasteless way. They do not support the claims of his onset behavior.
@@tunzlunz in the court of public opinion, yes.
@@Lamont580Except this video showed a picture of the HR document of the on set demands made by Blake. This legal document was signed by Blake and a representative of the production company. I seriously doubt if this inappropriate behavior as claimed in this document wasn’t accurate, the production company executive would have signed this document.
The HR complaint is damning
Bro you saying you were talking to my dead dad is enough to ask you to stay far away from me you’re weird 😂
Exactly, and BL had to deal with all the other stuff too.
It's possible for multiple things to be true at once. Lively WAS insensitive and foolish to promote her brands during the movie press tour, and it sounds like the filming was toxic And borderline abusive. She has every right to file this complaint and make these issues public. Good for her for the second, and hopefully she can see the misstep with the first.
But really, these arent equivalent. A woman trying to sell her products, regardles of context, is NOT equivalent to the items listed in her complaint. Not even close.
Anyone else get a Mint mobile ad pop up with Ryan reynolds right after Dan said BL got her husband involved…great timing
Text messages were damning. That's a wrap for Baldoni. Will forever be known as an industry creep after this.
"Speaking to BLs dead father" ...
Yeah, I just hate it when that happens
Great having a level headed presentation of the facts. Thanks for the vid!
I want to see a movie about THIS. Its fascinating. Thanks for the video, Dan.
I’m in no way a Blake lively fan, but I don’t hate her either. I really could care less about her. But hearing all this, I 100% believe her. This is borderline maniacal and sadistic on the part of these men and the people they hired. They knew they had an easy target because she does have a reputation of being difficult, and they took full advantage of that. It seems pretty clear, but chances are they’ll win the battle because as their PR person said, people are always ready to hate on women.
Call me duped cuz I was wholeheartedly on baldoni's side throughout all of this, I tought lively not addressing the films abuse themes was scummy, then that old interview resurfaced, I was manipulated by the campaign insane !!!!!! If she has the receipts for all of this and they aren't taken out of context then godamm this man is awful
The PR firm that Baldoni hired to astroturf coverage has also worked for: the Trump campaign, Johnny Depp, Drake, Jason Sudekis, and just about every other shit stain in the public eye. Very interesting
Yeah, to me that's the really interesting part of this story. If lawsuits start flying, there might be some very interesting discovery.
When was depp bad exactly???
@ lol you may as well ask when was he good exactly, the whole point of this story is that nobody can say they know anything to be true about anybody that this PR firm worked for - good or bad.
Depp and Sudekis are cool to me, obviously Depp is a professional degenerate. Maybe you are just mad that men have an advocate out there who are there to save them against the myriad of BS claims given by gold diggers.
If you want to know you can watch the trial and make your own judgment.. just ignore the PR @@iriandia
So you're telling me a Sony production might have relied on manipulating the public and its own stars? Color me shocked!
Technically Sony is only the distributor, but fair point still
No. Sony is the distributor and set the marketing plan. Wayfair is the production company, and its co-founder Baldoni hired the crisis PR team to manipulate the public via a smear campaign. If you’re saying marketing = manipulation, sure. Sony isn’t the only one doing it. It’s a huge industry to sell stuff. Capitalism.
Great work Dan!
It's very difficult to shake the idea that there wasn't some kind of organized smear campaign against Lively. The negative stories and anecdotes were everywhere.
Great description of that part of the PR industry.
PR industry needs more regulation. Manufacturing this atmosphere for profit should not be possible
There is actually
That's assuming US voters care about morals over profit
Thanks Dan, this was a well structured and balanced recap. I must say that regardless of the criticism that can be levelled at Lively for poor taste in marketing (which is very much lessened seeing how Sony directed her messaging) utterly PALES in comparison with Baldoni's and the other guys unprofessional and revolting behaviour on set. The first is a personal failing, the latter is harmful and downright criminal. Hearing about the billionaire willing to fund the attacks on Lively also puts the power dynamics into a very different light. If Baldoni acted this way to Lively, I shudder to think how he treats others. He is clearly buying into his own bullsh*t.
Thanks Dan, I'd rather hear about all this fuss from you than from any other. Good job on this most comprehensive report.
Regardless of what Baldoni's alleges about cherry picking and changing the meaning of the texts, if Baldoni was in fact accused of sexual misconduct and dealt with that NOT by responding to the accusations themselves but by trashing his accuser's reputation, THAT'S ENOUGH of a bad action (and maybe illegal retaliation).
And, if he did in fact sexually harass her, it's also something called DARVO, a manipulation tactic some abusers use to deflect responsibility onto an individual they have abused.
I'll be paying attention to whether or not Baldoni's team can prove EITHER that (1) he wasn't accused of sexually inappropriate behavior on set at the time of making the movie (which the signed document seems to clearly establish) OR that (2) he didn't react to the accusations by trying to trash Lively's reputation (which the texts about the Daily Mail, among other things, seem to clearly establish).
Those are two of the most important issues and I'm positive there will be a lot of attempts to rehash every little irrelevant detail to sidetrack this point and confuse everyone.
Whether or not Lively is a bitch or not is irrelevant. Whether or not her filing is completely true is also not the crux of this issue, in my opinion. This is about how Baldoni RESPONDED to being accused of something serious. Retaliation is morally reprehensible and, in some cases, ILLEGAL.
Whatever the case, I hope more people speak up against oppression and abuse in the workplace no matter if it's Hollywood or a ice cream shop. I want to say i hope they get justice too but we know the justice system is crooked and money is power.
FYI, he always looked like a creep to me.
Because of all the craziness of the holidays, I really haven't been paying that much attention to this story. Wow, that's a lot of info. Thanks Dan for putting this video together. Appreciate it. Looking forward to Charts later today.
Why would anyone shows a coworker a video of his wife giving birth? Yeah, that requires a direct call to HR.
Thanks Dan
I’m so over Hollywood they are all pathetic !
Situations like this are why I try not to jump on bandwagons. When you are starting to see enhanced negativity about someone very quickly it's always worth it to take a beat and even a 2nd and 3rd look. It's so easy to astroturf stuff nowadays on the internet where many are just not discerning about what they're seeing and reading.
Thank you for covering this and reading from the filed documents. A few other channels that have talked about the filing didn't read from it or did a general summary of what it said. Breaking down the minutia makes this situation much more gross, but I think this needs to be known about and studied. Like what Nathan and Able say in their text messages, it is too easy to turn the public against a woman. Lively may have had issues with her reputation before this, but even if she had a spotless reputation, the public would have turned on her just as quickly. This needs to be a lesson for all of us, and we need to question when stories of "difficult women" are getting spread. Is it really because someone is being difficult, or is it because they were standing up for themselves and others when the men in charge were abusive.
I'm really disappointed in myself because I was ready to believe all the bad press surrounding Lively. Part of it was because I'm not a fan of hers, but most of it was because I felt very grossed out by how she handled PR for the movie. It doesn't help that I hate the book the movie was based on. I was ready to dislike anyone involved in the film, including Baldoni. Knowing the terrible promotion tactic was mandated by the production company as another way to bomb Lively's reputation really irks me. It just makes the shitty PR even worse. When Baldoni started to give interviews where he addressed the subject of abuse while Lively talked about wearing florals to see the movie and all of the products she sells, I was ready to take Baldoni's side. I only started to rethink and realize things were not as they seemed when it was reported that the rest of the cast unfollowed Baldoni on their socials and the reports that he hired the same PR firm that Depp hired before the promotion cycle for the movie began.
It sucks that I fell for this BS. Still, I'm using it to remind myself that the internal misogyny I held as a younger person is still there, and I need to keep asking myself why I'm ready to dislike a woman when a group of men is out there calling her "difficult."
I’m more willing to believe that a billionaire would be petty and vindictive enough to start a smear campaign against an actress then said actress being a tyrant on set.
Who is the billionaire in this story? 😂 the actor in question is actually not very known and not very rich, compared to the “poor little actress” who is veryyy rich and very very well connected.
@@anamarkov3952 9:21 thank you for proving you didn't watch the video. You must be one of the astroturfers.
@@anamarkov3952 Wayfarer Studios is financed by billionaire Steve Sarowitz
@@anamarkov3952 Did you watch the video? Or are you on his pr team trying to gaslight us? We know who he is backed by, laughs. And who he is backed by has more power and money than deadpool.
team Justin
I have a lot of contempt for Blake Lively and I think she is genuinely an airheaded meangirl. None of that excuses sexual harassment and smear campaigns. While I disliked Blake during all of this promotion, I always got a sense of dread Baldoni was just overcompensating with his talking points and I guess that was right. I stand with Blake.
@@elizabethification771 Is it really a smear campaign if they just post her previous interviews where she was extremely rude to other women? I mean nobody forced her to act like that it's all her doing
yeah, even if Black is mean and airheaded, that doesn't mean sexual harrasment - should it have happened - is all right.
Baldoni… the question is… how do we help women leave… by LISTENING and EMPOWERING them? Not by expecting men to behave as you demonstrated!
It was a civil complaint which has no forensically proven evidence
These PR Crisis firms remind me of characters in fiction, like on The Black List - I almost can't believe this is real, but I'm glad it's all coming out so people can see this is not just conspiracy theory how social media can be manipulated like this.
" getting Taylor Swift to contribute to the soundtrack" aww i see💩
Hoping to see some industry insight into the additional fact that Lively has been trying to buy out Baldoni for the rights to the sequel that he hasn't sold her. Wondering if that was a pressure point for this filing, seeing as these lawsuits now render the property worthless to sell
I don’t think so, I think that’s to just be able to make the fils without his involvement. Even Colleen Hoover doesn’t seem to want him to make them now, but it’s too late, she sold the rights to him and he’s just going to be a pain about it now. He won’t sell unless he’s somehow forced to. Maybe his billionaire partner dumping him because the studio could be ruined by this and Baldoni has no money (assuming it is him that owns it and not his partner of course). As I understand it, the instigator of this filing was him going against his own agreement in the HR complaint he signed. If he attempted to make her look bad in public, then he was breaking that contract. They have proof he did that so they are filing this as a result.
It really did end with them 28:14
I was about to go to bed, but I'll happily stay up for a new Dan Murrell video.
Always on point. Luv your vids
Both things can be true. Yes, Blake came out with her own products at a poor time, but she was also treated poorly on set if everything she says is true.
While I heard of the movie and its' success this summer, I had no idea any of this happened until like two weeks ago. Sometimes, an information bubble of ignorance works ok for you.
Weird movie to begin with- weird cast. It is true that Lively's reputation has been falling, and she was gaining criticism for this role,, particularly from those affected by sexual abuse, understandably, so it does seem like she , in some twisted way, believes orwants to believe she has been harrassed to validate her part in the movie and/or to rescue her reputation by gaining sympathy or support or something. Maybe she got too into the role a d it's messed with her, I don't know. But- I've heard that she is a bit of a brat- bossig people around a lot and has to have things her way. She does seem very into herself , and I find her to be not-so genuine.
Anyway, I find her to be strange, and this whole movie, and I don't see how any normal person would want to be involved in this. I think it requires a certain maturity and integrity and sensibility and artistry that perhaps both of these lack, in my opinion. So they are probably both guilty of some shady business here, in some form
I remember when the video came out with the one journalist with BL. Even then, while Lively was a bit too harsh, I didn't see anything egregiously wrong. And since then, people have tried to poke into Lively's character.
The fact is that you could criticize a person for their past actions (that whole marriage at an antebellum thing for ex), but don't let that cloud your judgement if the person claims to be dealing with extremely harmful behavior by another person
I finally got what they were saying! Well explained thank you very much ! 😊
I follow Ryan on insta, and the amount of comments from people about how he should “reign Blake in” on this are absolutely wild to me.
I think it’s abundantly clear that the PR campaign against her was largely successful and this lawsuit highlights how effectively these campaigns can be in changing public opinion. I did not ever pay attention to Blake Lively and suddenly 3 months ago, I started seeing a ton of negative videos about her. Two things can be true at once; her behavior in certain instances was bad, AND a campaign was waged to weaponize those specific instances to change public opinion. Any person can have a bad day and do something rude that they later regret. That interview showed her in a bad moment being rude to a reporter. She probably should have apologized to the reporter. But the reason I’m suddenly hearing about that story at all is because someone had a grudge and wanted to make her unsympathetic so her complaints about abuse would be undermined. There is no such thing as a perfect victim. Even if she had hundreds of little moments of being rude or insensitive, she doesn’t deserve to be abused or harassed at work. And this is looking like DARVO, pure and simple.
What a fucking confusing mess.
Thank you for bringing out the facts in the way you have and doing your best to remain objective to the situation. I think this is just another example of the importance of hearing both sides and examining the facts BEFORE making our thoughts and opinions known to others whether online or in person. My wife and I were talking about misinformation and misunderstanding from not having all the facts, in ANY given situation not just this one, and what the long term ramifications are for those who just base their opinion on how they feel as opposed to what actually transpired.
I'm glad this video isn't about AI-powered tools helping me learn about shopping and hauls for my diy and home renovation
Thanks Dan.
It's sad that none of the allegations are surprising